HockeyGurl Designs

A Sad Summer for the Hockey Community

2011-09-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

These past few months have been brutal for the hockey family. Brutal. First, it was the accidental overdose of Derek Boogaard, the much loved enforcer for the Minnesota Wild and NY Rangers. He was 28 years old. Only three months later, the death of Rick Rypien, who had been battling depression. He was 27. And then, most recently, the suicide of Wade Belak, who had recently retired from the NHL. He was 35. Hockey is a small little family and we reeled from these losses, but we hadn't seen anything yet. Anything like today.

A plane carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, Balarus for the opening game of their season crashed shortly after takeoff. The entire team and crew perished as the plane broke up and fell into a nearby lake. No storm, no bad weather, just peaceful blue sunny skies, an aging plane, and a group of men in the prime of their lives with family and friends who will mourn them for a lifetime.

Some of them were known NHL names, some were youngsters on the brink of success. There were men from many countries and backgrounds, ready to start a new hockey season, anxious to put skates on the ice in front of a stadium of supportive fans.

Almost every NHL team lost someone today, and we lost something more. That innocence that when our team flies off on a road trip, that they will certainly all return home safe and sound. There is a little bit of doubt now. Just a little bit. Our planes are newer, and safer certainly, but on any given day, who knows what could happen.

RIP, Team Lokomotiv. Our condolences and prayers are with you and with the friends and families that you have left behind. You will be missed. You will be mourned.

Enough, hockey gods. Whatever we have done to piss you off, we are sorry. We have had enough.

Get Everything in Writing

2011-07-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

There is a reason, probably several, that I am loathe to discuss particulars of websites on the phone. A "wouldn't it be cool if" telephone conversation does not constitute an agreement about what your final web project will be. A phone call to tell your web designer you want all your Twitter and Facebook icons removed, only to change your mind a few days later, constitutes more work for everyone, and additional charges for you that you will be loathe to pay.

Your contract is your guide. If your contract states that your logo will fly in from the north, spin around and depart to the west, than so it shall. However, if the flying logo is only discussed in preliminary phone conversations and later ruled out as impossible or unlikely, and is NOT included in your contract, it will not be happening. You are, after all, only allowed to demand those things in the contract, not things that might have been cool in an initial phone conversation.

Get everything in writing. This applies to both the client and the web designer. Keep all your emails, you will undoubtedly need them for reference later, and sometimes, for evidence. While we hope this is not the case, it is just a good practice to keep them for your own reference and for handy reminders to others as to what was actually discussed.

While I am often up at 2 am, working on a new design or updating someone's website, I do not miss my days as a book publisher, when there were phone calls at 2 am, wanting a comma removed from page 43 after a book had gone to press. GET IT IN WRITING. Even if it is at 2 am.

When a Client Doesn't Pay

2011-06-01T22:25:00.001-07:00

We have, unfortunately, been put in uncomfortable situations in which a client with a signed legal contract chooses, for one reason or another, to ignore our legally binding agreement and not pay for services rendered to them.

The choice becomes, is it worth the time to hunt down non-paying clients and demand those hundreds or thousands of dollars they have stiffed us for? Do we pay fees to a collection agency? Do we spend the time going to court to obtain the money we are owed?

I don't think there is one answer for these questions.

I do know one thing: A contract between a client and a web designer is a legally binding agreement. We strive to complete a project on time, within budget, and per the terms outlined in these contracts. Our contracts are very specific for a reason. You know exactly what you are getting, and we know exactly what is expected of us.

To claim, as was the case recently, that you did not get those "pie in the sky" things discussed in an early phone conversation, prior to contract, those "wouldn't it be cool" things that were discussed and then dismissed, and use those "wouldn't it be cool" things that were not in the contract as reasons why you were not paying a bill, is not only not supported, not professional, but also not ethical.

We expect our clients to treat us as professionally as they treat them. And we also expect our clients to pay their bills, as per our legally enforced contracts with them. We don't like being ripped off. You don't like being unhappy.

Pay your bills, fulfill the obligations of your contract, and have the website you've always wanted. It's not that difficult a concept. For most.

Working Well with Your Web Designer - Part Two

2011-03-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

When your site demo is presented to you, make sure it’s what you want before you give your approval. If it’s not, be very specific about the changes you want, whether in design, functionality or content. Please do not let us get to the middle or near the end of your project before telling us you don’t like something and want some element of the design changed. This could potentially mean a huge amount of work for us, delays in live date and without a doubt, higher cost to you depending on the changes. Do not assume that your flat rate contract fee will include major changes in design and functionality once you have signed off on major design features.

