Going back to websites

Recently taken over by what we call a "writer's acedia" – it's a common disease of ink slingers that can't just figure out what to write for the next issue. Well in my case, it's really comforting to find some emails that can bail me out of this usual writer's malaise. Here it is: 

Sir, I remember you wrote about websites years ago. I hope you will entertain this email. I don't have the luxury to hire experts there in Cebu as I am in Negros right now. I am just a small businessman and I was shocked when an artist quoted P25,000 for a simple website. Is that how expensive websites nowadays? My daughter told me that you can build your website for free in Yahoo! She in fact has a personal website and did not spend anything except the broadband service of our internet provider.

Do you think my web artist is charging me too much? I can't find any reliable web artist here and my budget is really limited. I like to put pictures in my site so that my customers can see my products. I would appreciate some information. Thank you and more power to you and The Freeman! -CCC of Dumaguete, Neg. Oriental 

 Mr. CCC,

It is unclear to me the scope of the website you intend to put up as well as the inclusions of the quote your web artist had offered. Since you were saying it is going to be just a simple website, then P25,000 is a little pricey. P15,000 is the going rate for a beautiful or a decent five-pager site which should include the domain name registration and a two-year web hosting. 

Speaking of domain names, a business website sans its own domain name – meaning hosted for free by web portals such as Yahoo or Geocities – may make your business look quite clumsy. A domain name or URL is your unique web address and I strongly suggest you buy one. You see, you don't want to put your address in someone else's office or the least to a stranger's even if it's for free, do you? Freebies make your business look unreliable like some kind of a now-you-see, now-you-don't store.

I am more inclined to say that you better think it over for a while before jumping off to a project like this. Frankly, to build a website is quite an investment. If and when the execution of your website is also poor, it can cost not only your money but the image of your company as well.     

Finally, before I forget, there's one company in Cebu --Global Smart Sourcing (www.globalsmartsourcing.com) -- that builds website for small businesses that can't afford to pay upfront the costs involved in developing a website.    

Their "Web Easy" packages let you subscribe for a small fee on a monthly basis a DIY (do- it-yourself) solution to help you build your own website by selecting a variety of templates and an upload utility (pictures of your products and services) to get your site up and running the next day. If I got my information correctly, each package comes with free domain registration hosting services and own email addresses. 

The nicest thing about this offer is that it is already CMS-capable. Meaning, the package also comes with a content management system that lets you archive or create product galleries. You can also opt to add some ordering system or ecommerce feature. So it's like having a full-featured website that is at par with those you see in business websites.                 

Finally, I suggest you also look it up in Google to seek only those reliable web developers as some of these freelance artists do not offer long term or after-service support.

Thank you for reading The Freeman and good luck! 

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