UpStart Web Sites
What’s an UpStart Website? It’s a quick and easy way to build yourself a new home on the web. No, not an older, out-dated home with shag carpeting, avocado green appliances and a leaky roof, but a thoroughly modern energy-efficient home outfitted with easy-to-maintain heating and plumbing, shiny new appliances, and an exterior with knock-your-socks-off curb appeal!
Whether you’re an established business with an old, outdated static website or a brand new start-up, we have the perfect home for you. Inviting. Welcoming. Reflecting your style and your personality. We start with a great design (there’s dozens to choose from!) and add the little touches that turn a house into a home — your home.
All of our homes have a few things in common — no matter how big or small.
A rock-solid foundation and framework.
While visitors will never see your basement or the framework of your home, it’s important to know that it’s going to last. We build our sites on WordPress — an open-source framework that’s used on millions of sites and has hundreds of developers constantly working to keep your home in tip-top shape while continually adding new features.
Curb Appeal.
If your home doesn’t have it, most people will pass you by and move on to the next. You only have a few seconds to make a great impression. Your home page needs to tell your visitors at a glance who you are. What you do. What makes you different from the rest. And invite them in to have a look around.
A well thought out Floor Plan.
A home designed for a growing family is very different from an artist’s loft or one intended for urban dwellers. What types of rooms does your web home need? And how will the visitor get from one to the next? Will there be inviting nooks and crannies encouraging them to linger and get to know you better? A little planning will make for a great site now — and a great site later, should you decide to add on.
Insurance.
You never know when something might go wrong. Whether it’s a tweak gone awry or a more serious failure, we make sure that your entire site is backed up — all of it — making it a snap to restore your home back to tip-top shape. We’ll even install an alarm system to keep the spammers at bay. And we’re always available to help.
Signs and Guideposts.
You’re building a home on the web because you want people to find you. To learn all about you. Your products. Your services. And hopefully to become part of your family. We’ll make sure all of the right pieces are in the right places so you can be found. We’ll do our best to make you stand out from the crowd. If you’re a brick & mortar business we’ll make sure Google local knows all about you as well.
And, most importantly, You.
Without you, your home is just a shell waiting for someone to move in. We’ll make sure your home is ready and waiting for you — fully furnished, with fresh flowers on the table. Your home’s look and feel will be an expression of who you are. And because your site will be built on WordPress, you’ll be able to keep your site looking as fresh and new as the day you moved in. Keep existing content up-to-date, and remove content that’s no longer relevant. Add new content. Images. Audio. Even video. Your visitors will want to return again and again to see what’s new. Repeat visitors become customers. Customers become repeat customers. And repeat customers tell their friends all about you. It’s all about building customer relationships to build a thriving business.
So what makes us different? Success. See, we’ve been in your shoes. We’ve owned a retail craft shop where we sold supplies as well as finished items, and offered classes. We’ve owned a landscaping/nursery business. And we’ve owned a small restaurant and espresso bar. Not just owned — owned and operated. Managed every aspect of the business ourselves. We understand the challenges you face on a daily basis. The demands on your time. And your desire to focus your energy on your business rather than trying to become a web techie.
Mary has spent over 30 years training non-technical folks in the use of technology. We understand that you don’t understand a lot of the stuff that’s out there — it’s not your fault! It’s written by techies, for techies. We cut through the technical jargon and show you exactly what you need to do — step by step — so you can keep your website up-to-date without needing to get a techie to do it for you.
How it works:
- Sign up for a free 15-minute consultation to see if we’re a good fit for each other
- We’ll send you a worksheet for you to complete along with a list of things we’ll need
- We’ll send you an invoice for 50% of the cost
- You return the worksheet along with your deposit
- We’ll build your site
- We’ll review your site with you and work out any remaining details
- We’ll send you an invoice for the balance
- You move in!
What’s included:
- Initial consultation
- Configuration of your domain, web hosting and email accounts (if you don’t yet have a domain name or a web hosting provider, we can help with that)
- WordPress installation and setup
- Installation and configuration of add-ins for SEO, Spam filtering, backup, analytics, sitemaps
- Premium Theme installation of your choice
- Theme customization (colors, fonts, sidebars, logo insertion)
- UpStart Guide to WordPress
- An additional hour of hand-holding within 60 days after launch.
- Home Page, Contact Form, Directions Page, About Page
- Blog Page
Training
As part of your UpStart Site you’ll receive our UpStart Guide to WordPress which will give you all the information you need to update and add new content and maintain your backups.
If you’re unfamiliar with the workings of WordPress or want to learn more about … sign up for our UpStart Training. A new learning module is delivered each week, complete with videos, detailed instructions, and worksheets. You’ll receive access to our UpStarts Homeowners Association where you’ll find training videos, articles, worksheets, and more to make the most of your online home.