A smart designer has business policies set up just like any other business, whether they are terms of use, contract policies, turn-around times, or simple hours of operation. Whatever they are, you can bet the designer has a good reason for implementing them. What those reasons are doesn’t matter, they are what they are and your respect of them is greatly appreciated.

Please understand that if there is something you want on your web site that your designer might not be skilled in (Flash, for example), that does not mean that you won't get what you want. Most of us have resources to sub-contract that which we aren’t personally skilled in. If you spring this on us when the project is at the mid-way point or nearly done, don’t expect to have it accomplished without a delay or additional cost. If your request is out of the scope of your contract, you will be billed the cost of the sub-contractor’s fees, and must remember that the work will be done on their time-table.

Don’t make demands and expect immediate responses. Do not email updates and changes at 3 am and want to know why they aren't completed by 8 am. Please respect our telephone and business hours. As important as you are to us, you are not our only client nor are you the only need we have on our To-Do list on any given day. Remember that you are not the only one paying us to do a job.

Constantly asking “how much will this cost” will likely add to your cost! If time has to be spent to figure cost estimates for every little thing, most designers are going to charge you for the research and calculation time if your requests for estimates become excessive. Your designer is quite conscious of your budget and will do what they can to stick close to it. If it looks like things are going to go significantly over budget, whether that is due to complications or your additional demands and requirements, a responsible designer will notify you of this.

Once your project has been completed, Visit your own web site (and not just the home page) on a regular basis. Servers sometimes do strange things to web sites. Your host may have changed or updated a script that runs in the background, some host companies change servers without your knowledge which may break something on your site. Your site may be disfigured by hackers. Checking your site on some kind of regular basis is to your benefit. If you find something amiss, let your designer know right away so they can fix it. We recommend checking your site completely at least once a week.

Check your eMail, check your eMail, check your eMail and make it a priority to communicate with your designer. If you change eMail addresses, notify your designer. If you’re going to be gone for an extended period of time, notify your designer. If you send your designer an eMail and don’t receive a timely response, send it again, perhaps the designer didn’t receive it. Although they like to say they can, even the Post Office can’t guarantee mail delivery. Cyberspace is unpredictable. Most designers work strictly by eMail for very good reasons. eMail provides a way for us to document what you tell us. We have your information in hard copy format to refer to.

Using the telephone for edits, updates and design changes means we have to take fast notes. Did you ever try to take notes during a conversation that speeds along and changes direction several times and then have to try to decipher those notes later? Not always an easy task and so very easy to get wrong! eMail input from the client gives us a chance to research a question or problem rather than try to answer it verbally on the spot – which sometimes can be incorrect, misinterpreted or not complete enough.

Don’t fall into the “if you build it they will come” philosophy. Putting a site up on the web does not mean automatic immediate exposure nor is it a recipe for overnight success. It does not mean your site goes straight to the top of the search engines. It does not mean that people are going to flock to your site the moment it hits the web. Once your web site is up, it takes care and maintenance to get it to the point of being seen. You cannot just “set it and forget it, ” there is no such thing as an “automatic pilot” button for your web site. This is where SEO comes into the picture. It’s imperative that you understand that although your site is live, it doesn’t mean the work is done. Please include SEO into your contracts, or be aware that you will be invoiced for this service when you request it later.

Never rely totally on your website for income or exposure for your business. You must have other ways to sell your product, and must use means to promote your web site as a way to sell them. Your web site should be just one tool in your business toolbox.

Listen to and work with your designer. You are, after all, hiring and paying them for their expertise. We are all aware of the phrase “the customer is always right.” If you insist on something, more than likely we will comply even if we feel it’s detrimental to your site. Please remember that it is part of our job to guide you, to look out for the best interest of your site, make suggestions, provide solutions and advise you of what might be a serious mistake. However, we can’t force you to follow our advice. The final say-so comes from you. If you don’t listen to us and your site doesn’t do as well as you’d hoped, you don’t have a leg to stand on when you blame the designer.

An experienced web designer is a walking talking wealth of information that has taken years and a tremendous amount of work and hours to accumulate. Pumping us for information and then taking that information and doing your web site yourself or giving the information to another designer you’ve hired to do the work is no different than stealing. A smart designer will not give too much information without being paid for it – this kind of conversation is called a consultation. If you go to a lawyer, they may give you an hour’s free consultation but if you want more, you pay for it.

