ABOUT WEBSITES

| MY PROCESS & RATES | DOMAIN NAMES | WEB HOSTING | FORWARDING | SAMPLE WEBSITES |

MY PROCESS & RATES

I like prefer to start with either a face-to-face meeting in my office or a telephone conversation when you are at your computer so that we can both view various sites at the same time and talk about ideas. I like to get an idea of what your needs are and what materials you can supply me with. I am at first looking for a visual context and the structure (you may think of it as the menu. I am not, in the beginning so concerned with having all the materials to start. Generally, once we start working together, I am too slow for you as I try out ideas to propose to you. Once a general design has been selected, I will ask you to be vary particular on the first page or two I might show you. Then as this basic design has been decided upon, you will be too slow for me. That seems to be the normal process.

RATES

Website design rates: vary on the complexity of your needs. If you need a price a basic staring might be at minimums of $300 or $400 for sites for an individual and $400 to $900 for business sites. Rates could be less, use this only as a starting point.

Maintaining & Edits: Prices will vary according to changes, but no where near design fees. This could be set up as a monthly rate or as it occurs. If you want to maintain your own site you can, but I have noticed problems with sites maintained this way in the past. Minimum Fees begin at $10.

DOMAIN NAMES

ibm.com | Amazon.com | PlazaDesktopPublishing.com - DougBarron.com - these are domain names. Think of it as a phone number for your website.

Think up a couple of names, (no spaces or &, or other symbols allowed, you can use _ and - and numerals though). I also suggest try saying it to some friends on the phone and have them spell it back to you. You might be surprised. For instance, how do you or they spell the building where plays are performed: theatre or theater? As many names are already taken, I suggest you think up several possibilities, and list them by order of preference.

So you've got a name. Now what? Well it must be registered on the Internet. Then the Internet must know where that name is. Think of it like dialing your phone and it rings somewhere, that is where your site will be hosted.  (see hosting).

Domain names are registered for a fee paid either yearly or in multiple years. Rates vary tremendous. If you supply the domain name and register it, and set it up, there is no fee.

If you want I can register your domain name for you, and discuss with you the various options out there. I charge $20 per year for domains that I purchase for you. If you choose to register for multiple years that is also an option.

HOSTING

You've got a domain name, now where is it? Websites must physically exist somewhere.

There are free hosting sites, if you are willing to deal with ads (and not of your choosing) appearing on your page. Most people don't want this, therefore you need to put the website somewhere. That would be a hosting provider. Rates vary quite a bit depending on the provider. Your site can be hosted anywhere of your choosing. I like to use GoDaddy.com.

If you want I can select and setup your site, for a monthly fee to be paid in increments of one year (12 months) at a time. The hosting sites bill me, automatically, I bill you.

Hosting fees in general I have three kinds of hosting plans to begin with.

Plaza Hosting for $75 per year.

Economy Hosting for $108,
same as plaza but includes statistics about web traffic. Most people do not use this as it takes a while to figure out what it all means.

Deluxe Hosting for $180 per year.
This can hold multiple sites included in the same fee, includes statistics.
All hosting plans can contain all web elements, email account, flash, video, music, etc. Most people start out with the Plaza hosting. We will discuss this.

All hosting and domain name fees are separate from design fees.

FORWARDING

There is another option to hosting, sort of a cheat really. This option does not work for everyone. In fact with hosting prices pretty low, I do not recommend considering at all.

Rates may vary and change without notice as charges to Plaza change.

 

Last updated: October 2014.

 

Background photo: flower, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden