ONE-STOP-SHOP

Domain Name Research and Registration
Domain names are the least expensive of all the parts of having a good website, but sometimes they can be the most crucial. Having a domain name that has at least one of your business "keywords" in it can quite often be very helpful where Search Engines are concerned!

• Your domain name is your website's internet address. Your domain name does not necessarily need to be your business name, as long as your business name is repeated in your website content, that might be all you need.
• Domain names can have many different "extensions", such as .com, .ca, .net, .org, etc. Your domain name is the name you pick plus the extension you choose.
• Domain names are "unique" - there can only be one exactly like yours in the entire world.
• If you want to have www.mywidgetcompany.com and someone else has it already, you may want to consider www.mywidgetcompany.ca if your market is in Canada and the .com one is not competing in your market area.

Affordable Airdrie Web will help you research the best name, we will register it in your name through our affiliated Domain Registrar, and we will then look after it to make sure it is always renewed on time. Domain names can be renewed yearly, or you can choose a period of up to 9 years. Although it is probably the lowest of all the possible web-related costs, it is actually the most important because if you miss renewing your domain name, your website will stop working on the internet.

Website Hosting
"Hosting" is using the "machines" needed to make your website visible on the internet. Affordable Web Design Ltd administers a hosting web server where we look after all our clients' websites. You don't need to do anything! We even set up email addresses associated with your website name for free!

Hosting services can vary greatly.

• Many only host your website but don't include any emails.
• Many offer "backup" services if you pay extra.
• Many hosting fees are in U.S. dollars, which means an added 25%-35% or more of exchange rate costs.
• Most will not help you for any technical hosting issues which might come up.

Affordable Airdrie Web (www.affordableairdrieweb.com) charges in Canadian dollars, will host your website, provide free emails, do hourly backups of your website content, and will help you with every technical issue that may arise.

Social Media
Social Media is a very big "buzz word" and businesses often wonder how important having a Social Media presence is for their business.

• The need for a Social Media presence completely depends on your market demographics and the type of business you run:
  
  • Would the majority of your prospective customers use Social Media on a regular basis to find businesses like yours?
  • If you have a business where your customers love to see their photos posted online, then yes, having a Social Media presence can be a possible benefit.

If you believe that you can benefit from a business Facebook page (not a personal one), or another social media page such as Instagram, might be helpful for your business, we at Affordable Airdrie Web can create your pages for a one-time fee so that you can then look after them, or, if preferred, we can look after your social media pages on a monthly basis for you. Let us know what works best for you!

Photography

One of the most effective ways to have a professional looking website is to use professional photos.

• You need to be careful not to use anyone else's photos because of copyright. Photos you find on Google, for instance, are just taken from all the websites out there, without any kind of permission. That is why they have a disclaimer that says that images may be copyrighted.
• There are several online stock photo websites which offer a wide variety of images at reasonable costs. Affordable Airdrie Web will research pictures based on your stated needs, and ensure that they are the right fit for your website.
• We also offer photography to local Airdrie businesses where we will visit your business and do a photo shoot ourselves if that is what you prefer. Our reasonable fees are based on the time it takes to do your photo shoot.

Professional Graphic Design

Affordable Airdrie Web offers logos and other graphic design services. Are you looking for professional looking logos, brochures, business cards and such?

• Logos - the cost of logos can vary substantially, depending on how complex you want your logo to look. Designing a logo is often a back-and-forth process between you as the client and us as the designers, and charges are based on the time it takes to complete your design. Logos tend to vary between $200 and $400 but can be more if they involve a lot of extra time. Once we discuss your needs with you, we will be in a better position to give you an estimate.
• Brochures - the cost of creating a brochure depends on the content of the brochure, the number of panels, the number of pictures, etc. Contact us to discuss your needs so that we can give you a more accurate estimate of time and cost.
• Banners and Ads - our clients often request that we create banners for them to hang in sports venues, or create ads to put into print publications. We are happy to do so and again cost depends on the amount of time needed to complete your project.