How Do I Get a Quote for My Project?
The entire process from initial contact to a completed website is outlined below
Initial Contact (usually Email)
Head on over to my Contact Form and fill out as much information as possible about your project. I’ll give you a call back as soon as I have a spare few minutes to chat!
Let’s Chat! (Nice to Meet You)
During our initial phone conversation, you’ll give me some basic details about your business and what you are looking for, and I’ll provide a little background on me and how I can help you. If we’re a good fit for each other – great! Let’s proceed to the next Step.
Let’s Meet! (Zoom Meeting or Coffee Shop?)
Although a local coffee shop can be a great place to connect, it’s sometimes loud and the wi-fi can be spotty at best, not to mention dealing with masks and potential virus exposure. A much better solution is an easy online Zoom meeting using our webcams to meet and discuss your needs. Or, we can even schedule a face-to-face meeting in my quiet Fuquay location (aka my Dining Room). No matter what you choose, we’ll talk more in-depth about your project goals, requirements and budget and use that information to create a custom proposal with my best solutions for your review.
Selling Products? (eCommerce)
If your goal is to sell products, I’ll need a whole lot more information from you including product numbers, descriptions, options, pricing, merchant processing information, shipping, and more. Your proposal will take a little longer to put together, and the timeframe to create your site will be more than the standard 30-45 days.
Proposal / The Nitty Gritty
In approximately a day or two you’ll receive an email proposal with the details on the project. This proposal will be based on what you need to get a great website up and running. It will include project details, a proposed timeline, pricing table, and other pertinent details.
Want to Proceed with the Project?
We can further discuss the details to fine-tune things, or, if you’re happy with the proposal – we’re ready to start. A deposit of 50% of the project estimate is paid at this time and we’re off and running on the way to a first draft of the new website. Keep in mind that all of the content that you need to provide (text, images, bios, etc.) needs to be handed over at the beginning of the project so as not to cause any unnecessary delays.
Design Phase
Here’s where the magic happens. In a few weeks (typically 2-6 weeks, depending on the size of your project) you will be sent a link to the first draft of the website and we will communicate about what changes need to be made. This interative process will take us all the way to the completion of the new website. Once you give your final approval, the site goes live!
We’re Live!
Your site is now accessible to anyone who searches for it on the Internet. Share your site link with your friends and on social media, and ask for their feedback! Your site is now a showcase of your professional business to all those who see it. Be sure to add your website name to traditional marketing pieces like business cards, brochures, and your email signature too. And don’t worry; we’ve told Google, Yahoo and Bing about your new site, but they may take several days/weeks to add you to their search results. Once they do, you should be able to search on your company name and location and see your website in all 3 of these search engines.
Wrapping Up & Final Invoice
l will send over a comprehensive Finalization Email to wrap up the project and give you all the details about your new website: the Login information for you to access the Dashboard, the details about your annual hosting fee (including your yearly Hosting Anniversary Date), and the final invoice. Final invoices are Due on Receipt and considered late after 30 days overdue.
Revisions (“Just one more thing..”)
One final revision cycle is included in your quote. This is to handle those little changes that you remember/realize right after the site goes live. As long as you send these changes in during the first TWO WEEKS the site is live, there is no additional cost. This is not for new functionality to be added to the site, but for those small ‘tweaks’ like an addition staff picture, or updated bio information, etc. After those 2 weeks, the site is now considered to be in Maintenance Mode.
Video Tutorials (“But how do I create a Blog post?”)
Once your site is complete, I will record and place a customized Video Tutorial in your WordPress Dashboard showing you how to perform simple tasks such as adding an image, updating text or creating a Blog post. I can also direct you to some great resources where you can learn about Blogging and how to do it correctly and for maximum impact.
Future Updates to My Content (“What happens now?”)
Now that your website has been live for two weeks or more, any updates to the site can be accomplished in one of two ways: (1) You are given a userid and password and you can make the changes yourself, or (2) You send the updated to me and I make them at the standard hourly Maintenance Rate billed in quarter-hour increments, so your bill is always an accurate reflection of the actual time spent updating your website. You’ll receive a bill at the end of the month for all updates made to the site in that month. I’d recommend that you try to collect and send tasks at once rather than one task every time you think of something, since the minimum billable charge for one individual task is .25 hours, but if sent at once I can usually do a few more tasks in the same timeframe.
Search Engine Optimization (“Is my site on Page 1 of Google yet?”)
This is perhaps the most common question clients ask about their new website. Although your site should appear for a search of your company name and location, it probably won’t appear on Page 1 for a search of more generic (and competitive) keywords that your potential customers might be searching on. This is because it’s brand new, and has to gain a reputation in Google’s eyes as a valuable resource in your niche market before Google will rank it above existing, older websites. The way to accomplish this is with a specific Organic SEO Campaign. We’ll need to have a conversation to identify the important keywords in your market, and the geographical footprint you want to cover. With those two pieces of information, I do my due diligence to analyze the search results and produce an SEO Campaign Proposal to get your site ranked well in the major search engines. SEO contracts are 12-month comittments, after which time it changes to a 30-day, month-to-month format. If you need to rank well against your competitors, ask for a quote for SEO Services.
Other Services (“Oh by the way….”)
Now’s probably a good time to mention that I offer other services. Need a new business card, brochure or postcard? I can handle that. How about a new custom Facebook banner to match your website, or a Twitter banner? I can customize your Social media profiles to match your branding and give you a consistent visual landscape across the web. Looking for someone to setup and manage a Google Adwords campaign or a Facebook ad? Guess what, I can do that too. Just consider me your one-stop-shop for all these needs and more!