web from start to results

Get Online

So it is time to establish or to re-establish your web presence. You have decided that your business or other enterprise is ready to launch or to upgrade its website. Usually there is some excitement. Often there is trepidation as at this point most of us walk onto unfamiliar territory. We may be aware of some of the issues but others will be very foreign to us.

Depending on the type and sophistication of the website needed, you may choose do-it-yourself development tools to create your website. You can create a free website with Weebly  My son, who had no experience of website design, did this very effectively recently to design and launch www.ownaracehorse.co.nz I am very proud of his efforts as he develops a business on the side. I have a friend who developed a youth site www.stmarys.synthasite.com  with another freebie site builder. If you have the time and motivation this can be fun and rewarding. However, there will always be limitations meaning you may not be able to achieve your website objectives, e.g. a professional looking site, design options, secure membership options, ecommerce functionality, email marketing, etc.

The way forward from here is usually in one of two directions:

  1. A custom designed website built from scratch by a developer who obtains or builds software, designs a website to your specifications, finds a web hosting company - if s/he does not provide this service too - and points your domain name at that host. This will usually be the more expensive option and may result in you being totally dependent on that developer for ongoing editing and upgrading of your site.

  2. Choosing a developer who provides and develops using a hosted content management system to the degree that you need professional help. Usually key design elements will be left to the developer's expertise but you will have options to create and insert as much or as little of the content - imagery and text - as you want. Because you are dealing here with a packaged approach to website development - albeit much more sophisticated than Weebly or Synthasite - there will usually be significant cost savings. Indeed Value Websites' Woogloo development platform provides precisely this - packages to meet most development requirements and significant cost savings. To a lesser extent also do Site Build IT! The big plus, you have ongoing control of your website.

Regardless, as you develop your online presence you may need:

  • A Domain Name (or at least a Sub Domain)

Don't rush into this. It warrants talking with your developer or someone familiar with the art of online marketing as you search for the right domain name aka 'URL'. Usually a likely good choice will be a name that defines your products or services, e.g. myurl or valuewebsites. Then there is the matter of the domain name extension - .com, .co.nz, or other. The question to ask here is, "What is your target market?" If it is the US or international then .com or .biz names will be proper. If it's New Zealand then .co.nz will be right. Check out the Freeparking domain name search facility in the upper right column on this page to check domain name availability.

Sometimes you may only require a temporary web presence - perhaps to promote a one off event or funds are severely restricted. MyURL can offer you a subdomain name and website hosting: www.yourname.myurl.co.nz quite cheaply - from $30+GST for three months. In this situation we would be responsible for creating your website to your specifications.

  • Hosting & Email

In addition to a domain your website requires hosting. Often your developer will have an arrangement but you may be at liberty to choose your own. Again, as above, Freeparking is our preferred hosting provider. Issues include the amount of traffic and therefore bandwidth needed and storage for your website files - you need enough of both. Depending on what functionality your website provides you may need one or more MySQL or other databases. This will increase you hosting costs. Most hosting comes also with email boxes which use your domain name. Typically unsecured hosting fees begin at $10+GST monthly; with secure hosting (needed for ecommerce, etc.) starts around $17+GST monthly.

The monthly hosting fee for Value Websites' Woogloo base platform starts at $24.95 GST inclusive. This is very competitive with the above figures given that this product offers unlimited email accounts and bandwidth, high functionality with unlimited ecommerce and other database services as standard.

  • Web Developer

If your website development requires the services of a web developer it is important that you feel quite comfortable with whomever you engage for this service. Developing a website can be quite an emotive experience. You will want to maintain a robust relationship with your developer. Naturally their experience and capacity to do the tasks you require will be important. Do spend some time checking out the person you will work with and satisfy yourself that you can trust them in all respects.

While we do not here recommend any website developers other than ourselves, we will do so if your approach to us indicates you are looking for something we cannot provide. In that case our recommendation will be to suggest people we know and can recommend or to suggest that you do a search on Google.