
So you want a web page? The cheapest way to put up your own web page is to write it yourself and use a free computer hosting service. For everyone else, there is
Dimen, Inc.
[Blah blah blah! Get to the Basics!]
You can write it yourself, you know, with very little training. Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator offer systems that allow you to design a page just like you would write something on a Word document. Then you can go to Geocities or one of the other free hosts, get them to show you how to move it to the internet, and voile! you're done. Good luck. That's how I did my first web page.
There are a few drawbacks to putting up a free web page. If you can overcome them, then go for it. They are:
- You have to learn html code. If you're not inclined to do that, then you better get over it.
- You won't have access to a database, if you need one.
- You won't have interactive forms, unless you're really good at writing html.
- You won't have a shopping cart to do business... again, unless you're really good at writing html.
- You won't have a personal domain name (i.e. www.yourname.com). If you don't have your own domain name, you lose a degree of credibility. Customers like to do business with people whom they think are not fly-by-night vendors.
The alternative is to pay a professional to do your webpage for you. That's when you need to consider skill, price, trust and availability. That's when Dimen, Inc. comes to mind.
Not all webmasters are equally priced or equally skilled. With enough search, you can probably find somebody better than I. But after awhile, if you want a web page, you're going to have to stop looking, bite the bullet and choose
someone.
The Basics
To put up a professional web page, you're going to encounter several additional costs along with the web page:
| Description |
Approximately |
Notes |
| Domain Name Registration |
$9.00 per year |
depending on vendor |
| Domain Hosting |
$4-$10 per month |
depending on whether you use standard, database, or shopping cart service |
| Future updates to your web page |
$75-$100 per hour |
based on your request |
[Yadda yadda yadda! Get to the
Bottom Line!]
First, let's define some terms used in the preceding table.
- Domain Name
- Your Internet name, like www.yourname.com
- Domain Hosting
- Putting your web pages on somebody else's computer that supports the Internet
- Promotion
- Listing your site with search engines so it may be found by others
In addition to those known expenses, the actual cost of a web page depends on many factors:
- Research and discovery of an available appropriate Domain Name.
- Is a database necessary (for keeping inventory and display items for sale)?
- How complex must it be?
- Will the owner (you) be trained on how to update it?
- Is a shoping cart required? If so, how complex?
- Will you be accepting payment by credit card over the internet?
- Do You want pictures on your page?
- How many?
- Who will provide the pictures (you or me)?
- Will they be scanned or taken with a digital camera?
- Do you need an interacive form?
- How many web pages will you need?
- How much text input is needed (Do you want a book typed?)
All these have to be sorted through and discussed before I can quote an exact price. So what's the bottom line?
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that, depending on the complexity of your web page, it will probably cost somewhere between $500 and $3,000. We must first sit down, talk, and discuss your needs. When I know what you want, I can quote you a firm price.
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