Simply described, a site consists of many different Web pages. Every site has a home page (generally called the index page). The rest of the site is made up of content pages. Some common examples of pages are:

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Testimonials
• Articles
• Products
• Portfolio
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Disclaimer
• FAQ
• Resources
• Rates
• Links

The type of site you need depends on what information or business you have to offer, and how often you need to be able to update information on your web site.

Sites are generally constructed one of two ways...

• Static - This type of site is made up of physical pages for each part of your web site, and require at least some basic knowledge of HTML coding and web design, files are uploaded using FTP (file transfer protocol).
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• Dynamic - Now, this type of site is much more versatile and user-friendly for anyone who does not have the time to learn and produce HTML coding, or if you have a list of products, want to sell items on line, host a discussion forum, or need to change your content regularly... A dynamic (data-driven) design allows you to log into your site via your usual web browser (IE, FireFox, etc) and make changes directly on line, changing text and images, updating products, all as easily as working with MS Word, for the most part.

Here are some of the most common site formats...

• Personal Site - A static or dynamic web site featuring information and about you, your family, your hobby or whatever it is that you want to put on the web... Family email addresses, photo galleries, blog (web journal) and more are all within reach.
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• Web presence - A static or dynamic site composed of 1-5 pages introducing your company and your services, with links for visitors to contact you directly.
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• Community - A dynamic web site that allows you to add/change/remove content through a web-based login, as well as a discussion forum where visitors can communicate with each other on various topics.
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• E-Commerce - A dynamic site designed to introduce your company and showcase any number of products by category, handling orders and payment processing online.

A common question we get from clients is about maintaining their own web site after it is completed... Here's what we have to say on the matter.

The scripting and software we use to create our medium to large web sites is always up to date, making changes and updates to your site painless... For example, we can fix any broken link or update an email address very quickly, even in an entire site.

In most cases, a web site contains various images which require source files and image editing software to work with.

It takes us a lot of time, money and energy to keep up to date on changes in the internet and to install scripting/software updates to your web site.

After about 6 months of regular "self-maintenance" by clients, many sites start to lose their integrity and often look pretty "homemade" due to lack of experience with layout, etc.

Every 8-12 months you may be looking purchasing and installing updates or new releases which generally require a major overhaul to bring the site up to its original look and functionality.

Simply said, we strongly encourage our clients to concentrate on their core businesses by allowing us to manage the site for them, this eliminates undue stress for you, saves an enormous amount of time, and leaves you free to develop your business.

Once your site is finished, we bill $35 per hour for general site maintenance, upgrades and modification of content.

While you can host your finished site anywhere, Kitelife also offers in-house web hosting... We always suggest that your site be hosted with the designing firm, primarily so that updates, changes and problems and be addressed and resolved with one point of contact, avoiding the "he said, she said" that we see so often in business today.

Additionally, we can also handle the registration and annual renewal of your domain name (i.e. www.yourdomain.com) so you don't have to.

Read more about our hosting services!