This is your dot com name (http://mysite.com) or your URL as it’s also referred to. Domains are normally registered for a minimum of one year, but can be locked up for longer durations at a discounted cost. If you’re in need of a domain name, I will need to confirm your domain name choice is available before I’m able to register it for you. Be prepared to have several “back-up” domain names in mind, in case your first preference is already taken by someone else. I can register a domain name for you or if you already have an existing domain name, then consider this step complete.

This is where your website files are stored so when users visit your domain, the appropriate files are displayed or served to them. Similar to Domain Names, Hosting Plans come with a variety of options to choose from regarding duration of the hosting plan and the platform of the hosting plan (Linux or Windows). There are a multitude of hosting companies to choose from: GoDaddy, BlueHost, etc. Depending on what your site is like, you may need specific hosting requirements, but for the majority of WordPress sites, a shared hosting account will suffice.

Before you embark on a journey to have me create a new website for you, you’ll need to ask yourself what is the purpose of your site? Will it serve as an online shop selling some products? Is it strictly an informative site for your customers? What are some of the goals of this new site? Should it drum up new customer leads? Do you just need a site to help with your business’ image or perception? What are you trying to accomplish with this site? The more of these sorts of questions you can answer, the better chance we’ll have of me meeting and exceeding your expectations.

A picture is worth a thousand words they say, so make sure any images you provide me are high-resolution quality graphics. No one wants to look at blurry or grainy pictures on your website. If you do not have any images of this nature, I can provide stock photography as well as graphic design services. Just let me know your needs when we get underway. Please note: If I am building an online store for your products, hi-res pictures are absolutely paramount.

Website content is king when it comes to website design. This means that if your site is stunning, but has no valuable information to present to your visitors, it will be deemed worthless by the major search engines. When meeting with clients, I try to underscore this principle as much as possible. Having said that, I fully expect that the majority of the content for the site will be provided to me by the client. Since the client knows his or her business best, they need to be the ones who handle the content for the site. My job is to make sure that content is presented in a clean and efficient manner, making the site suitable for the various search engines to index. If I need to craft content for the site, this will be handled as an additional cost of the project. Please note: Product descriptions for an eCommerce site are an absolute must and need to be provided to me for any projects involving online stores.

Sooner or later, you may find yourself in a predicament that may require WordPress assistanace beyond your abilities. If this is the case, you can certainly reach out to me for support with your issue. In order to assist and troubleshoot your specific problem, I will ask for some or all of the following items:

• WordPress Administrative Username and password
• FTP access to the files
• Access to your hosting account
• Original Theme files (if issue is theme related)