SEO Website Design Costs and Process

Getting started on a web site may not be as costly as you think.  Here is the process we go through along with approximate costs:

• Search engine optimization (SEO):  SEO is the name of the game - how do you get your name on the front page near the top of the page on search engines.  It is an art as well as a science and gets more complicated every day as search engines continue to seek ways to make money from their services.  A thorough keyword search, analysis and SEO project can cost $500 to $5,000 or more.  Read about the SEO project process here.  Read more about search phrase research and keyword services.
   

• SEO should be built in, not added on: One of the advantages of having a new website is that it can go online structurally correct, optimized and ready for search engine action.  This is what we do for new websites.
   

• Earning search engine rankings: Some of the major search engines may take as long as three months to list your domain.  There are ethical methods we can use to improve the time it takes to get your website in the indexes of the major engines.  Google, Yahoo and Live (MSN) are 80% of the search market in the USA and Canada.  Ask and AOL complete the top 5 engines.  Ask is very slow to index new content.  Google, Yahoo and MSN Live  offer free sitemap registration services which will help to get them indexing your new or changed content.  Getting links in to your website from other websites helps.  You can BLOG.
   

• Design and Optimize for Google: In December 2008, Google expanded its usage share in the U.S. search-engine market to a  whopping 72.1 percent of all queries, up from 65.9 percent in December 2007.  The other three main U.S. search engines all lost share. Yahoo came in a very distant second with 17.8 percent, Microsoft Live was third with 5.6 percent, Ask.com ranked fourth with 3.4 percent.  These four engines total 98.9 percent.
   

• Google is different from other search engines:  Google imposes an age of website or time online filter to new websites with new domain names that have never been used online before.  To check the history of what you think is a new domain name, visit www.archive.org.  Also look at the other domain name history  and black list tools here in this website.
  
  The issue ranking delay is related to TrustRank (read Google's patents) which has also been called the Google Sandbox or Google Aging Delay.  Google prevents new websites from earning top rankings in competitive categories for an undetermined period of time.  We have a website www.bigeventregistration.com that did not earn it's rightful place in the Google index for the search phrase online RSVP services for 225 days from the time it went online.  It is possible to get early rankings in Google for niche targets.  It all depends on the market category and other factors known only to Google.  Having a new website come online structurally correct and compliant with all the things Google says they like and don't like to see in a website is a big help.  For more information about this subject, go to Google and search for webmaster guidelines.
   

• Search engine registration or submission:  Read my page about the best website submission service is don't submit.  If you have a totally new web, submitting your web to search engines ONE TIME is an OK idea, but not the best idea.  I regard most of the folks who offer "submission services" as unethical.  They will ask you to pay them to continually resubmit your web.  Don't do it. It is a waste of time and money and may be regarded by search engines as SPAMMING.  Once your web site is published to the web the search engine spiders and robots will find you.  We will add an inbound link from our web to yours.  In short order, you will be found.  And, read my page about how to become number one at Google.
   

• Net costs: We do not mark up out of pocket costs for domain name registration or hosting.  What we pay is what you pay.  There are no hidden charges.  We charge for our creative services through hourly or lump sum fees.
   

• Domain name registration: You must have a domain name, like www.savetheplanet.org.  Domain registration is controlled by and we can we can apply through any number of authorized registration agents.  The current cost ranges from $6.50 to $20 depending on the registrar.  One of our hosting providers offers common extension (.com or .net for example) domains for free if you sign up for hosting for a year.  The best domain names are as short as possible, represent your organization name or cause so that the name is somewhat intuitive to your viewers.  You should avoid words that have multiple spellings, like won.org versus one.org.  Many good domain names are already registered but the possibilities are endless.  Doing a search on names is an easy process.  If you don't know how, we can teach you in 5 minutes over the phone if you are in front of your computer.  Read more about choosing a great domain name.
   

• Server registration and hosting: Shared hosting is a rough and tumble world, low fees ($95.40 a year is typical) with long waits on the phone for support and generally poor service.  In 2007, we procured a dedicated server on a major network and provide hosting to our clients.  If shared hosting is the only option that fits your budget, look at HostGator in Texas.  They are the best we have found, far above average.

  

Check out their free bonuses for web marketing.

• Cost summary: Getting started costs about $100 including domain name registration and shared hosting for a year. Why on earth wouldn't you have a web site?
   

• How long does it take?: A combined domain name and server registration takes about 10 minutes on line.  You cannot apply for a domain name unless you have a server on which to put it.  Once the sign up is completed, it usually takes less than 24 hours for the server set up.  A domain name registration that will resolve to the server (meaning it can be found on the internet by typing the domain name in your browser window) usually takes 1 to 3 days.
   

• Web site planning: We recommend establishing a basic navigation structure, which tells us how many pages you will need to tell your story and the general concept of what each of those pages will say.  Then we can prepare whatever graphics needed to create the appearance of the page on the screen.  Remember, the KISS philosophy if you want to save money.  The navigation and graphics for this page were created in less than two hours.  Fancy graphics can take several days or more to create.
   

• Web site content: If you have your story already in a computer based format, like Word, or on an existing web site, we can take your content and publish to the web in a relatively short time.  If you are starting from scratch and need creative writing services, this takes  more time.  Hopefully one of our web members will have some background in your field.  If not, you will have to educate us.
   

• Publishing the website to the web: Once the web site is created, at least the basic navigation structure and some basic introductory content, it can be published to the server in a matter of minutes.  A new domain name on the web is sort of like having an unlisted phone number.  It is relatively private, not secret but private.  So, we can publish what we have and let you and your associates view, test and comment.  The more brains at work the better, assuming that someone has the final say.  Design by committee can be incredibly creative.  It can also be frustrating and costly.  Something to think about.
   

• Programming time: If you know what you want to say, how you want to say it and use a simple navigation structure, a 20 page web site can be done in 30 hours or less.  If you don't know what you want to say, how you want to say it and don't have content ready in a computer based format, we will analyze the scope of your project and give you an estimate.  Check out one of Ron's pet projects, www.friendsofscsra.org, that is done on an all volunteer basis.  That site has about 120 hours invested over the course of 5-6 years and has been visually redesigned three times.  We have several blank websites with dynamic web templates that can be online in less than 5 hours.  This is a good way to start if you have content, want an online presence ASAP.  Look at www.ecopinusa.com as an example.  It's not fancy, but it had top Google rankings for niche targets in less than a week after it went online.
   

• Programming expense: If you have read the introductory pages of this web site, you may have an inkling that we do things differently for non profits.  Our base rate for commercial sites is $70 per hour.  For SEO and other services such as video editing (which require more assets to get the work done) the range is $100 to $150 per hour depending on what it is and who is doing the work.  Other creative services may cost more.  For nonprofits, it depends on what you do and what you have.  The rate will be less than $60.  In some cases it is much less, like anything from $0 on up.  So far, we have not paid any of our clients to do their programming but you could be the first!  Don't count on it.  What we usually request is a letter from you for an in-kind donation of our services versus what we charge for commercial work.  Let's talk about it.  We believe you will feel that you are being treated more than fairly.
   

• Maintaining your site: If you are willing to invest about $500 in software we can teach you in a few hours how to update your site.  Or, we will do it for you.
   

• Want to accelerate your web presence?  Read our Small Business Web Publicity page.

Ron Castle is SEO certified
by Search Engine Workshops.

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