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My Ten Secrets of a Great Cheap Web Site.

1. Do Your Homework
For a Web site to be as cheap as possible you need to do much of the groundwork yourself. Call it homework if you like.
Go online, find half a dozen great looking sites and bookmark them. They don't have to be related to your business, but they should be based around a business model.
You're choosing them for looks only, nothing more! A great colour scheme or dynamic graphics. Print off the homepage and if they stretch to two sheets, stick them together with tape. Get an overall view of the index page. Don't worry if the sites you choose "look" expensive. Visual effects can be deceptively easy to accomplish.

2. Site Construction
Now go back to each one and try to determine how the site structure works. The longer you spend doing this the more you will understand your own site from the point of view of the people who will be using it.
Your looking to check if the site navigates well, is there a link that always comes home? Do you instinctively know what a particular button or link will do and where it will take you? Were you right? How much of what's here will you require? Are you happy here, or bored? Does it make you want to stick around or leave for the next one? Did the site deliver what it promised, do you feel let down? Would you feel happy trading with these people?

When you can be positive about these things, you know you're onto a site you can model from.

3. Narrow Focus
Think about how you will streamline your site, compared to those you have chosen. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS. Web sites that try to be all things to all people end up doing very little business at all. The tighter the focus of your Web site, the better off you will be when trying to market your site, to the public, and equally importantly, the search engines.

Don't forget the volume of work you give your designer, will be reflected in the price. You can always add extra pages later, such as FAQ (frequently asked questions) or testimonials as your business increases, the Web site can expand to reflect this growth.

4. Using Existing Graphics
If you already have logos that you're happy with, supply your designer with good quality copies in internet formats, usually JPEG or GIF. Working on digital images is time consuming and therefore expensive. The more help you can give your designer in this regard, the lower your costs will be.

5. Work With Your Site Builder
For new businesses and new Web sites, any ideas you have for logo design can help reduce the costs of brainstorming sessions when creating site/business identity. Many business owners have a mental image of how they see themselves in relation to their business and the market place, and this can often be the basis of a fantastic logo. Don't be afraid to experiment.

6. Plan Ahead
The importance of planning ahead can't be overstated. Have an outline which is thorough enough to keep you on track. Changes made half-way through a project can be costly.
Decide early what you want to see on your Web site, the interactive elements that you want your customers to take part in will require time to set up. Have an idea of the number of pages you'll need and the likely content of each. If you have proven sales copy already and/or brochure text and images that explain your products, you're already a long way towards having a successful Web site.

7. Templates by Design
The best money saving tip of all is to ask your designer to do the homepage and one or two inner pages, leaving one as a template or "skeleton" page for you to fill in the blanks. That way you control the content and the pace of growth.
You simply need to use Microsoft's FrontPage or any other web build software and fill in the text boxes. You'll soon get the hang of adding images and creating links. Also, if you've agreed a fee beforehand, there's no reason why you can't email the page to your designer to check or make corrections before going live with it.

8. Save Your Cash, Avoid the Flash
A word about FLASH animation. Flash is an expensive trinket that you would do as well without. Many sites use it and it does have something of a WOW! factor, but that's where it ends. When you have to go through the same distracting animation time after time, it starts to wear a bit thin. If you feel that way at all, just imagine the effect it will have on your visitors.

There is another problem with flash in that parts of the site may be invisible to some of the major search engine crawlers. Despite Macromedia creating tools to allow search engines to index flash content, it's still a very hit and miss affair. Why put yet another obstacle in the way of indexing and listing by the search engines?

9. Inform, don't Advertise
Avoid the blatantly obvious "buy me", "buy me", "buy me" buttons you find on many sites and the idea of quickly steering your visitor to make a decision. This will frighten them off. Try to be relaxed in your sales copy and focus on providing your visitor with the information they seek, answer their questions, help them see that you value them and then ask for the sale.
Information delivery makes the sale - not advertising. This means text will be your main content. Use graphics sparingly to provide clarity.

10. Domain Names
You must present a professional image to your customers and that means having your own domain name. An AOL or Freeserve (no disrespect meant to either) business address will do little toward establishing your credibility in the market place.

Would you still be reading this if the site was www.geocities/freepages/phils_web_design.html? Not likely is it?

###Bonus###

11. Avoiding the "Search Rage" Syndrome
Keep your Web site design very simple. Think about your own search habits. Don't you prefer a simple design, one in which you find exactly what you want, quickly and without having to click your way through pages of useless material, first? The fact is, you don't put up with it do you? You move on!
Think about what your visitors want to see, not what you want to show them!!

Do your homework, plan your site, with enough effort you too can have a professional looking Web site for a fraction of the price.

If you have the stamina for some of the donkey work, perhaps I can help you create a better looking Web site for a much reduced fee, please Contact Me with your details and ideas.

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