Buying a Website – Off-Site Promotion and the Cost of Buying a Website
An Ezine Article Post by Terence Fisher
What does Buying a Website Cost and What are the Payment Terms?
There are two sides to this. The first is how much money your web designer wants upfront. A minimum of $100 deposit up front will normally be required to show that you are serious about buying a website. The balance should not become not due until you have a few top 30 Google rankings. Some Web design Companies Guarantee Top 30 Google / Yahoo results within 60 days – or your website is free; they are pretty focused on getting results for you if they do not get paid until they do, ensuring your website creation does not drag on.
The other important aspect is understanding very clearly what you are getting for your money, and what is not included. The website design field is littered with arguments about, “but I thought I was going to get…” Be clear from the very start what is included, and what is not included. This should be published on the website design company’s website.
Pricing should be flexible, allowing you to buy only what you need, from a basic “online-brochure” to a Guaranteed Top 30 Listing website. For most small businesses, in 2010, under $600 for buying a website is a reasonable target. However, for a hobby site under $400 may do the trick. You should also be able to build a custom package, where you pay only for what you need.
While the highest quote is not necessarily the best, nor is the lowest. Value for Money is what it is all about. A $600 site that ranks highly in Google and brings new business is a better investment than a $300 site that is buried so deep in Google you need to hire a jungle guide to find it!
Always, always, always, ask, “Is this going to make me more money than it costs?”
What ongoing fees are there?
For people with very little experience with websites, it is quite normal to pay someone with the necessary expertise to host and maintain your website and look after your domain name. Anything over $30 per month for hosting is excessive and your domain name should not cost you more than $30 per annum for a dot com (in 2010, when this article was written).
You can host your own website if you have the necessary expertise and look after your own domain name.
Make sure any quote you get includes maintenance, in addition to hosting. One critical area that even experienced web designers forget is to make a backup of your Web site on a regular basis. Any monthly charge should ensure your website is backed up every week. Website backups are like computer backups – you think about it around ten seconds after you realise you need it!
What Off-Site Marketing is Included?
This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Web Design, both from a web designer perspective and from a client perspective.
A highly ranked website will bring you an increase in business; a highly ranked website that is being actively marketed will bring you even more of an increase in business. Website Designers that have no Marketing skills can be dangerous to your Business’s health!
To understand this, if you have a retail store and have chosen a great location, then you have the equivalent of a website that is ranked highly on Google; both are highly visible. however, you still advertise your retail store and there is an online equivalent of this.
If you talk to a web designer and they consider their work finished when they have created your website, alarm bells should be ringing. On the Internet, there are three quick and easy ways to attract more visitors.
The first is through video, with Youtube obviously being by far the most important site, but not necessarily the only one. When buying a website, make sure creating a video for you and uploading it to YouTube is included. Some website designers are not great at creating Videos; even fewer know how to successfully market a YouTube video, but the importance of YouTube these days makes it critical that you cover this base.
Secondly, EzineArticles should be included; EzineArticles is to articles what Google is to Search Engines. Using the 80/20 Rule, EzineArticles and YouTube are essential; if you have time, then move to the lesser sites.
The third element is what is known as Social Marketing. My preference is for Article Marketing and Video Marketing, but for some people it may be things like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Which is best depends on your personal preferences, your product and what, if anything, you already have in place. If you are the president of the local Pony Society and you are marketing items related to that, if you have thousands of people already following you on Twitter, then you have an established market.
In terms of product, it is important to understand that different age groups buy differently, and you must therefore market to what is appropriate for that age group.
Check out the Free “Must-Know” info at the Gold Coast Web Design Company “Business Websites Gold Coast” – before you decide to buy a website.
While based on Australia’s Gold Coast, Business Websites Gold Coast build websites for clients Worldwide.
The unique claim to fame that this particular Gold Coast Web Design Company has is a $495 price tag that absolutely Guarantees a Top 30 Google Listing – Or your website is Free! This includes one YouTube Video plus one ezine article.
Terry not only designs top value-for-money websites, he also has online businesses of his own. This ensures the marketing and business skills required to support creating a profitable website for you are in place.
See an update for 2018 on this article here.