Tech Support has the marketing training to design a website that performs

Web sites are for information. But a web site's main purpose for existing is not only to impart information, it is to arrange it so a visitor can find information easily.

If you have a business, a well-built web site will give your customers what they need to make a buying decision or find out more about your hobby. We talked to one client for another business and asked how he found us. He said from the Yellow Pages. But after his daughter heard how he found us, she said, "You still use the Yellow Pages?" Her point was that many, many people use the web to get a complete picture of the business services available. According to a local yellow page outfit, the percentage of people who use yellow pages on a regular basis has declined substantially. Just check the size of the recent book they dropped off at your house the last time. Smaller than a comic book in some cases.

If you have a business and do not have a web presence, you are missing out on tremendous opportunities to market your services or products.

Building a web site is not like building a baseball diamond in a cornfield. You can't just "build it and they will come." You might build it, but people won't just find you. Your site will be one of millions of sites on tens of millions of computers. Finding your site is going to be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. You have to make it easy to find your site and cause people to visit again.

It's not just a matter of getting on the famous search engines either. Search engines are getting more picky about who shows up, and tend to favor the people who pay them lots of money for advertising. Tech Support of Grand Junction designs and builds all kinds of web sites. This site was designed by Bruce on Expression Web 4 from a template purchased from a company that does templates for a living. This is an example of a modestly priced website (with all the content and original photographs and drawings, this one would cost about $1,500.00 or so) that has a lot of zing.

A template is a pre-made pattern. A web site template can save you a lot of money, because a number of decisions are made for you. You just pick which one you like for the type of site you want, and away you go. Some are free with web design software, and some can be purchased economically. With a template, your site might resemble other sites, but given the huge number of sites on the web it isn't that likely other people will either notice or care. It isn't the layout or color scheme that sells, anyway. It is the content.

Some design companies will try to sell you on a lot of splashy, moving graphics, music or video, and complicated layouts. Sometimes this can be a good thing. We've seen some really gorgeous artwork that had to have cost a lot of money.

But for getting information across that helps people make a decision, most of it is a bust. Like a super model, we think the graphics are beautiful but generally useless. By themselves they don't help people understand what you are saying, nor do they add a lot to the pros or cons of buying from you.

As with real estate there are three things that are important in a web site: content, content, and content. If you have good content, the site will do what you want it to do. Poorly organized or presented content will submarine even the flashiest graphics and videos, but it will elevate even the most mundane design or layout. Although a lot of YouTube videos tend to disprove our point. Actually though, they prove it, because while a video may get a lot of views it doesn't DO anything. Except perhaps cause us to contemplate just how stupid some people can be. You know the definition of the word 'amuse?' 'Muse' means think, and the letter 'a' in front is negation. So 'amuse' means 'no thinking.' To amuse someone is to divert them away from thinking. Tech Support websites help a potential customer think they want to buy something from you.

Cost of Websites

A simple site can cost as little as $600.00. This includes starting a hosting account (the computer where your web site will reside) and a free template with a couple of pages and your basic company information. A few more pages and some additional content will cost around $900.00 or so. Or you can do it yourself with a Wordpress template.

A medium complex site can cost upwards of $1,000.00 to $1,500.00. This is if you want us to add data (text and pictures and flash graphics) or if you want a little more zesty design. You can still save money with this type of site if you buy a commercially available template. Nice templates can be purchased for about $65.00 depending on the type of site you want.

A very snazzy, graphic intensive site can cost as much as $4,000.00 and more. This includes a lot of original design work and a lot of data entry. A product catalog with hundreds of entries can be even more expensive.

This site, with all the data entered, would probably cost in the neighborhood of $1,000.00 to $1,500.00. Assuming you have most all the data ready. This means you've chosen all pictures and text, and collected them together on a disk for easy transfer. You can pencil out a rough plan of what you're thinking, and we will consult with you on as much of the detail as you would like. But the more you have together, the less money you will spend having us do it for you.

Costs can be curtailed depending on how willing you are to learn how to maintain your site by yourself. Once it is set up, it is not very difficult if you are pretty handy with the keyboard.

Simple sites do not need much maintenance. Every so often you have to pay the hosting fee, and you might want to add a little or take a little out here and there. Even medium complex sites don't need a lot of work. Most sites are going to be in the simple or medium range.

More exposure for your business or hobby

Web sites drastically increase the ability of people to access your products, services or hobby. IF, and this is a big if, the content is there. The better the content, the more people will find it and the higher it goes in the search engines. You might drive some traffic to your site with interesting video or graphics, but if it isn't backed up with good content no one will come back. The more content, and the better it is arranged, the more exposure your company or hobby will have. Even if you want to stay local, a website from Tech Support of Grand Junction can make the difference between being in the spotlight or just lurking in the shadows. Now you want to call us, right?

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Educate, Inform and Sell

The main strength of the internet is information. A web site is just a way to organize that information and make it easy to find. A properly organized and attractively presented web site will educate your business clients more readily. Instead of spending hours on the phone, just refer them to your site.

One of the sites we've done is for a business called The Chair Doctor. It was made with a responsive template, which means it will resize itself depending on the device you are using to view it. We've gotten many compliments on the ease of use and professionalism.

Hobby sites are a good way to express yourself. Bruce writes articles and runs a forum for his hobby web site at Whole Bible.com. We used a different responsive template that has different kinds of graphics. It is not a database website, but if you are going to have a bunch of articles, you might want to go with that type of site instead. A database site is a more efficient way of storing and retrieving data such as news articles or articles that you write or refer to.

Another simple web site is at www.coloradoaspenwoodart.com. There isn't much content, but they didn't want an online store yet and just wanted to get some information out there about the art work they do. Some of the content was ordered by us and made by local photographers, purchased for use on the site. You ought to go look at this one just to appreciate the beauty of his art.

A fourth site that shows off our marketing skills is A Beautiful Build. The owner is an advocate for people who build or remodel homes, meaning that she helps owners navigate all the ups and downs of building. She has experience in building a home herself and helps with all the complications that drive people crazy when building.

Higher sales for your products or interest for you hobby

If you sell products you are missing out on sales if you don't have a web site. More and more people are discovering the advantages of ordering online. We don't have to be limited anymore to whatever the local store has in stock. The whole world is our store, and your business needs to have a storefront in the world's shopping center.

Lots of people look online to find out about a business. In fact, anymore if you don't have a website your business will probably be seen as at least a bit backward and perhaps not as up to date and modern as it should be. This reflects on your business overall, too. At least put a single page site out there so people can call you. But really, you ought to get with the times and carve out a space for your business on the web. Tech Support of Grand Junction can help not only with eye-pleasing layouts but also with the marketing angle.

Your hobby will get more recognition and viewers if you have a website. Even a simple free one is better than nothing. Tech Support can help with some economical advice if that is all you need.

Do it yourself websites

Maybe you've read all about our web design service, and our wonderful marketing skills that can make the difference between a mere web page and a successful marketing tool. And you still would like to do it yourself. Okay, that's another option. There are some good tools out there to help.

One of them is Epik.com. They've got the web design software and even a little technical help if you need that to. There's a cost to it, but since you are doing most of the work it doesn't cost as much as hiring other people like Tech Support. Try 'em out by clicking on the link or the ad. They also host all of our websites.

Another tool is a website template. This website uses a template from www.i3dthemes.com and there are many more they have developed.

You can see examples of their templates we've used at the websites listed above. They have excellent tutorials (mostly video) and excellent patience when working with you. Lucky Marble will communicate very well with you, even sending short videos to help you learn how to develop the template.