Category Archives: Web Wise

What Is the Cost of Website Design: Exploring Different Pricing Options

News, Small Business, Web Wise

When it comes to building a website for your business or organization, one of the most common questions that arises is, “How much does a website cost?” The answer to this question can vary depending on your specific needs and preferences. At Northwoods Web Designs, we offer different pricing options to accommodate a range of budgets and requirements.

Monthly Website Design Packages:

Our Monthly Website Design Packages cater to clients looking for flexibility and affordable pricing. The $79 monthly website design package includes a professional, elegant brochure-style website that can help showcase your brand or services effectively. For those seeking a more robust solution, our Business Monthly Package is the popular choice. This turn-key package offers a professionally designed 5-page business or nonprofit site, with the option for additional pages or functionality at a slight extra cost.

Lump Sum Payment Option:

If you prefer a one-time payment solution, our Lump Sum Payment Option might be the ideal choice for you. For a single payment of $3500, you can have a high-quality website developed for your business. This cost includes 50% upfront to secure project time, with the remaining balance due upon project completion or site launch. Additionally, there is a low recurring $39 monthly fee for hosting, maintenance, security, and updates beyond the initial setup.

For more detailed information on our monthly website pricing plans, you can visit our Monthly Website Packages page. Here, you will find a breakdown of all the features included in each package, as well as additional services that can be tailored to your specific needs.

Custom Advanced Website Solutions:

At Northwoods Web Designs, our pricing options cater to meeting most business needs, offering flexibility and affordability. However, for those seeking advanced website solutions requiring additional functionality, we provide specialized services tailored to complex requirements such as eCommerce integration, online payment processing, interactive elements, third-party functionality integration, and comprehensive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services. Whatever your unique needs may be, we have the experience to deliver top-tier solutions that elevate your online presence and drive success for your business.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re ready to take the next step in establishing a strong online presence for your business, feel free to reach out to us today at Northwoods Web Designs. Were here to help bring your vision to life. Request a free discovery call below or give us a call at (844) 693-1693 to discuss your project requirements and kick-start the website design process. Let’s create a website that not only meets but exceeds your expectations!

Request a free discovery call Today!

QR Codes: The Instant Bridge to Your Online World

News, Web Wise, Website Tips
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In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, getting your website URL in front of people is crucial. What if there was a way to instantly bridge the gap between the physical and digital, allowing your potential customers to jump directly to your online content with a single? Enter the humble yet mighty QR code.

Our QR code, displayed here, will provide a link directly to our website. QR codes have evolved far beyond just linking to a basic text message. They’re now incredibly versatile tools for marketing and engagement, and one of their most powerful applications is promoting your website URLs. It’s seamless, instant, and removes a significant barrier to entry for your potential visitors.

The benefit of using QR codes for website promotion lies in their simplicity and effectiveness. They eliminate the possibility of typos, save your audience time, and provide a clear, undeniable call to action. Whether you’re looking to boost traffic to a new product page, share an exclusive offer, or simply make it easier for people to find your online presence, a well-placed QR code can be your best friend. Ready to create your own instant link to the digital world?

User Our Free Website QR Code Generator

Ready to create your own QR code for your website URL? We’ve made it incredibly easy! Head over to our free QR Code Generator at Northwoods Web Designs and start connecting with your audience more effectively today. It’s free, fast, and simple!

Use Our QR Code Generator

How Long Does It Take For a New Site to Appear in the Google Search Results?

Web Wise, Website Tips
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Google Find If Index Your Site Yet

Here is the typical scenario: you’re a small business owner and you’ve just launched your new website to the world. Now you are wondering how long will it be before people searching the web find your site in the search engine results page (SERP)?

Since its brand new, the search engines do not know anything about it, so therefore cannot display it to anybody searching for it.

So some things need to occur before its “searchable”.  The site needs to be indexed by the search engine.  There’s no specific set time for Google to initially index your site, can vary based on several items such as:

  • Popularity of the site (is there other sites linking to it? )
  • Is the content crawl-able
  • Site structure (code up to date?)

