I WANT A WEBSITE
(Happy Tails Farm)
So, the first question is “Where do I begin?” The second question is “How much will it cost?” This paper is intended to answer both questions and give you a better understanding of what needs to be done to get your website on-line so everyone can see it. Once you educate yourself, you can attempt to do it yourself or locate a qualified web designer that will do the work for you at a price you can afford. Since building a website is not easy, a professional web designer will save you time and make sure that your website attracts the customers you want.
Before contacting web designers to find out how much they will charge, you need to do your homework. Like the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t get there from here”. Similarly, “If you don’t know what you want, how can you expect someone to tell you how much it will cost?” Fortunately, I have developed a website worksheet to help you know what you want.
Choosing A Web Designer
If you like a web designer’s estimate and want to go with that designer instead of bartering with me, make sure the individual is qualified by looking at the his/her website designs and ask yourself --
- Are the sites appealing to potential customers?
- Are the headers/logo consistent from page to page?
- Is the menu consistent page to page?
- Does the person adhere to basic design principles: color, contrast, and alignment?
- Does the website force people to look at unwanted ads and popups, distracting colors, or annoying mouse tails?
Too Much Work?
Are you now asking yourself why you need a website? The answer is simple – to make more money by selling more goats to more customers. The reason that most terrific goats sell cheap rather than at competitive prices is because breeders aren't advertising. You need to market your goat business on the internet. Why on the internet? Because the internet is no longer the future for goat breeders– it IS the present. With so many goat breeders marketing their business on the internet, you need a website that get’s “noticed” – it needs to jump out at your potential buyers, be appealing to the eye, easy to maneuver from page to page, and one that contains your vision and personality. The end result must be a website that makes you proud and one that generates new customers.
$$$$ BOTTOM LINE $$$$
How much are you willing to pay to have an original, attractive website that sells your goats? How much is it worth? Well, ask yourself, "How much money will I earn from the additional business the new website will generate?" If you sell one additional goat--will it pay for itself? How about 2, 3, or 4 times that amount--will it more than pay for itself? You can’t go wrong ~~ you get to increase your profits while writing off the cost of your website or the value of the bartered doe as a business expense!
Website Terms You Need to Know
- Header: Ideally, your website should have the same information or picture (known as the header) at the top of each page. The header can be graphic text, or your logo, or a photo. There are graphic artists that will develop a professional logo for you – for a price or the web designer can give you a less flashy one.
- Internet Service Provider: the term used for a web hosting company.
- IP Address: This is a unique number that identifies a host server.
- Market or Marketing: to advertise your goats using signs, internet classified sites, newspapers, business cards, the internet, etc.
- Menu: the name of the pages you want the reader to visit, for example: Home Page, For Sale Page or link to your on-line store, Photo Gallery, Contact Page etc.
- Publish: Putting your web file on someone else's computer (called an internet web server) so others can see your website. These servers are owned by businesses known as ISPs.
- Secure Website: a website that begins with https://www instead of http://www. This allows buyers to use safely send encrypted credit card or personal information over the internet. You must have a secure IP address, purchase a security certificate, and have it installed on your server. The price for the certificate varies from $20 to $200 (costs are determined by the owner of the server).
- Server: Once your website is designed, the files are stored on an internet computer where they are visible to everyone. There are a lot of companies that host websites and their prices vary.
- Web Design: There are two ways to design a website. Hobbyists use Microsoft Front Page or programs offered by Internet Service Providers. Professional web designers design using code. To see the code that makes an internet page readable to you, go to any website and up in the top menu [File-Edit-View-Favorites-Tools-Help] click on VIEW and then SOURCE.
- Web Hosting: Storing your website on a server. Service also includes giving you email services and domain name registration (registering the name of your website, i.e., www.yourfarmname.com (instead of .com, you can use .info, .net, .org, .edu as appropriate).