My Name is Charles Mazzini, owner and founder of Hyperlinks Web Sites. I have written this page because I am tired of seeing hard working business owners ripped off by so-called “web designers”. Approximately 30% to 40% of our business comes from business owners that have been ripped off! This is why I urge you to take a few minutes and read this information and use caution when choosing a web designer. And please leave me a comment.
Here is just a bit about me…
Over the past 13 years I have been passionate about creating quality and successful websites for our VALUED clients. As the company has grown, so has my dedication to not only create useful websites but to also create websites that become income producers!
I received a degree in micro computer technology 1984 and went back to college to study website design and programming in 1997. I have worked in web design, CSS, PHP & MySQL programming and have also built my knowledge in SEO which includes SEO infrastructure programming, SEO design and SEO content. In addition, I have received an Individual Qualification from Google™ Adwords Certification Program. My company has also received the Adwords Certified Partner status. This demonstrates in-depth knowledge and skills in Google AdWords. I continue to build my knowledge on what it takes to not only have top website page rank with in-depth SEO, but also how to build other sources of information that will funnel back to a website. This includes social media marketing, blogging, directory building, forum post socializing and content article writing.
With this industry being plagued with here-today-gone-tomorrow website designers, I wanted my company to stand out of the crowd. I am proud to say that we definitely do! We have been in business 13 years and continue to expand. We VALUE our clients business and they value our service.
Ok…enough about me! I have put together this information to inform all business owners of the website industry. First, let me say that you should take your website very seriously as an awesome business tool that can create leads and income for your business. If you do, then you will want to choose a website company that will take it as seriously as you do!
Once you have read this information, please send me a comment if any of the scenarios described below has happened to you or if this information has helped you in making a decision in choosing your web site company.
20 Page Web site Only $199 - Are you kidding me! You get what you pay for! How long do you think they will want to hear from you about changes to the initial design and all the content you want on your 20 page web site? After about the 3rd or 4th time of calling to them, they will mysteriously vanish for weeks at a time leaving you with a website that is and always will be incomplete. Come on…do you really think you are going to get a professionally designed 20 page website for $199? Sometime part of the blame lies on the business owner that thinks he is going to get something for nothing. As a business owner, ask yourself…does this sound to good to be true. Would I do all this work for $199? Hell..it’s hard to find an unskilled laborer to paint a bedroom for $199!
I’ll register your “domain name” for you – Caution! This is a BIGGY! You can register your own domain name at any registrar such as register.com, enom.com and yes, I’ll even mention godaddy.com but I personally would use the last one the least.
However, if you just don’t want to hassle with registering a domain name and keeping up with the user name and password, where you purchased your domain name and when it’s time for renewal (this happens all the time), then you can have someones else register it for you. BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND…If the “someone else” is not a honest and professional person or company, they can decide to hold your domain name hostage if you ever “piss them off”.
We have had this terrible scenario happen to new clients all the time! They try and move the site to us because they have received horrible service from their “web guy” just to find out this “guy” is telling them he owns their domain name and will not give it up or tries to sell it to them for thousands of dollars or refused to return phone calls or countless other scenario we have seen.
In all these cases, the “real” owner can dispute the domain name ownership with ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers the body that regulates domain names, however it can be a very, very long process.
We register domain names for clients all the time, however we are an honest and professional company that will assist you at anytime in moving any domain names to us or away from us.
BOTTOM LINE… Register the domain name yourself or have a “reputable” company do it for you.
Who is really doing the work? Many “web development companies” are not web development companies at all! They are simply people that tell you what they can do the work and then they contract someone else to do it. We get calls from these guys all the time asking if we can do the development for them. Of course, we can. And their client are happy because we are a reputable company and we know what we are doing. However, many of these guys will go to the cheapest person they can find or even worst, have someone from India do the work. In these scenarios, don’t be surprised to find out your website will never be completed or that you will not get what you expected. Then when you ask what is going on, he may begin to mysteriously vanish. That is because he was not a web developer in the first place. Make sure to ask…..Who will be doing the work? Is any work contracted out? How many year experience do you have? Will you be doing this from home? Asking a few simple questions can save you a lot of headeaches and save you a lot of money!
Sure! I can do that! – Can he/she really? Many clients come to us with unfinished websites because the person did not have the technical knowledge to complete the site. Many times this happens when you are wanting your site to be “dynamic” in nature. (add, edit, delete, logins, etc..) This means that a programming language such as PHP and database programming must be used. Many “web designer” only know HTML and will lead you to believe they can do it. This is where your web designer seems to vanish or does not return calls because they are lost on what to do; or hires a 3rd party similar the topic we just discussed in the previous paragraph. Ask to see sites that have been programmed by them. Ask what type of programming language they use. Ask to see the back admin area. Is the admin a 3rd party that they modify or is it one they programmed from scratch?
And please leave me a comment if any of these scenarios or others have happened to you so we can let others read them so they know what to be cautious about.
Stay tuned…more to come!