The time it takes for your website to appear in search results can range from a week to four weeks, or sometimes even longer. The good news is that you can expedite this process by ensuring your social media profiles and any other online listings of your business are current and have links back to it from authoritative sites (local chamber, relevant trade industry etc…). As for the second and third points, these should be handled by your website developer. If we’ve developed your site here at Northwoods Web Designs, rest assured that these aspects have been thoroughly addressed.



Other items that are equally important include:

  • Making sure your site loads quickly
  • Your site is submitted to Google using Google Webmaster Tools
  • Provide a sitemap.

Again, if your website was developed by Northwoods Web Designs, these get taken care of for you.

So how do you know when it’s indexed by Google?  Google makes that pretty easy. Simply type site:yourdomain.com in the Google Search Bar, and the results will show you the results.

Type In Googles Search Bar site:yourdomain.com

Once your see your pages being indexed, it will start showing up in the SERP. The next step is to try to beat your online competition by ranking higher in the SERP.

What can you do to help your website place higher?  

You can help boost your website just by keeping fresh content updated on it.  You can also help your new site place higher by finding other online related directories or sites and getting your business information /domain name listed.

And don’t forget to list your information in the top directories such as Manta, Angie’s List and Yelp to name a few.  The more reputable places your website domain is listed, the better.

After that, you’re left taking it to the next level, which is obtaining our Advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services.

Unless you’re a web professional who has delved into and fully understands the 37-page Google “Starter” Guide to SEO, it’s often best to entrust SEO services to an expert. These services typically involve crucial tasks like keyword analysis, managing the site’s meta tags, and optimizing your local listings on platforms like Google and Bing—just a few of the essential elements required for effective SEO.

Northwoods Web Designs offers SEO services. To learn more check out our SEO page. Or if you have questions, drop us a line here.

Responsive Design Website – Why Your Business Needs One

Web Wise, Website Tips
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Mobile devices have been around for a while, but they were never used in a way (and to such a degree) as they are today. Surfing the web with these mobile devices has grown at a stellar pace, and for the first time will outnumber desktops and laptops starting this year. And most sites on the web are not optimized for these smaller screens.

Responsive web design, also known as mobile friendly design, assures that the website is responsive to any display size and adjusts accordingly to assure optimum viewing for any device.  For example, take our site ( Northwoods Web Designs ) shown below in different devices,  is designed with responsive in mind.

 

Similar to a chameleon per se, it will adjust the layout, navigation and content of what is displayed based on the size of the screen to assure the best viewing experience regardless of screen size.



To account for these smaller screens,


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Disadvantages of using Yellow Book/HIBU pages for Your Online Web Presence

Computer Tips, Web Wise
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No Yellowbook

In the past (many moons ago), Yellow Pages, Yellow Book or HIBU have been a great way to advertise and promote your business to a large audience.

Then came the internet and it went to the web as yellow pages websites.  However, over the past several years there has been a decline in these types of websites and for good reason due to the following disadvantages vs traditional web design firm or professional services:

Not Owning Your Website: This is probably one of the most important disadvantage of owning a yellow page website is that you are basically renting it from the yellow page company and do not actually own it.



In other words, you are paying a yearly rental to the yellow page company to host your website. To this regards you would lose your website if you dropped out of the program or don’t renew your contract.

Not Owning Your Domain Name: When registering your website (that WWW URL that distinguishes you from the rest) through a yellow page/HIBU company, you are essentially not the owner of your domain name .

Yellow page essentially owns the rights to that name, for minimum of a year. They say they will release it and transfer the ownership (generally for a price) after the contract is up but will do everything in their power to make sure you continually pay the expensive monthly fees for hosting and domain name.

They will also tell you how important it is to maintain your advertisement in the big thick yellow physical book that everyone tosses away, unless your in your 70’s, which is probably not the target audience you’re looking for.

And not only does transferring the ownership of the domain name cost money but they have the upper hand and it can possibly lead to legal issues if you no longer want your website with them.

Immensely Expensive Option: It is vital to note that by owning (renting) your website via yellow pages you have to pay an initial cost for creation and hosting along with paying a rather expensive yearly rental fee to stay in the program.  The cheapest monthly options they have are still 70% higher than our monthly hosting fees.


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