There are many reasons that an individual might need or want a website. Whether you have a creative hobby to showcase or opinions you need to release to the world, essentially all can be distilled down to the need to disseminate information.  Making information available is what the internet is all about.  If you have information to share then a website might be just what you need.

Examples of people who could use a website:

Creative people: artists, poets, writers - a website could act as a showcase for past, current and future works.
It could also provide a first point of contact for members of the press.
It could provide details of appearances, or new exhibitions, etc.
Sell a home or car privately - A website might be the ideal showcase.
Are you looking for work - A website could allow you to expand upon your CV. and include photos, video or anything else that you feel might add to the impact of your application.

NOTE: in these days of 'identity theft' or fraud as it used to be called, we do not recommend that you post too many personal details in a public arena. Please do not let this put you off - we have a solution that will still work for you.  We will password protect your site, you add the password to your CV or application letters and only those preselected by you can see your details.  If you still wish to leave some details publicly accessible then we can do that too, a basic welcome page with broad brush information and an invitation for the potential employer to e-mail you for a password. In this way you can still use on-line job search sites, etc.

Website Design For Sole Proprietors and Small Businesses

If you have a business to promote the Internet provides some interesting opportunities, but for the unwary there are some pitfalls that you must avoid.  Our experience and friendly knowledgeable team can help steer you through this minefield and help you establish that all important professional web presence.

More and more, people are turning to the Internet as their first port of call when they are looking for a business.

Landlords and People with foreign holiday homes

A website could act as a multimedia brochure allowing you to showcase your property.

If any of that is of any interest then you are probably beginning to ask yourself two questions:

1. What is involved in setting up a website?
2. How much does it all cost?

Setting up a website:

• Domain name - you need a domain name. This acts as the 'web address' and email address.  For example deanmarshall.co.uk for this site or google.com for a certain well known search engine.  You do not buy a domain name outright - you pay for the right to use the name for one or two years, but with an automatic right of renewal.
• Web pages - You need some web pages, actual content for people to read.
• Web hosting - You need a computer to host those pages - this must be permanently available on the internet, for this reason most people pay an external web hosting company to host their website - hosting from home is simply not viable.

So How Much Will It Cost?

Well we looked around at some of our competitors recently, and frankly we were to varying degrees embarrassed, ashamed and to some extent shocked at what we saw.
We have seen prices such as £250 for a 3 page website, we have seen shockingly bad designs from an aesthetic point of view. We have seen shady practices in Search Engine manipulation, and we have met one host who charges £40 before they will release the site of an unhappy customer to move the hosting elsewhere. This same provider also operates a 'NationalRate' fax line which must be used when 'requesting' this transfer - a system whereby they take a kickback (sorry cut) of the call fees. 

Of course this doesn't answer your question - but it provides a backdrop against which to measure our offering.
At Dean Marshall Consultancy our rates stand in stark contrast to these 'operators'. Don't get taken for a ride - Dean Marshall Consultancy are an ethical outfit - yes we are running a business and yes we want to make a living, but we are not out to scam anyone.

There are a number of factors that will affect pricing so it is difficult to be definitive, but here are our pricing guidelines:

Things that will increase the price of a design and hosting package:

• The number of pages involved.
• The amount of work needed to optimise any graphics you want included.
• The level of traffic to the site - if you anticipate extremely high numbers of visitor then expect to pay more.
• The amount of drafting, editing and re-editing needed for your text.
• The frequency of any updates.

Please contact us to arrange a FREE initial consultation, we will advise you and establish your requirements.