One question we are often asked (for obvious reasons!) is how much a website costs. As website professionals, we will always confidently tell you that the answer to this depends on what kind of website you have in mind. There are four basic costs associated with running a website: domain registration, hosting, web design and development, and regular web maintenance. A website can serve a different purpose for different companies, from collecting sales leads to allowing customers to purchase goods online to member registration services. A powerful, functional website is going to cost more than a three-page online brochure, but the right features can be worth the additional cost – your website is an important investment.

Domain Registration

Domain registration means that you are paying to reserve a specific web address that will direct traffic to your website. This is also called a URL which stands for Universal Resource Locator. All URLs begin with “http” which stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, or the rules that the computer can use to understand how to access the website. In some cases the address begins with “https”, which tells the computer that the connection must be secure. The next portion of the URL is commonly “www” which, as many of us are well aware, stands for World Wide Web. These sections of the web address are then combined with the domain that you have chosen to represent your website.

Our main domain here at inConcert Web Solutions is “inConcertWeb.com” but you can also access our website when you try inConcertWebSolutions.com, inConcertWeb.co, inConcertWeb.net, inConcertWeb.biz and a few other domains. It’s a good idea to register as many relevant domains as you can so that your potential traffic will find your site even if they don’t remember your specific web address. You can also prevent people from stealing your business by registering a domain similar to yours, pretending to be you, and stealing your traffic. Other sketchy domain practices to look out for are cybersquatting and domain kiting.

Web Hosting

In order for you to share any data with people over the internet, you must pay to have somewhere to keep your files. This is called hosting. Hosting a website comes with a variety of responsibilities, such as managing and configuring the web server, firewalls, and virus protection. It’s important to be able to monitor everything at all times because if you have hosting problems it usually results in your website being down. Most people hire hosting services from a third-party provider. Even if you know all the ins and outs of web hosting, sometimes it can be a real time-saver to enlist help.

The services included in our hosting packages here at inConcert Web Solutions include up to 50 company emails accounts and a complete range of email features from auto responders and mailing lists to email forwarding and web-based email access. We also provide spam and virus filters and protection, and up to fifteen minutes of tech support each month. For complete details, give us a call or check out the hosting section of our website.

There are some sites that claim to offer free hosting, but you will almost certainly have to compromise your integrity and allow your hosting provider to advertise on your website, and it’s extremely unlikely you’ll have any control over what they choose to advertise. In the professional world, that is unacceptable. Don’t waste your time with these shenanigans, it is not worth it.

Web Design and Development

Our talented team has expertise in many fields, including web design, development, programming, and more. This part of the process is our specialty! Take a look at our portfolio to see for yourself the wide variety of designs we have brought to life for many different types of companies. A great website can do wonders for your company, especially when you choose to work with a professional team of experts that have an arsenal of tips and tricks up their sleeves. With inConcert Web Solutions, we don’t just help you build your online reputation. We’ll set you up to take the internet and the business world by storm!

Web Maintenance

Once you’ve got a beautiful, functional website that brings your company to life, you’ve got to take care of it. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” He understood the importance of taking care of his tools and correctly believed that when you do so, you will not have to expend as much effort to accomplish goals.

Just because your initial website design looks great doesn’t mean it can’t look better. We have ways to analyze your website content to see what areas of your website are getting the most traffic and where on each page your visitors are clicking. Websites for different industries can serve widely different purposes. With our reports, you’ll be able to trim the parts of your website that are not attracting business and replace them with content that is designed specifically to convert more of your visitors to customers.

Providing regular updates and fresh content for your website shows that your company is in touch with your ever-changing industry. It also sends a clear message to your audience that your company is active and that you know what you are doing. Search engines will rank a well-maintained website higher than a neglected one. When your site ranks higher, it will show up in more search results, which will bring more traffic. We have written about the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) many times in our blog and on our website. There is so much that we can do for you that we don’t know why you haven’t already called us! Sign up for one of our fantastic monthly service plans to keep your website highly ranked and on the forefront of everybody’s mind.