Tips for Working Well with your Web Designer - Part One

2011-01-31T17:55:00.001-08:00

Web designers work with a wide variety of people anywhere and everywhere in the world. And as is the case with any workplace, virtual or in person, people are people and things happen. Personality conflicts and in general life’s happenings sometimes cause friction and problems.

A web designer’s job is to know web design, and your job is to know your business. Please don’t expect us to know your business and we won’t expect you to know ours.

Don’t automatically assume that because you had a bad experience with one web or graphic designer, that this will be repeated with each and every design company that you have contact with.

If you have your text and image content ready in digital format before hiring a designer, it will save you money. You can scan the images and send them to your designer via eMail or mail them on a CD in digital format.

If you have a page preference that a particular photo or image should go on, tell us. We are web designers not mind readers. Our idea of where an image is best placed may be totally different than yours. We can always discuss this with you if there is a mis-match of ideas on this.

A web designer builds and develops web sites. Most do not teach web design. If you want to learn web design or build your own site — we suggest that you do what we had to do; find a way to learn on your own. Please do not come to us and ask us to show you how it’s done for free, or ask for our guidance so you can do it yourself. For most of us, our web work is how we make our living and giving it away for free will not feed our children nor pay our bills. NOr will it pay the high fees necessary for our daughters to play hockey. Would you go to a car lot and ask a salesman for a free new car and expect to get it? Would you go to an open house and ask the realtor to give you the home for nothing?

Have all pertinent information such as log-ins, passwords, FTP information, and anything else related to your web site where you can get at it readily. Don’t wait until you hire a designer to obtain this information.

When sending content to your designer, organize it first. Send the data in digital format via eMail, text eMail attachment or on a CD, not faxed, not handwritten, not in pdf format and NEVER by telephone. The content should already be checked for spelling and grammar errors. If you are not especially good at spelling or grammar, get someone who is to proof-read it. If your bill is higher than you had anticipated, and you left this work to your designer, don’t complain about the additional cost. You are billed for anything outside of the scope of your contract, and content editing for grammar and punctuation might not be something that your web designer includes. Most do not.

Please let us do the job you are paying us to do! Don’t try to micromanage. If you absolutely must do it yourself, please do. Don’t waste your money and our time by paying us to do what you feel you can do better on your own.

If someone refers you to their designer, don’t expect the cost of your 25 page eCommerce web site to cost the same as their 5 page personal web site. Each site is unique with it’s own functions and needs. Please have this in mind when your designer is writing up your contract proposal, so that everything you need is included in your contract.

Everyone's first question is how much their web site will cost. We cannot estimate a cost for your project until we know what you want. It’s a waste of everyone’s time to try to do it the other way around. Before you contact a designer to ask “how much will my web site cost,” do your homework first then shop for a designer. Again, remember that additional features and functions requested for your website that are outside the scope of your original contract will be invoiced at an additional cost to you.

We ask you what you want for a site look, color preference or other features for a reason. Our goal is to have our design efforts hit the mark as close as we can to your description and hope you’ll love your site the first time we show you the mock-up. When we ask, be honest, up-front and to the point. Provide examples of web sites that you like, if possible. One of the biggest right-hand assistants a designer has is a visual of the look you’re hoping to achieve. Draw us a picture, send us a photo. If you simply tell us “I’ll leave that up to you” don’t be disappointed if we don’t hit the mark the first few times around and don’t complain when you’re invoiced for additional design(s) and time spent to create them.

That being said, please don’t ask us to create a site that looks “just like” another site. Do not ask us to "clone" another website's appearance, content, or functionality. Copyright law prohibits us from copying another web site. This includes both the look and the content.

To Be Continued.

Contract Issues - Happy Endings, Not So Happy Endings

2011-01-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

Contracts between clients and designers end in a variety of ways.

Most of the time, a project comes to its natural end, and the designer and the client part ways amicably. In many cases, clients return to the designer to extend or renew a contract to cover updates, revisions or redesigns, and their collaboration continues for many years.
Sometimes, a contract will come to an end, and updates and revisions are passed along to the client's employees or volunteers. Some projects grow to a point where it is necessary that they be handed over to larger entities to manage, and they are passed off in a seamless, professional manner.

