I'm not sure if this is the place for me but it seems like everyone knows a lot about websites. Could I please have some advice.
I'm about to sign a contract for design & development to create and host a website for my business. I have a small carpet cleaning business and I'm trying to learn as much about websites as quickly as possible, but everything seems Chinese to me. I'd just like to know if I'm getting ripped off or if this is a fair deal.
I checked the sellers background, he and his business have had a handfull of small claims court dealing with clients. He said they were because of confusion in the contract. In one case he said he created a site for a business and then the business took his site somewhere else. He didn't specify the rest.
He says he can get my business to be seen on the first page when people are looking for a carpet cleaner in my/their area. There are so many details I'm not sure what is important.
He says he has the lowest price (which isn't always a better) and showed me prices from another host. I imagine there are a great deal of variables.
I know its not all about $$ but do these numbers seem normal.
$3020 for website design and development? And are there other things I should be aware of?
It includes:
designing it $2495 Annual Fees
10 pages
45 pict/image quantity $420 Hosting ($35/Mo)
2+ dynamic effects $420 SER ($35/Mo)
1 interactive form $540 SEO ($45/Mo)
20 fields per info/order form $25 Domain Renewal
$75 Hosting set up
$50 SER set up
$400 SEO set up
I'll be happy to give more details to anyone, if it is acceptable to do so here.
Someone told me (not a professional web designer) that I should get the site desgned but not go with this company hosting it. Moving it somewhere else and have it hosted for practically nothing. I don't know if that is even possible and I imagine it just isn't that easy.
I'm hoping to make a more informed decision and I need a little guidance.
Thank you in advance for your expertise.
Paul
paulnewb posted this at 21:55 — 13th August 2008.
They have: 3 posts
Joined: Aug 2008
Oops It didn't turn out like I thought
Annual Fee's
$420 Hosting ($35/mo)
$420 SER ($35/mo)
$540 SEO (45/mo)
$25 Domain name
Thank you again
Paul
ms2134 posted this at 22:15 — 13th August 2008.
He has: 321 posts
Joined: May 2008
No one can guarantee that they can get you on the first page.
It is a marketing ploy..
teammatt3 posted this at 23:35 — 13th August 2008.
He has: 1,902 posts
Joined: Sep 2003
I'm getting a bad vibe from this company. They're over charging you (at least I think so, from the details you provided), and they have a nasty background. You wouldn't be posting here if you thought you were in good hands with the company, right? It seems like they might be taking advantage of you since you don't really know anything about website development.
That smells like crap to me. When you pay someone to create a website for you, the website should be yours, not the design/development company's. You should be able to move it to whatever web host you want. If you paid a company to design your logo, and that company made business cards for you, would you always have to go through that company to get business cards? I don't think so!
Well he probably showed you a price from the most expensive host he could find. You can find decent quality web hosts for $10 a month.
While the company may charge you for "SER" (whatever that is) and search engine optimization (SEO) every month, I doubt they'll actually do anything for you. It's easy money for them, since you won't know if they actually did work for you.
I'm giving you the "no-go" on this company. How'd you hear about them anyway?
My Site | Regular Expression Tester
decibel.places posted this at 00:25 — 14th August 2008.
They have: 668 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
Hi paul newb,
I too am getting some really bad vibes
Good thing you checked the bg - act now and you can avoid future litigation
I've been making web sites for years, and I've never been sued (or sued anybody) and I've never guaranteed search engine placement
I know what is needed for SEO, I even wrote a popular article about it - sure search engine placement depends a lot on your site, as well as the competiton, your site's popularity, and other factors such as non-internet publicity - even word of mouth can help!
paulnewb posted this at 01:18 — 14th August 2008.
They have: 3 posts
Joined: Aug 2008
SER = Search engine Registration (is it legit?)
Wow! Thank you so much! I felt uneasy dealing with this guy but I was not sure.
He said he saw my truck at a business we were cleaning and told me he was doing their website and called us. I just checked and they don't know who he is. (Another red flag)
He put the pressure on me offering $500 off if I paid up front and within two days. That didn't sound good. But stupidly I still didn't say no. (Another red flag)
Fortunately nothing has been signed and no money exchanged but I was close...that would have sucked. I didn't know...but noowww I know a little bit and I'm so greatful to all of you!!
I'm so glad I checked here.
You guys are awesome!!!
Thank you very much!!
Paul
decibel.places posted this at 01:37 — 14th August 2008.
They have: 668 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
dodged the bullet, maybe, this time
guy lied to you and he isn't even (mangling) your site yet!
I get a lot of "rescue" jobs -fixing up code from people who couldn't cut it - better to start off on the right foot
I don't know about SER as a separate charge - someone making a SEO/SEM campaign will submit your site with sitemaps etc, never really heard it be itemized out...