Website Design Guidelines

15/15 I looked up three different websites that are similar to the website I am planning on creating. 1. www.larsennash.com - law firm out of Salt Lake City, Utah 2. www.wkfirm.com - law firm out of Tennessee and Alabama 3. www.greylaw.com - law firm out of Los Angeles SIMILARITIES: 1. They all had a set/obvious color scheme. 2. They all had a personal video (added interest). A marketing company said this is a great idea so that potential clients know a little about the attorney and his practice. 3. They all had separate pages for the different help they can provide. 4. All websites had a contact/information form the viewer could fill out so they could contact them for more information. 5. They all had connection buttons with social media sites. DIFFERENCES: 1. www.wkfirm.com had a live chat button for viewers. The other two did not. 2. www.wkfirm.com and www.greylaw.com both provide the viewer with stats on success rates. www.larsennash.com do not. 3. www.greylaw.com did not have a link to a blog. Both www.wkfirm.com and www.larsennash.com had a link to their blog. · The pages I plan to include on my website are, a home page (basic "catch the viewers eye"), practice areas, about the attorney, and a contact page. · After reading through the assignment websites, then looking at professional websites similar to mine, I noticed some important details the websites talked about. All of which is good information I will use and refer back to as I create my own website.

Choosing a Host

15/15

After reading through the top ten hosting site reviews, I have chosen to use iPage.

1. What is the monthly cost for your host? It will cost $1.99 for the first three months then it goes up to $2.95 for the remainder of the term. The user gets to decide whether they want a 24 month or 36 month term.

2. What is the minimum number of months required for the price stated above? The $1.99 price is for the first 3 months, then $2.95 for either 24-36 months. 

3. Is the domain name included? Yes, the domain name is FREE. 

            4. Is there an Ad Words Credit amount? They give the user $100 Google ad words and $25 for yahoo/bing advertisement and $50 for Facebook advertisement.

5. What type of support do they offer?  Phone, online chat and email.

6. Will the host easily support your chosen site builder? What site builder did you choose? Yes, iPage is easily supported by Word Press. After searching the website for more information, I found out that this host also has an “easy” site builder. I am unsure if that is a good idea or not.

TAKEAWAYS:

• I loved that iPage has a site builder that seemed easy to use. It seems like it would make setting up a website easier.
• I loved that the cost is so low.
• I loved that the reviews were so high.
• I loved that iPage gives so much advertisement money to the new user.
• I loved that even if I choose to use Word Press, iPage claims it works well with it.

All of this information will help me get my online business website running. iPage seems to make things as simple as they can get. With the low costs and extra advertisement money, it will help stay within a budget I have set. The good reviews provide hope that I will have the help and support needed to make the website successful.

Website Builder

15/15

• First, I looked over Google Sites. I watched the video and it they made it seem really simple to create a website. They said it was free, which is always a bonus. The only problem I saw was that the URL includes the title, Google sites. It seems like for a business, it would be better to use dot com URL.

• Second, I looked at Weebly.com and it too looked relatively simple to create a website. The user can start a website for free but it also includes the title, Weebly.com. For an extra fee of roughly $50 a year they will let you use dot com for the URL.

• Third, I looked at WordPress.com. It seemed confusing to me. Before watching the video, I tried opening a blog through this website and I was pretty lost. After watching, it made more sense and I was able to figure things out. WordPress.com like the others I looked at were free until you wanted dot com in the URL. WordPress.com as a whole seemed more put together. It looked professional and clean. I think I will use would WordPress.com to create my own website and definitely spend the money to have dot com in my URL.

• I loved that there are videos to watch to help figure all of the details out.

• I loved the way WordPress.com looked professional and (more mature?).

• I loved that Google Sites would be so easy to use. Literally grab and drop whatever you may want on your website.

• All of this information will help me create a website for my business. I have chosen to use WordPress.com as my website builder. I am still debating whether to create a website and social media help for my dad's business or create a design business for myself.