Other contracts do not end on such high notes. For example, just recently, we worked with a client, a dog breeder group called American Coton de Tulear Association (ACTA), with contract for what was to be a very small simple website; no bells, no whistles, a small information only website. And that was the contract that was provided to and signed by the client. This "small simple" website quickly expanded through a series of literally hundreds of emails (sometimes upwards of 40 a day) far beyond the scope of their contract to a huge unwieldy website of 50 plus pages, with a complicated dropdown menu and several proposed flash photo galleries, as well as repair, major editing and redesigning their club logo; all things that were completely out of the scope of their contract. And these requests, or should I say demands, would have continued had a stop not been put to them.

I blame myself for letting it get as far as it did; I was too nice, too accommodating, and allowed myself to be manipulated and taken advantage of, which is something very much out of character. It wasn't even a situation that could be considered scope creep, which is a common and usually minimal thing. This project was scope barrelling down a hill out of control.

When the out-of-scope demands got completely out of hand, I put a stop to it, indicating that no more out of scope work would be performed, and that invoices would be issued at an hourly rate for the continual additions and expansion of the site not included in the original contract. This included an extra fee for the creation of flash galleries that we were notified would be added, which in no way were included in the original scope of the project.

Suddenly, I was the bad guy. How could I charge them for anything at all over and above what they'd paid for the contract?? After all, couldn't they just continue to ask for the moon and the stars and the sun, more and more and more, and not pay another dime? Didn't the flat fee they paid with the original contract cover anything they wanted to add, regardless of complexity or scope, for the next year?

Since they were facing having to pay for scope creep, and could not continue to demand additional features for the site without payment, the client decided that they would just walk away from the contract as if it didn't exist, ignoring all emails, changing password access to the site, and violating the terms of a binding and legal contract blatantly and with quite a bit of arrogance.

After repeated attempts to solve this problem in a logical way and being ridiculed and even threatened, I did a bit of research on this particular breeder organization, as well as contacting other breeder clubs. I found that this client had been in legal trouble in the past, and has caused quite a bit of drama in the Coton Breeders world. It didn't occur to me to do this kind of research while in the contract writing stage, it was never something I had come across before. I have since learned that it may be a new requirement for our company, to do a bit of research on a client before offering them a contract. It might also indicate that our contract needs to be expanded and "toughened up" a bit, so that a prospective client knows that they will be responsible for payment on any items not included in the original contract. In the meantime, we will be forced to take this client to small claims court for hundreds of dollars of unpaid fees, an unfortunate consequence of them violating our legal and binding contract.

I will be writing a much tougher cancellation policy into our new contracts, as well as our Terms of Use. It will protect our clients, it will protect us, and it will eliminate those clients and those contracts that become a drain on our talent and our time. This is sad, but unfortunately, true. We should all strive to treat each other in the most professional manner possible, whether client or contractor. When that doesn't happen, it is a sad day indeed.

A Bullet Proof Web Contract Protects Both Parties

2010-12-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

A bulletproof Web design contract ensures both sides -- Web site owner and Web designer -- get a fair deal. It ensures a smooth project, and avoids future disputes due to misunderstandings.

Here are 6 essential clauses for any Web design contract you sign.

1. Milestones and Deadlines

It's better to have a few milestones with concrete dates than one final delivery deadline. Having multiple deadlines provides for periodic checks to keep the project on track and moving along.

2. Specific Deliverables

Be very specific about deliverables. Examples of good specific deliverables are "Site works in top 5 browsers -- IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2, Safari" and "All code, graphics, mockups and other work product emailed in one zipfile before final payment will be issued." Spell out exactly what you expect to be delivered before the designer will be paid.

3. Number of Concepts

Also called "mockups" or "comps." The design process will start with the designer showing you concepts of what your homepage might look like. You'll work with the designer to take what you like from each concept until you agree on one look. In order to have enough choices in layouts, colors, and other variables, you'll want to have enough concepts to work with. Three concepts is a good number of choices that won't break the budget.

4. Number of Revisions

These are the rounds of notes and thoughts you give the designer to narrow down the 3 concepts to 1. Three rounds of revisions is a good number that will give you enough time to get a design you love without breaking the budget.

5. Payment

Paying 50 percent before work starts is a commonly accepted practice. Never pay the full amount up front.

6. Intellectual Property

You need to know who owns the rights to the design, including mockups, code and other work product.

