Web Sites and Domain Names

[Grant Davis]

That's a good looking site too Grant. Did you build it yourself? I need to look at GoDaddys tools. I actually enjoy learning how to do things like that but just haven't had the time.

Thank you, I have a local college student who does all the design work.
You can build a very good looking site on your own using your hosting plans tools...it may take a bit to figure them out but once you do it goes much faster.

Good Luck on your webpages!!

 

[Newby]

Thank you, I have a local college student who does all the design work.
You can build a very good looking site on your own using your hosting plans tools...it may take a bit to figure them out but once you do it goes much faster.

Good Luck on your webpages!!

My son is actually a college student who builds web sites. We just see each other coming and going every morning but I am going to have to throw a net on him and have him build me a web site or two.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Yes, family members who do web design are very valuable.

 

[INSwebsites]

I have noticed many folks on these boards prefer the DIY approach to website design or marketing. Can I get your opinions as to why?

I work for an insurance website design company, so my opinion is somewhat subjective, but I don't understand why someone would choose to hire a non-professional to design and provide on-going service for a business website - especially for one in financial services.

You don't have to spend thousands of $'s for professional website. It seems penny wise, pound foolish in the long-run.

Thanks for your .02's!

Michael

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Because most of the designers out there nowadays are just slapping up templates and personally I feel overcharging. The true art of website design seems to have gone away.

Far be it from me to push my sister but check out her portfolio of designs and compare it against some of the template junk out there - then again she charges for it - she does not use any templates - everything's from scratch.

Tin Roof Designs - a web page design company - web site design, website design, web site designer, website designer, web design, Lititz, Manheim, Ephrata, York, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania PA web designer

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Michael...we may have emailed each other (I'm not sure).

I liked your web designs. But the cost seemed a bit high and I don't think I was able to make changes myself, as if it was my own website. That is, I had to pay you guys to make changes and/or pay a monthly fee.

I could be mistaken, and please correct me if that is the case.

 

[Grant Davis]

Those are some really nice looking webpages. She does a real nice job...I think its up to you..if you want to do it yourself-give it a shot...if you want to hire someone, find someone that will do a nice job.

 

[somarco]

I have DIY sites & templates.

My primary site is a template with $0 setup and $35 hosting fee (which I consider gouging but I pay it any way because I like the ease of manipulating the site).

My DIY site is very simple, and designed to deliver a message without a lot of distractions.

I also have carrier provided sites with BX, Time, Dental Plans and others. All of those are available at no charge.

A template site through your firm is a $499 setup fee + $30 monthly for hosting.

You also want $500 to list my site on Google, and it looks like a whole bunch more for quote forms, quote engine, SEO, etc.

I am sure your sites are fine for some folks, but I don't see the value over what I have now.

Perhaps you can enlighten me.

 

[INSwebsites]

I have DIY sites & templates.

My primary site is a template with $0 setup and $35 hosting fee (which I consider gouging but I pay it any way because I like the ease of manipulating the site).

My DIY site is very simple, and designed to deliver a message without a lot of distractions.

I also have carrier provided sites with BX, Time, Dental Plans and others. All of those are available at no charge.

A template site through your firm is a $499 setup fee + $30 monthly for hosting.

You also want $500 to list my site on Google, and it looks like a whole bunch more for quote forms, quote engine, SEO, etc.

I am sure your sites are fine for some folks, but I don't see the value over what I have now.

Perhaps you can enlighten me.

somarco -

I tried to view your primary site georgiainsuranceshop.com, but it would not load. There's some error.

The DIY is very plain and looks homemade. You may have useful information on this site, but most folks won't buy something as important as insurance from a website that looks homemade.

The BX, Time, and Dental Plans sites are carrier (Assurant, BCBS) provided webpages (not websites). There's nothing wrong with these. We have plenty of clients that use these in combination with their primary website.

Plus you must also consider search engines. These sites aren't helping you very much. The DIY site is only one page and has "barebones" as the title. The carrier provided webpages are database driven pages, which are not indexed by search engines. After georgiainsuranceshop.com is back up I can take a look at that.

Our "template" websites are much more than templates. A typical template website is created by the customer filling in information into a webform and picking out a couple pictures - then a website comes out the backend (as in horse's) 10 minutes later. We actually do the work on our websites by customizing each customer's chosen design. This may not sound like a lot, but there is real work involved and web design and graphics experience does make a difference.

Here's an example of a competitor's template website:

websites4insurance.com

These templates are horrible on many levels.

The $500 to list your website on Google is actually to get your website and company information into the Local Search Results for Google, Yahoo, MSN/Live, and SuperPages. This is a completely different search than the search engines' main search results.

We do include search submissions with each website we make and we do this with Google Sitemaps and Yahoo Site Explorer. These services index your entire site and not just your home page.

The difference is experience and skill and having a professional looking website may not close the deal for you, but it can get you that next step.

I've dealt with many agents and brokers over the years (both good and bad) and ones that are most successful are the ones hire professionals to do business websites so they can focus on what they know best - selling insurance.

Thanks,

Michael

 

[INSwebsites]

Michael...we may have emailed each other (I'm not sure).

I liked your web designs. But the cost seemed a bit high and I don't think I was able to make changes myself, as if it was my own website. That is, I had to pay you guys to make changes and/or pay a monthly fee.

I could be mistaken, and please correct me if that is the case.

Hi Ed,

Yes, that was me - thanks. We can enable the website to be edited with Adobe Contribute. This is web editing software for non-technical users. Not really recommended since some people go a nuts with the fonts and colors. If you can contain yourself to making content or text changes, it's great.

Thanks,

Michael