“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
—Thomas A. Edison
- What should I look for in a web designer?
- What types of information or material should be included in my web site?
- What are some web design and copywriting “no-no’s” and other things I should avoid.
- What can I expect to pay for web site hosting?
- What can I expect to pay for web design?
- Can I maintain my own site’s content after the site has been created?
- How do I get my site listed on the search engines?
- Is it worth paying for premium or pay-per-click search engine listings?
- Do you take credit cards? Checks?
- How can I accept credit cards? e-Checks?
- Do you have Gift Certificates?
- How long will it take to get my site up?
- Our Policies
1. What should I look for in a web designer?
- A good communicator is key. Being able to understand your needs and articulate them into a website you will love.
- A designer who has an excellent blend of technical, design, business—and most of all—marketing skills.
- Someone who understands your industry and can offer coaching for other areas of your business such as combining offline and online marketing.
- Someone you feel comfortable with right away. You’re going to be working very closely with the designer, make sure you feel at ease. Plus I hate giving my money to someone I don’t like.
- Look over the designers portfolio. Write down design elements you like or dislike.
Thoughts that bring about good feelings mean YOU ARE on the right track.
Thoughts that bring about bad feelings mean you are NOT on the right track.
—Quoted from “The Secret”
Small budgets usually tempt you to choose a designer based on price. I’ve had many customers who asked a friend or relative create their first site for them very inexpensively. The result is always the same; a home-grown look that makes them feel unprofessional after their business has started to blossom.
Do yourself a favor by understanding that Web design and marketing is not an area of your business you want to skimp on. You’ll be glad you did!
2. What types of information or material should be included in my web site?
My best advice is to download my FREE QuickStart Web Workbook. This little gem will clearly define elements you need for your website.
3. What are some web design and copywriting “no-no’s” and other things I should avoid.
Here’s my own top 10 pet peeves:
- Don’t fill your web site with a lot of high-tech clutter. Your visitors will miss your whole sales message and bail.
- Don’t use unnecessary words or phrases. Sentences should be no longer than 10 words. You only have so much time to get your visitor’s attention and interest; make every word count. (I once had a client turn in a sentence that was 43 words long!)
- Don’t make the mistake that everyone will totally understand what you have to offer. BE OBVIOUS! Use powerful words and examples to get your point across.
- Don’t write your strongest point or benefit only once. You should repeat it at least 3 times because some people don’t get it right away. (how many times do you have to tell your kids to clean their room…5-6-7 times?)
- Don’t push all your words together on your web site. People like to skim; use plenty of headings and sub headings. Bold key phrases to make your copy “scan-able”
- Don’t use content your preferred audience isn’t interested in. If people are coming to your site to find info about knitting don’t include soccer content.
- Don’t use 20 different formats all over your web site. Use the same fonts, text sizes & colors, etc. If a site looks to “complicated” to read, your prospect is sure to bail.
- Don’t use words your visitors might not understand. People are not going to stop and look in a dictionary, they will just go to another site. (If my 11 year old daughter can’t “get” the concept of my copy, I start over)
- Don’t let selling words and phrases go unnoticed. Highlight important words and phrases with color, bolding, italics, underlining, etc.
- Don’t forget to use words that evoke emotion. (Woohoo!) People will have more interest when they are emotionally attached.
4. What can I expect to pay for web site hosting?
All sites designed by the The Web Coach include the first year of hosting free. After that – about $35 a year.
5. What can I expect to pay for web design?
For custom design of a site of 20 pages or more, you should expect to pay a minimum of $4,500 and may pay $7,000, $10,000 or more depending on the level of design, features, and programming involved. Large companies with very complex websites pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to create, update and maintain their sites. <—Not any longer! With today’s new “Hybrid Websites” you no longer have to pay thousands of dollars.
6. Can I maintain my own site’s content after the site has been created?
Yes! Yes! YES!
7. How do I get my site listed on the search engines?
This particular question drives me crazy! I’m shocked by how many designers DO NOT submit sites they develop to the search engines. That’s just plain LAZY! Well, you don’t need to worry with The Web Coach!
During the web development process we will determine your key words and phrases and weave them throughout your copy so your homepage will be key word rich. There’s a few other tricks we’ll use too. If you haven’t downloaded my QuickStart Web Workbook, DO IT NOW! There’s a section dedicated to key words.
Web Coach Tip: ignore the spam mail you may receive listing your site on the search engines. They’re all scams!
8. Is it worth paying for premium or pay-per-click search engine listings?
This is an area that I am very cautious! I suggest consulting with a PPC expert. For some businesses, it’s often well worth the additional expense; for others, the payoff won’t cover the costs.
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9. Do you take credit cards? Checks?
Yes, we sure do – but we PREFER Paypal.
Why? Because Paypal’s fees are lower than our standard merchant account, their system works flawlessly with our accounting software AND they fielded a *frantic* customer service call from me on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON, and resolved the issue IMMEDIATELY.
That’s why I like Paypal. Our Paypal payment address is [email protected]
But seriously, this allows our clients to invest in their business. Paypal also offers financing.
10. How can I accept credit cards? e-Checks?
Smarter business owners and large corporations are not willing to stand any longer for the rediculous fees Merchant Account Companies are charging, and are switching to Paypal.
