Website Fundamentals 101

[Lawngodfather]

This is kind of a basics for website building.

What would you need to have on a web site?

What would you like to have?

What would you want to have etc...

We will build one from scratch I guess..

[AltaLawnCare]

The site should load quickly. And should an informative "front page" with a clear introduction, address and phone number of business.....mission statement would be nice.
And button (links) to other pages with:
Pictures of work, customer refferals, description of services, customer contact page..maybe something to print out with my address and the customer can fill out and mail in ??

*Maybe a customer section, password protected where customers can sing in and see when they are scheduled for service, inquire for additional work...might be a hassle to keep updated unless you have office help.

[gusbuster]

The site should load quickly. And should an informative "front page" with a clear introduction, address and phone number of business.....mission statement would be nice.
And button (links) to other pages with:
Pictures of work, customer refferals, description of services, customer contact page..maybe something to print out with my address and the customer can fill out and mail in ??
email form mailer like mine that gives the person the opportunity to just request a quote or just talk to you more.

*Maybe a customer section, password protected where customers can sing in and see when they are scheduled for service, inquire for additional work...might be a hassle to keep updated unless you have office help.

This part would be a scary part. What happens if it rains...oh but on the net you said you would be buy here.... and we know a lot of people are missing marbles.

[Gatorboy]

The best is to start! Have a 1-page website with your business name, phone, email address and the services you provide.

From there you can grow your website as you see fit.

[ProMo]

I was told that this company did over 1 million in sales just on their web site a couple of years ago. http://www.carolkingscapes.com/main.html They are also on the cover of lawn&landscape.

[AltaLawnCare]

What are some prices for a single web page. Any ideas?

[Gatorboy]

You should be able to find someone to create a single webpage for about $95 or less. It also depends on how "fancy" you want it (graphics, photo editing, etc.)

Just like lawn care -- do you just want the grass cut, or do you want edging, triming, sidewalk and driveway blown off? The more you want, the more the price.

[Lawngodfather]

Howdy Dave, welcome to the cafe......

[daren_r]

Being from the world of technology I would say you need a simple, clean site. No fancy graphics or flash that takes minutes to load. The longer the end user has to wait for the site the less likely they are going to want to see what you have to say. The front page should have your name and maybe a brief history of the company. I would save the mission statement and services for another page. The front page is just to get them to look further. No need to clutter it with endless info, do that later in additional pages. Each page should have links that take you to the other pages on the site. Pictures of work are a great idea and I am in the process of adding some to my site. The thing to remember with pics is to make them small enough to open at a reasonable speed on a dial up connection, the whole world is not on broadband yet. I had a mail from on one site that I built but got little response from it. On my current site I simply have a contact us site. That has my address email and phone. You can click on the email address and it opens your mail client and autofills my address.