WEB CREATION AND DESIGN
$500.00

As your web site designer, I will...

• Help you to select and then register a domain name (I recommend registering your domain for 2 years or more). Check to see if the domain you're thinking about is available. Your domain name does NOT have to be your business name. It can (and should) be your keyword phrase that best describes your business (like www.murder-mystery-game.com for my downloadable mystery game kits).
• Help you select and sign up with a hosting company. 
• Set up your email account(s).
• Based on Google's Web Master Guidelines, provide a clean web site design that is pleasing to the eye and optimized for the search engines. *I will NOT use those free templates available on the Internet. You need a build a unique brand/niche and using a free template that 1000's of others could be using will NOT help you do that. I used the software program called Dreamweaver to design all my sites. Why is that important?
• Create the following basic pages to start your site:
  • Home (index page) – This page is your first impression page. It must strongly present the benefits of your product/service – what is your sales message? It must entice your potential customer to do something: visit your store or buy your product or service for example.
  • Contact page - including a submission form to request more info or to be added to your mailing list for your newsletter if you have one. 
  • Sitemap (to submit to Google and Yahoo so their spiders will crawl your compete web site)
  • 2 additional pages of your choice.  I recommend a testimonials page – this is the best form of “advertising” there is.  Show a potential customer that others LOVE what you do or sell which means in all probability they will too. I can't tell you how many sales I make based on my customers reading my testimonial pages. (Be sure to ask permission to post a testimonial; valid and trustworthy testimonials MUST include a person’s full name, city and state.)
• Provide search engine optimization (not including linking strategies*) and submission to the most important free search engines and directories.
• Provide a 3 month warranty which includes free changes/updates to the web site and search engine updates and submissions as needed.
• Provide a copy of all files used to create the web site.  You own the web site once it is complete.

Please note: I do not do Flash or animation sites.

*In order for your site to rank well with any search engine, Google in particular, you will need to have other websites link to your site.  It's time consuming and pretty boring to find quality sites to link to your site and not all links are good links.  I can give you an overview on what your strategy should be. Here's a Google overview on solid linking strategies to improve you web page ranking.

Getting started with your web site – what I need from you.

• Determine your web site's chief purpose – why do you want a web site, what do you want it to do for your business or service, how can you help a potential customer?  This will be the message on your home page.
• Create a list of keyword phrases that best describe your product or service – these will be the words I’ll use to optimize your search engine positioning using what’s called meta tags. *See example below.
• I’ll need photos that help sell your product or service.  For example happy people enjoying your delicious ice cream (be sure to ask permission to post a photo of any person). Send images in .jpg format.
• I’ll need current photos of owners and short biographies (1 paragraph). Send images in .jpg format.  You need to put faces to your web site – personalize it, let people know that there are real people behind what is being sold or promoted.  You’ll help to build trust this way.
• If you have any web sites that you like visually (and you should) I need a list of those URLs (although I'm not a graphic designer so I'll do the best I can or tell you I can't replicate the site design).  Please note: I do not do Flash or animation sites.
• If you have any promotional/marketing materials I’ll need those as well.
• If you have a logo design I’ll need that in .jpg or .gif format.
• What do YOU want to see on your web site that hasn’t been mentioned yet?
  

*This is an example of the important meta tags required for your web site. Meta tags are used to help some search engines (like Google) index your pages in their directories.

The web site from which these tags come is www.scavenger-hunt-idea.com which sells downloadable scavenger hunt games.

YOUR TITLE TAG CONTAINS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT KEYWORD PHRASE(S) (in this case it’s ‘scavenger hunt’, ‘scavenger hunt games’, 'scavenger hunt ideas' ).  Shoot for a 7-8 word title.

<title>Outdoor Scavenger Hunt Games / Ideas - Download Now</title>

YOUR DESCRIPTION TAG ALSO USES YOUR MOST IMPORTANT KEYWORD PHRASES AND PROVIDES A NICE SUMMARY OF WHAT YOUR WEBSITE OFFERS.  Shoot for about 355 characters including spaces:

<meta name="Description" content="Great scavenger hunt ideas! Several outdoor scavenger hunt games to choose from: Find items, picture/photo, nature, Las Vegas. Any size group. Age 10-adult. Download now." />

YOUR KEYWORDS TAG IS NOT AS IMPORTANT ANYMORE BUT IT SHOULDN’T BE ELIMINATED JUST YET:

<meta name="keywords" content="scavenger hunts, hunt, ideas, party games, download, for kids, for adults, las vegas, nature, picture, find items, outdoor, scavanger hunts" />  Note: misspelled words are included on purpose; not everyone knows how to spell!

Need more than what I've described here (like a shopping cart*)? Please fill out the form on the contact page so I can provide you with a cost estimate. *I use Miva Merchant.

• ARTICLE: The Importance Of Sound Website Design & Search Engine Spiders
• Need a Merchant Account? Take a look at Free Authorize.net Gateway and Merchant Account

Contact me today and let's get started on your website.