Round Table
Services - Website
Design & Build
The options for website design and build are:
- Build it yourself
- Free website builder service
- Professional web designer
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Build it Yourself
Building you own site will take up some of your time however you will
save money and add to your skill set. You will need web authoring
software such as Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, NetObjects Fusion,
Netscape Composer or CoffeCup. Costs vary from free to expensive
for professional packages. Visit websites to obtain a feel for features
and shop around for prices. Computer magazines frequently have free web
authoring software included in their CD-ROM offering. These are often
full working applications but not the most recent software version.
Build a Free Web Site
There are many companies that offer a free website building services.
This service is often tied in with domain name and hosting services.
Some of these services host your site as a sub-domain of their main
site. This means that the domain name will look something like http://www.yourname.theirname.com.
Here, "yourname" is your sub-domain name and "theirname"
is the name of the website builder/web host company.
There are some disadvantages associated with adopting this route. The
identity of your internet business may become integrated with that of
another company if your site is a sub-domain. You don't actually own a
domain name. There may also implications should you become dissatisfied
with the web hosting part of the service and decide to move to another provider.
Site designs are based on templates and there could be another site out
there that looks very similar to yours.
The advantages are that
you quickly obtain a web presence and can concentrate on promoting and
developing the business. A free website builder might be considered if
you prefer to test the viability of a home based internet business
before fully committing to the concept. Carefully study service features, pricing, T&Cs and evaluate
these in the context of want you want to achieve with your business.
Once you have considered these factors you may decide that the
best option is to build your own free web site.
Professional Web Site Designer
Employing the services of a professional web designer is the
most expensive option. Consider this if you are short of time and don't
have tight budget restrictions. Prices for this service will vary by
region. You can obtain the service over the internet or do business with
a local designer. If you prefer the face to face approach look in your
local ads.
If you wish to employ a professional designer you will need to
carefully consider your business aims, the image the website needs to create and what
features are to be included. Get these ideas down on paper and develop a
website specification. The designer may be very good at his job however
his skills will not include mind reading. When you meet the designer he
will contribute his expertise. The specification will develop and
effectively become the documented understanding of what the designer is
to deliver.
Costs for the design service will be based upon the specification. As
the project develops it is possible that changes or additions will be
made to the original specification. Changes will impact cost and
timescale. Record and
agree changes with the designer as changes occur. A written
specification can also be referred to as a baseline should any disputes
arise during the project. The key points are that you and the designer
share the same understanding of costs, timescales and what the finished site will look
like.
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