You could go the route of getting a merchant account through your local bank or another provider but I recommend combining Paypal with your website’s back-end shopping cart. It’s not a complicated process at all, and it works well for those just getting started. Click on the Paypal Banner below to sign up for a free acount.
By using Paypal instead of a standard merchant account, you bypass and SAVE:
- monthly terminal rental fees($50-100 month)
- No set-up fees ($100-250)
- No cancellation fees (I’m locked into a 3 year contract with a merchant company that I I can’t get out of..grrr!)
- No additional hardware (I have to pay for a swipe terminal $78 a month)
- No long-term commitments
- no minimum usage fees (depending on what cards you accept $30-60 a month)
- no waiting around for funds to arrive at your bank – Paypal payments arrive instantly.
PLUS: My Paypal account balance is EARNING 5.03% and I get CASH BACK each time I use my Paypal debit card. Sweet!
11. Do you have Gift Certificates?
Of course! Sometimes I get calls from husbands/wives, family or friends who want to make a significant and meaningful contribution to their loved one’s business. Giving a gift certificate gives them one less thing to worry about.
You can purchase a gift certificate in any denomination thru Paypal. To redeem the gift certificate, they simply enter their gift certificate’s redemption code when they recieve my invoice.
12. How long will it take to get my site up?
(Are we there yet?)
“No rules according to the universe… the more aligned
you are with positive feelings the quicker things happen”
—Quoted from “The Secret”
Seriously, it depends on how quickly you can get your homework done! If you are able to provide all the necessary materials we’ll need (copy and other material), and you approve the design concepts – the production process usually takes 2-3 weeks after that. But don’t be misled by that figure. The absolute fasted time I’ve ever done a site myself has been 2 weeks. And that was because the client had EVERYTHING prepared. A more realistic figure: 4-6+ weeks from beginning to end IF YOU commit to your deadlines.
13. Our Policies
Our most important policy is our Happy Client Guarantee. Putting it bluntly, we simply won’t settle for anything less! From our clearly written general policies and contracts through the final delivery of our service to you, we want our clients to all be 100% satisfied and guarantee that we will always do everything possible to make that happen.
Here are our policies and procedures:
- Ethics
- Homework, Accessibility and Client Committment
- Privacy
- Background check, Payments and Billing
- Security
- Arichives and Insurance
- Proofing and Editing
- Intellectual Property
Ethics
- The Web Coach will be honest and fair to you. Our “door” is always open for communication and exchange of ideas, and we will work hard to assure that Happy Clients are all we ever have.
- We will reveal the pros & cons, risks & rewards of every decision with our Clients’ best interest in mind.
- We hate high-pressure sales tactics and concentrate on relationship building. We want your business to grow and we’d like to be partly responsible!
- We encourage our clients to ask questions and we will explain until they understand.
- We will meet our obligations and responsibilities outlined in contracts and mutual agreements in a timely manner.
- Our Clients will receive a copy of all our policies prior to starting a new project with us, to eliminate gray areas or confusion.
Homework, accessibility and client commitment
You will have homework to do. It is our requirement that you complete the QuickStart Web Workbook in detail to get an idea of what’s involved.
All communication MUST be made the my online client area found here: https://thewebcoach.basecamphq.com/
If the timing isn’t right and you don’t think you will have the energy necessary to devote to this project, please don’t contact us because your deposit is non-refundable. Clients who—for whatever reason—decide to abandon the project WILL NOT recieve their deposit back. (it’s only happened once – don’t want to see it happen again!) Our time is very valuable, we do NOT work for free and you will be billed according to our rates posted on this website.
Background Check, Payments & Billing
In an effort to provide an honest service to honest business owners, we rely on Dunn and Bradstreet for business credit reports. If your business is listed as high risk, we will ask for full payment in advance.
Be forwarned! If you fail to pay your final balance – our hired-gun collections department at Dunn & Bradstreet will get to know you personally. AND, you will have a permanent “black mark” on your business’ credit report.
Seriously.
Privacy
Please click here to read our extensive privacy policy.
Security
The computers at The Web Coach are behind a secure firewall. Any information we collect which should remain private is either shredded or stored in an encrypted file.
Archives and Insurance
The Web Coach does maintain some archives of Client work but refuses legal responsibility for insuring or maintaining the files in the event of a man-made or natural disaster. Our insurance policy covers hardware and software but not data. Whenever asked, we will instruct you how to download your project files.
Proofing and Editing
We will make every effort to locate and correct all errors prior to your review; however, the Client is responsible for final proofing of all work. Our responsibility is limited to providing you with originals only, and does not extend to reproduction. Therefore, if applicable, proofread your project very carefully PRIOR to any reproduction. Errors or omissions found after reproduction are the Client’s responsibility.
Intellectual Property
The Web Coach will make every effort to ensure that all intellectual property used in client’s work is original and/or proper licensing is acquired. Cost to acquire licenses, such as in the case of royalty free images, will be the responsibility of the client. Client is responsible for assuring that any content provided to The Web Coach is not infringing on anyone else’s intellectual property rights. The Web Coach is not responsible if client does not secure rights for material they have provided The Web Coach does not accept liability for trademark and copyright infringements.
We encourage you to email us if you have any questions.