“Just get a website”. Isn’t that what everyone says (as though it is the easiest thing in the world)?

At Communication Wise we understand it isn’t a case of “just” getting a website. As a small business owner you will need to:

• buy a web address
• locate a hosting service
• design your website (for mobile, tablet and desktop devices)
• create the content for your website
• treat any images so they are web-ready
• create basic animations
• consider whether you will use social media
• and, when it is all up and running, you will still need to keep your website up to date.

If you have been overwhelmed by the idea of a website, if you aren’t sure where to start, or if you have already made a start on a website and just can’t get over the finish line, please feel free to call for an obligation-free discussion.

Where possible we try to provide you with an up-front, fixed-price quote. These costs will be set out in a proposal.

The proposal will include –

• the expected outcomes of the project
• the tasks you will need to complete
• the tasks we will complete
• all known costs.
• Before we begin you will be asked to approve the proposal and also provide an up-front payment (usually 20%) before we begin your site.

Costs vary from site to site depending on things such as –

• content (having your content ready will reduce your costs)
• creation of animations (these add costs but can add interest to your site)
• treatment of images for the web (the more images, the higher the cost but again, images are an important part of your design)
• the number of pages you require

While most small businesses want to maintain their website, realistically this rarely happens.

Most small business owners lack the time needed to maintain their site. Some small business owners simply don’t want to learn the skills needed for web maintenance. Other business owners may have the time and skills but simply don’t have the inclination to maintain their website.

At Communication Wise we understand that as a small business owner this is simply not one of your core earning activities. That’s why we provide an affordable maintenance service for our clients.

We will also pro-actively contact you if we think there is something on your site that is outdated or incorrect.

Maintenance costs are charged at an hourly rate. We charge in quarter-hour increments.

Alternatively, you may be able to use a blog to keep your customers up to date rather than make ongoing changes to your web site.

We can also advise you on how to use social media, such as Instagram or Facebook, as a means of keeping clients up to date.

Registrars, registrants, domain names, web addresses, URLs, delegations, web hosting, web-ready images, content management, online editing tools, HTML, JavaScript, .swf files, mobile devices, Facebook, Twitter, social media, streaming, bandwidth – aaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!

All this jargon and all these technical requirements! It’s little wonder so many small business owners can’t overcome the barriers to web development.

At Communication Wise we know all this sounds like nothing more than “geek-speak”.

That’s why we assist with a range of other services such as:

• helping you to understand what some of these things mean and how they affect you and your website
• working with you to find a hosting service
• helping you to understand the importance of what web address to purchase
• assisting you with which registrar to use
• and answering any of your questions as thoroughly as possible.

Whether you are thinking about a website or simply want to understand what is involved, we are happy to chat. Please feel free to contact us for an obligation-free discussion.