Help for Web site Newbies by SmallBiz3000.com   If your new to website design and construction, here are a few tips for getting the best quotes. Get your free web site quote from local web designers What do you need? if your web site needs to do something like e-commerce, private member pages or database driven functions, you will need a programmer so make sure the designer you work with has programming experience. A Information Architect creates the blueprint of your web site encompassing all aspects of what your project needs to deliver. A Web Designer designs the look and feel of your site. A Web Developer creates your site and does the browser and back end programming. These can also many times be the same person in a small shop. A website page is defined as 1 screen wide by 2 screens tall so putting all your information on 1 long page will not save you money and is very confusing for visitors; they don't like to scroll. Graphic work takes time so it's important to give a description of the type of business your in, for example if you are a lawyer the site will be mostly text, if your selling gift baskets, it will be more graphical and require programming and more labor. Don’t say “I want a site like Amazon.com” but I only want to spend $500; big eCommerce companies spend millions so be reasonable in your needs. The web developer assumes you will provide your copy to them to put on your pages, add that you would like “copywriting” in your description if you don't have prepared text. Most developers have some stock images, photos can make or break your site but copyrighted images can run $60+ each so tell the designer if you need images or will supply them. Total pages are all the pages other than your Home page like About Us, Contact or Links pages. Splash pages are out of style, your just wasting your visitors time, get to the meat and point of your site, you only have a few precious seconds and waiting for a flash bouncing logo to load is not appropriate. Everybody wants Flash but a simple flash animation can cost more than the website so only add if it really is important to your site, spinning flaming logos don't sell your product or service, concentrate on your point. Links Website usability www.useit.com, Read this before you give your content to the web developer. Banner and advertising standards www.iab.net www.webmonkey.com find out more about what it takes to develop a web site, web terms and technologies. We welcome comments on this page from experienced web designers & developers, e-mail your comments to sales@smallbiz3000.com, this page mixes website & web site to make it compatible with search engines since many people spell it both ways. Get your free web site quote from local web designers