Atilus Internet Marketing & Web Development

How much does a website cost? Well… that depends. How much does a building cost? “Ballpark figure. If you had to give me a number?” All buildings are different. Is this a manufactured home you’re thinking of? A commercial building? Perhaps a beautiful lake front mansion with marble Romanesque columns. I guess the answer should be… it depends. And web development is not much different.

I can’t believe that it would take a company apparently as professional as yours upwards of 12,000 to make a blog. Either you’re ripping customers off or you’re incompetent. One framework could be re-used thousands of times, saving you time and your customers money. Yes, each site needs its own modifications, but if you build a solid framework you can run pretty much anything off it.

I’ll address this comment later, but first of all I would like to thank Scott for writing and publishing his great article on our blog – to which the above was a comment - just a few weeks ago. He was really able to sum up “what does a website cost.” Without going into full detail on everything mentioned here is just a brief break down of what was discussed regarding the cost of a good website:

• $1000-$2000 Basic Design Website
• $3000-$7000 Custom Design Websites – visually attractive, completely unique design
• $7000- $12,000 Content Management System (CMS) Websites
• $12,000- $100,000+ - totally custom situations, implementation of more advanced design & programming, etc.

Visit the Complete Article - What Does a Website Cost?

Internally we had discussed the idea at length – writing an in-depth article about how much does a website cost – and, finally decided to hit “publish” after weighing everything. We effectively laid all of our cards on the table, allowing our audience, the web developer community, our competition and future clients to understand how much this web stuff costs. The truth is the biggest thing we were concerned with in writing and publishing an article like this would be backlash from the web community or independent developers. Ultimately, the benefits outweigh the negative – we have to educate the community on the steps, time, and price involved in a proper web presence.

Personally, I am sick and tired of hearing two things from new or potential clients:

Read the rest of this entry …

13 May | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Web Design, Business, Design.

As you read this there are people working on furthering the advancement of web design. You know, like CSS3 and stuff. Well here is something that will really knock your socks off. Webkit is the next generation of web design. Here is a rundown of some of what it can do already:

CSS Gradients
No more will you have to rely on a solid background color or having to create an image to get a background gradient. Webkit allows for CSS gradients. You will be able to style any type of gradient you desire down to where the color stopper is placed (just like Photoshop).

CSS Transforms
Think of an image that you have on your page. Now let’s say you have this crazy idea of rotating it 10 degrees, or maybe even the whole site 30 (because you’re just that insane about rotations). Well Webkit allows for CSS transformations. This entails not just rotations but resizing and skewing as well. It makes the image and keeps its relative position and makes the transformation without disrupting the rest of the content around it. SWEEEEET!

CSS Transitions
Stark rollovers are a thing of the past with CSS transition. This allows for smooth rollover transitions. For example, let’s when you rollover the white background link on your page it will fade or “transition” to any color your heart desires. This can be combined with other Webkit CSS features. Anyone in the mood for a square blue link to transition to green while rotating 15 degrees and getting twice the size. Crazy! Yes. Cool! Double Yes.

And finally…
CSS Masks
This code allows you to mask images to any shape you can think of. An image can be masked by another image, an SVG vector graphic, or even CSS gradients (see above if you forgot already). But let’s say you want to mask something else on your page (because your web design madness has run wild). Well you can. Masks can be attached to any HTML element, including forms and video.

OK, time to calm down and come back to reality. Don’t look for this type of technology to run rampant all over the internet. Webkit is still under production. Plus it can only be implemented under certain browsers and other applications. Neither IE nor Firefox is on that VIP list, but Safari is.

So the future is here, but still out of reach (does that make sense). If you are still at the edge of your seat wanting more you can visit WebKit and get all the latest news and information about what is going on with this new technology.

Cliché of the Week
Wearing clothes in public

28 Apr | Post by Jacob Giesler. Filed under Web Design, Design.

First of all, let’s get this out of the way… you need a website. Period.

And not just any ol’ website, but a great website with clear, crisp professional, easy to navigate design with superb user ability and functionality. Furthermore, you need a website that is just as easy for you to use administratively, as it is for your site visitors to use.

It doesn’t matter if you are a national corporate brand, a smaller brick and mortar with ‘plenty of business’, a brick and mortar with only local business, or an ice cream shop that only sells to people between 5′10 and 5′11 wearing baseball hats before 3 pm only… you still need a website! Your business can be broad or niche, it can be large or small, and despite what you may believe… you need a website!

Now, what does a website cost?

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10 Apr | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Web Design, Business, Design, Blogs, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, social media.

Have you ever wondered where to get great color ideas for websites or for anything for that matter? Well look no further. There is a great website you can check out located here: http://kuler.adobe.com/ (make sure you have the latest version of Flash).

This handy site was created by Adobe to start a whole online community of color themes that anyone can use. There are thousands of themes located here for you to browse through (if you have nothing to do for a whole weekend). Each color theme has a unique and clever name that captures the essence of the colors (i.e. Cherry Cheesecake, Tech Office).

The Kuler color community allows you to create, name, submit, comment, rate, and download any color theme you desire. You can even base color themes on pictures that you can upload to the site. All it requires is for you to create a free Abobe.com account (don’t worry it’s quick and painless). Check this one out for yourself. I know you’ll have fun with it.

Cliché of the Week
Milk with cereal

01 Apr | Post by Jacob Giesler. Filed under Web Design, Design.

In today’s marketplace, it is almost no-brainer for a business to have some kind of web presence. I think of it this way:

• Your Customers and Potential Customers Expect It
• Your Business Stays Open 24/7
• Keep Abreast or Ahead of Your Competitors
• Unlimited Marketplace
• Attract New Business
• Instant Information to Prospective Clients
• Interaction with Customers

No matter what type of industry or business you are in, we can always benefit from the web.
The point to be made here is that you should, at the very least, have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

Here are some beneficial points:

Your Customers and Potential Customers Expect It
People will ask you about it. I recently was contacted by a local company who tried to sell me some new windows for my house, even though it was a cold-call, I was nice about it and politely asked the nice lady on the other end of the phone if the company has a website so I can see their products. “Sir, we don’t have website”, she replied. ‘Well, how can I see your product and services’, I asked. And she explained, “You can come to our showroom”. Now think of it for a moment, why should I drive 30 minutes to a showroom, when I can search, find, see, and order everything online within 5 minutes.

With a Web Presence, Your Business Stays Open 24/7
Having an ‘Internet’ presence is like having your store front in every corner of the world open 24/7. Your online presence helps you find customers from every location on this planet.

Help to Keep Abreast or Ahead of Your Competitors
Don’t just trade locally with your competition, surpass them, have your shop front on the Internet and let your business expand across the boundaries of regions, states or countries.

Unlimited Marketplace (International Markets Open)
With a website you can instantly globalize your business.

Use Search Engines to Attract New Business
Today most research for business and/or services are done online. By having your website listed on the top search engines, customers from anywhere will be able to access your website.

Instant Information to Prospective Clients
With a properly planned website, your customers have instant access to the information, sales, and service materials they need to make a decision. This frees up your and your sales or marketing team’s time to focus on what you do best, running and growing your business.

Make Interaction with Customers Easy
Through a website you can interact with clients via online newsletters, message board (forum), polls, chat rooms, and special deals.

Last Note:
It’s better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business. If it is not done right, customers, visitors and web surfers will know. I am sure your cousin neighbor’s sister’s friend’s son can put together a website, but what purpose will it serve if it cannot be found and is not well structured?

11 Oct | Post by Harry Casimir. Filed under Web Design, Business, Design, Internet Marketing.