I’m sure most of our clients already know, but I have started working at the Dunnellon Business Association as their Assistant Executive Officer in March of this year.  I am in charge of membership and running the Visitor Center.  This position is only part time and has lot of challenges ahead, but the part that makes me most excited is that I get to work on DiscoverDunnellon.com and really tweek it to my liking.

The DBA has recently come out with a new program called Passport To Dunnellon.  See, in our small town of Dunnellon, FL we have the beautiful Rainbow River.  During the Summer time, our tiny town is overrun with people coming to enjoy the crystal clear waters that come out of the Head Spring and travels south.  About 80% of travelers are tubers who will enter the river at the top, float four hours to the tuber’s exit and then get back into their cars to stay and eat in Ocala.  Our Passport Program is a free Welcome/Discount card that we want offer to visitors to entice them to stay and eat here, in Dunnellon.  Though the passport is free, we do want a little bit of information about the visitor, mostly where are they from?  And why are they here?

But how will I get this information?  Have them fill out a paper form before receiving the card?  Then I’ll have to decipher their handwriting and enter that information somewhere…  This sounds extremely time consuming.  And since I have a lot to do, and only part time hours to do it in, I need to find another way.

So then I began to think about how I can use the website to collect the information I need.  Josh and I had implemented a “kiosk” at Dunnellon Jewelry Pawn where users could review the store while checking out.  If I could get Josh to create a ghost page on DD (one that isn’t visible to people randomly searching through our site) with a form asking for this information, then I could save myself lots of time by using a “kiosk” tablet to ask the questions for me.  Once a visitor has submitted the form on the website, all the information would immediately be emailed to me where it’s already typed out and ready to review.

There are so many other ways to get your website to work for you.  E-Commerce is one of the most obvious ways, but taking reservations online or submitting testimonials are other creative ways to get your website to be more than just a design.

So you’ve decided that your website needs a rebuild, and you found a great company to do it for you.  The price is right and their portfolio of websites look amazing.  But then they tell you that there will be a monthly hosting fee.  The fee is WAY more expensive than the hosting you’ve paid in the past, and you don’t understand why.  You’re thinking that you’ll just stick with what you’re used to.  Probably using GoDaddy for your hosting.  If you do that, you’re looking at a 2-year life span of your website before it completely stops functioning.

Hosting is defined as “A web hosting service is a type of internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web” – Wikipedia.org

So basically hosting is the cost associated with where your website lives.  So why is it so expensive with the new web developer?

Let look at hosting in terms of “rent”.  When you are “renting” (hosting) on places like GoDaddy for dirt cheap, it’s like renting in a high rise in the city.  And not a nice one either.  This rental doesn’t come with any fixes.  So if you’re A/C goes out (or if your contact form stops working) you better know how to fix it.  Or when you call an A/C guy to come and repair it, you’re paying by the hour.  Web developers typically charge $100 – $125 per hour to fix a broken site.

If you’re host with your web developer, when things break, you’re likely to not even know.  It’ll be fixed before you even see the problem. 

With a Web Developer, “renting” (hosting) is like renting a nice place where the A/C is fixed before you even know it’s broken.  Your Web Developer has likely done preventative maintenance to make sure the A/C never stops working.  Not only that, but your Web Developer has opted to hang pictures (text and images) on the wall for you, anytime you need to change what’s already there.  Your Web Developer is even constantly updating the place for optimal speed and functionality.

If you have more questions or need more information, feel free to contact us!