Do You Really Need a CMS? Think About It.

2010-09-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we hear from clients when discussing a new web presence is that they need a content management system (CMS). If I were an unscrupulous website designer, I would nod my head in agreement and add the costs for such a request to my proposal, without discussion. However, I am not an unscrupulous web designer, and will open a conversation with the client about the necessity of a CMS. In many cases, a CMS is not needed and can be more detrimental to a small company than beneficial.

A CMS allows you to edit your website without involving a website designer. This probably sounds great and now you’re probably asking, “Hey, why wouldn’t I want that? I can take care of my site by myself, without having to know anything about web design!” Take a look at a list of pros and cons.

Pros of a CMS
•Can edit simple content without your website designer
•Format of content will be uniform across website, controlled by a CMS template
•Allows different people to access the CMS for content updates
•Puts the website owner in control

Cons of a CMS
•The cost of adding a CMS to a project can be considerable
•Code tends to be bloated and opens a website to multiple security holes
•Design can be constrained and restructed by the CMS framework
•Unless used regularly, users may forget how to use the CMS; learning curve can be substantial

The pros of a CMS are what everyone knows, and what everyone is told. However the cons are often shuffled under the table. You should definitely consider both the pros and cons when considering using one with your project.

How do you determine if you really need a CMS? Here are a few things to consider.

How often will the website be updated? What kinds of updates will they be?
If you are updating your website more than once or twice a month, a CMS may serve you well, depending on the types of updates you are making. However, if you are updating less than once a month, you will more likely be better off simply working with your website designer to make edits. If time is essential, it is simple enough to require a specific turnaround time for updates from your designer.

Do you have sufficient resources to commit to a CMS?
Many of my clients are small business owners, non-profit organizations, or sole proprietorships. The last thing they need is one more thing to worry about. If you are going to implement a CMS, you need to make sure you have people who will be responsible for using it regularly, or can commit to that time yourself. Additionally, consider that there is a learning curve. Do you have the time and patience to learn the CMS? Or will you be faced, down the road, with hiring a web designer to make those WordPress, Drupal or Joomla updates for you?

Do you plan on having a blog on your website?
Blogging has grown exponentially in recent years. It’s a great way to keep website content fresh. If you are planning on blogging than a CMS might be required. However, do not believe that a CMS is required to include a blog in your website; any blogging site has the capability to be included into your website as a live feed, with an active updated presence on any page of your website that you desire.

If maintenance will be done in house, do you or any of your staff know html?
Contrary to popular belief there are ways to maintain a website in house without a CMS. If you have someone who knows HTML, he/she will be able to edit the website directly. A standards based website separates content from the design so basic HTML skills are all that’s needed. More substantial design changes and updates can be handled by your web designer.

The case for not having a CMS
I recently collaborated with a top-notch IT firm on a several projects. One of their people had a saying, “All content management systems suck. Some just suck less.” While “suck” might be a bit strong, I can say from experience that adding a CMS does limit a website’s flexibility. Many CMSs have a pre built framework that has to be worked around. By their nature a CMS is also template based, which can be limiting. A CMS is also not always SEO friendly, much less so than a standard HTML or XHTML site (although moreso than a Flash design).

A website built without a CMS does not have these types of limitations. It will also have a much smaller code base and be less susceptible to security holes. When I build a website from scratch, I am familiar with every single piece of code, because I wrote it. I also know how it can be changed or manipulated to get the results that I and my client desire. The same cannot be said when relying on a CMS.

Too often, people see a CMS as some kind of magic bullet. But it really isn’t. I think there is something to be said for having an expert handling all your updates. Your website designer will ensure the quality of any edits and will also have ideas to share with you regarding making improvements to your website.

Conclusion
There are definitely websites and organizations that require a CMS. However, there are cases where one is simply not needed or necessary. This decision should be made in consultation with your website designer rather than you simply making it a requirement because it is something you heard about, because it is the "new" thing, or because CMS is the latest buzzword. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous website designers who will be quick to add that cost to your proposal even if it isn’t necessary.

How Much Should a Website Cost?

2010-08-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

How much should website cost? This is the most frequently asked question of any website developer or designer.

To establish the cost for a website without knowing the clients' basic needs would be like a contractor quoting prices for home renovations without knowing what work needed to be done.

Complexity of website features you require will usually be the determining factor for the actual cost of your website.

