Would you like a website, but think website design and development isn't in your budget? Or perhaps you want a website and just don't know where to begin? Maybe you have an idea in mind, but not the time or interest to develop it. In any case, let us help.

SoensDesign.com is a home-based business catering to small and growing businesses. Overhead (bricks and mortar) is kept to a minimum, translating to affordable website design geared toward small businesses and artists. You can expect personal service. For something beyond a "brochure" website, we also network with professionals who provide database help, login systems, e-commerce, live chat and webhosting solutions,when you are ready to grow.

• DOMAIN REGISTRATION : First, register your domain name. Even if you are not yet ready to start work on the website, protect your idea or business by registering the domain name, preferably using .com, .net, .org and/or .biz. Contact us if you have any questions about registration.
• HOSTING : Your website needs to be hosted, or stored on a server with a high-speed connection, providing a 24/7 Internet connection. To keep costs down, most small businesses share a main server. We'll recommend a company to host your site, if you don't already have one. (We work with a local company we know you'll like.) You will be able to edit your own text as needed.
• DESIGN: We try to make designing your website as easy and fun as possible. For your part, you'll want to:

• Peruse the ideas we'll supply and think about which one will best suit your needs. Or you may have another "look" that you'd like to get. Give us an idea of what you want, and we'll see what we can do together.
• Gather the materials you'll need to complete your site. This is usually photos (either digital or film) of your products, and your logo (either digital or a high-resolution copy).
• Think about text for your website. You may want to provide a printed brochure, if you have one, for text.
• Have an idea of how you want the site to "flow" — i.e. when you click on which link, where do you want it to go?
• Think about how you want your customers to contact you. Do you want a form? Or just an e-mail link to you? Do you want a guest book?

• Navigation should be uncomplicated. The navigation area should be immediately apparent — to the side or at the top — with no scrolling to find it. Every page within your site will be linked to other pages for ease of navigation.
• Your web site design will use style sheets. That means if you choose to use another font or title design sometime down the line, it can be quickly changed.
• We design following file naming conventions and screen resolutions that work.
• Avoid Flash pages, frames and too much animation. These can detract from user's experience and may keep your pages from being properly indexed by the search engines.
• Avoid a "splash" page. That's an entry page to your "real" website where you will often see a "Skip Intro" link. Usually, users will click that "Skip Intro" link as quickly as they can find it.
• To optimize your web site for search engines, every page needs relevant text. We can help you write that. Keywords will be in the META tags and a title chosen emphasizing your keyword. Graphics will have "alt" tags. See our SEO tips.
• No broken links! Your web site will be checked to make sure all the links work and that pages are interlinked.
• Your web site design will look great and have graphics that "pull" it together.
• Your web site design will be checked to make sure pages download as quickly as possible. GIFs will be used where appropriate and JPEGs compressed, but not so much that they don't look good.
• For a more enjoyable experience, include interactive forms, calculators, contests, etc. to involve your viewer.
• Your web site design will be tested to make sure it works in the major browsers, including Explorer, Netscape, Firefox and Safari.

These tips will be incorporated into your website design and will be included in the cost.

• Picking your URL: When you pick a URL (web address) for your site, say it. Will it be easy to remember and spell for your customers? Do a search on the name on Yahoo or Google. What is your competition like for companies that have a similar name? Think of alternate domain names and research them. The simpler, the better!
• Search Engine Optimization: We'll go over the various ways search engines will look at your site, and it will be designed to optimize those methods. This is included in your website pricing.
• Site submission: We can submit your site to search engines or provide you guidance if you wish to do this yourself.
• Use the website URL (address) in all your media: brochures, business cards, invoicing, e-mails, radio ads. If you're not willing to reprint your stationery just yet, make stickers with your website address and attach them to your envelopes. Add the URL to your telephone message recording. Put your URL on T-shirts, tote bags or other items relevant to your business. Put it on your signage.
• Keep the site fresh! Put new photos on it, change some design element, and make sure the material is up-to-date. Our pricing is affordable enough to allow you to do this.
• Target your ad campaign to people who WANT your services or product. If you are a local service business, target your local neighborhoods. If you have a specific niche, find a newspaper, magazine, radio station, etc. that reaches that specific audience.
• Smaller ads run often will hammer home your message more than one "splashy" ad placed once in a long while.
• Run your ad campaign for as long and often as it is effective. It takes a long time for the message to reach and stick with your audience. Assuming your ad is well designed and well placed, keep it running.
• Budget carefully. Don't spend more money on your advertisements and public relations than you need to. If the ad doesn't work, find out why before you stop the campaign. The ad may be fine, but your timing is off or your choice of where to place the ad was wrong.
• Exchange links. Search for partner companies to exchange links. This will boost your listing in the search engines. If you have valuable information on your website, you'll find it easier to get other websites to link to yours. Create a page just for these exchange links for the search engines to find.
• Create a Free E-Mail Newsletter. Ask your customers to sign up for a free newsletter to alert them to sales, new information, useful updates, etc. Have the newsletter provide truly valuable information and, of course, include your URL in the text with a link to your website.
• Bookmarking your website. Remind your customers to bookmark your website, especially if your content is changing often.

If you're considering accepting credit cards, view Entrepreneur's Guide (PDF) for useful tips. We can integrate your website with PayPal's e-commerce shopping cart program.

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