When considering the total cost of a website, please keep the following in mind:

Customers most often turn to the internet when they are searching for a product or service, far more often than the yellow pages.

Many people have found the initial cost of a website to be less than the cost to their business NOT making their presence known on the web. The cost of investing in a professional website is comparable to the cost of advertising in periodicals. In fact, many websites can cost less than one display advertisement in a major big city newspaper!

There are 4 main components to any website:

Domain Name

Your first step is to purchase the right to use "www.yourname.com" on the web. The yourname.com is the domain name. Purchasing a domain name ranges from $5 - $35, depending on the type (.com, .org, .net). Your webmaster will have a relationship with a reliable place from which to purchase your domain name and will handle the set up of your domain if necessary. Note: You can have several domain names all pointing to the same location, and this can be an inexpensive way to increase your website traffic and search engine placement. Your domain registration fee is an annual cost.

Hosting

You pay a website host to keep your website online. This cost can be billed monthly or yearly. They host your graphics and html files on their server, and keep it running 24/7. Your web designer can add code which will log visits to your website, and run software that allows you to know how many people have come to your site, from where, what pages they visited, and so forth.

Hosting can be included as part of your web design package, or can be charged to you separately from your provider. This cost can range from $20 a month on up to hundreds of dollars a year, depending on how much information you're going to have on your site, how many people will come to it, and the other services provided along with the hosting.

Design

Most of the start-up costs are going to be involved with the design and development of your website, both front end and back end. What type of graphics will you have? Are you providing graphics, or will your designer need to create custom graphics for your site? How involved are you doing to be in writing the copy? Do you know how you want the pages set up? Do you need help gathering information and content? What extra features do you want on your site, i.e. blog feeds, calendars, Flash elements, photo galleries, etc? Will your website require a database? A standard small business site could cost as little as $500 from a freelance designer, or as much as $5,000 from a large web agency.

Maintenance

How often will your site need to be updated? Will you offer interactive pages on your site that need to be monitored, such as blogs and forums? Does your business have consistent news and information updates or will your website remain relatively static for long periods of time? This is another area in which costs can be included in your initial design contract. Contracts can be written to include one year of maintenance and updates as part of your start up costs.

Some people choose to update their own site once it's been built. Letting your webmaster know this upfront can help everyone do a better job. A professional can update an entire site in less time than it probably takes the average computer user to figure out how things are set up, where they are, and how to make changes and publish them. If you feel qualified to make your own updates, that will be an additional consideration to be made in the development of your site. Maintenance costs can be included in your contract, or charged separately by your web designer, at hourly costs that range from $35-$150 per hour and higher.

In conclusion, it is important to remember that a professional business website reaches a worldwide audience, and promotes your company, your services or your product 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The cost of a web site can vary greatly, depending upon the site's features, needed marketing services, aesthetic qualities, and the design firm, advertising agency, or freelancer creating the Web design.

How to Hire the Right Web Designer

2010-08-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Websites don't just build themselves. A small business owner will find that there are many choices to make when establishing an online presence.

A few of the critical questions a business owner needs to answer immediately include: "What kind of website do I want for my business?" "Do I need outside help building my site?" "If I need help, how do I go about selecting a website developer?"

Your first step will be answering these three questions:

1.Does my website need to have a one-of-a-kind design? Would a template do, and do I have the skills to edit and alter one for my needs? Am I willing to pay monthly fees to one of the large "hosting/template" companies for a "do it yourself" website? Am I better off hiring a web designer with the skills to alter and customize a template without all the additional time and fees that a "do it yourself" package entail?

2.How complex will my online business be? Is it merely a website to promote my company, serving as a marketing tool for my brick-and-mortar business? Will my website need to have an online store or be integrated with third-party tools such as auctions or blogs?

3.Do I have the technical capability to do any of this? Do I have the time to learn? For most businesses, the answer to No. 3 trumps the preceding questions.

Once the early decisions have been made, there are additional questions to be answered.

1. How many pages will comprise your website?

What kind of functionality do you intend to feature on your website? In addition to an ecommerce store, a business could offer features like email newsletter sign-ups, product demos, blogs, calendars, product photo galleries, etc.

2. At some point, however, you'll have to decide whether you're up to creating this website by yourself.

If you don't have a technophile within your reach, or on your staff, and if your site will be more complex than a couple pages of content, then hiring a web developer is in your future. It is recommended that you begin by setting up a budget upfront for the entire project, considering costs for design and development, hosting, SSL certificates, hosted or licensed shopping cart solutions, blogs and photo royalties.

3. Choosing a designer/developer. Opting to hire the lowest project bidder merely because he/she is the least expensive is possibly the most serious selection faux pas possible. You really get what you pay for, and may be spending additional funds for a second designer/developer to repair the low ball price website.

Presuming you've budgeted for a developer, consider these rules-of-thumb:

•Knowing what functionality you want from your site up front will help you get a more accurate quote from a web designer. The more information you can give a designer, the better qualified they are to give you a quote that reflects your needs.

•You can work with someone who does not live in your town, state or country, but it's important that there is clear, constant communication. This communication can be by email or by phone, but be sure that there is a consistent flow of information in both directions. This can determine project success or failure.

•Look for a long-term partner because it's likely you'll need tweaks to your site or tech support. Once your site is completed, you will need someone to make updates, changes, add features, etc., and if you have hired a designer/developer to create your site, you would be better served keeping that designer/developer available for long term maintenance issues.

Benefits of a Web Presence

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Just ten years ago most people had not even heard of the Internet. In just a little over a decade it has grown from a very simple way to send email to a sophisticated form of communication. Today everyone is at least aware of the Internet and the majority of people use it on a daily basis.

A few of the benefits for a small business with a business website include:

Increased Market Size: A business website presence broadens the market reach for your business from local to global.

Reduced Information Distribution Costs: Practically every business distributes some sort of information -- product sheets, technical specs, catalogs, brochures, order forms, proposals, etc. A business website allows you to provide that information to your customers in real time when they need it.

Expanded Availability to Customers: Your business website gives your customers access to your business 24/7 with very little increase in overhead or employment costs. Having your information available allows the customer to review the services you provide at their convenience.

A Step Up on Your Competition: As a business owner, the last thing you want to do is to give your prospective clients a detailed list of your competitors, including addresses and phone numbers. But that is exactly what the Yellow Pages do. Using the internet, you can differentiate yourself from everyone else, so that when your prospective clients come looking for what you do, they find you, not all your competitors.

Increased Sales: If your small business website includes an online shopping cart or e-commerce solution, you can increase your sales with little additional cost. Photo galleries, portfolios or samples of your work and the services you provide gives potential customers increased confidence in the support you can provide for them.

Customers Require It: This is probably the most important benefit of having a business web site. If you own a business today, your customers EXPECT you to have a web site. This expectation almost requires you to have some sort of interactive, dynamic web presence.

The Internet makes it possible to communicate with your customers on their terms, within their time-table. It makes it possible to automate the distribution of information and provide your customers access to 24/7 customer service. Even if you don't use the Internet to increase your market reach and revenue, the Internet has made it possible to keep your customers happy.

Why Hire a Web Designer?

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Many on-line business owners start with very little money. They have to do everything themselves; preparing their product, developing a marketing strategy, building their website. However, they often find that their simple "homemade" web site might not be enough to cover everything, and they will have to take days or weeks away from their business to dedicate to website expansion.

How many business owners have the ability to take that much time away from building and running their businesses?

When you hire a web designer, you are doing more than just handing over work that you do not have the time or inclination to do. By investing a little money in a web designer, you will be more focused and have more time to spend on your actual business strategy.

The designers you hire are professionals, and should be experienced at what they do. By outsourcing your web design projects to them, you won't have to worry that you will spend time away from your business when problems surface; you have someone that will fix them for you. They have the expertise to pin point any problems that may come up, and will be able to fix it in a minimum amount of time.

The most common aspect of marketing your business online is to brand your company, and to look professional as a business. The problem with starting a business online is lack of resources, such as creating a website for your business, and other essential resources that you need in order grow your business further.

When you hire a web designer, you are hiring him to do what he does best, a professional job that can have a dramatic affect on your business. A designer will save you the time in creating and putting your web site online, and provide you with the originality you desire.

Experience and knowledge is what the average person lacks in designing, building, and maintaining a web site. Hiring a web designer saves you the time you would spend with trial and error design -- Such as learning software, html, css, SEO, and other coding required.

Web designers wear many hats -- Web Design, Development, Programming, Graphic Artist, Management, Maintenance, Marketing and more; skills and services that you may or may not have the time and expertise to perform.

Can you do it all yourself?

Maybe. But how much time do you want to invest before you decide that the answer to that question is no?