frequently-asked questions
q. I’m on a tight budget, how much will this cost me?
a. The cost of your website depends entirely on the features you need on your website and so there is no quick answer to this question. Let us help you make a list of what you really need on your website, and then we will give you a free estimate. The fastest way to start this process is to fill out the Business Information Form. For example, do you need a shopping cart? Do you need a lot of photos? Who provides those photos? How many pages do you need? Do you need a domain name?
A basic site is not very expensive. There are alternatives that are initially less expensive, such as a “sub-domain” (see below). Questions?
q.Why does my business need a website?
a. It all comes down to competition. Your potential customers search online for the goods and services they need. If your competitor is online then it is very likely that the customer will go to your customer. A well-developed, attractive, and informative website brings customers to you. Questions?
q. How do I start?
a. Tell us a bit about your business and your website needs by going to the Business Information Form where you will give us enough information to get started on your estimate. Or contact us directly through the Contact Form.
q.What is a domain name?
a. Website names, such as pacificgrovewebsites.com, microsoft.com, apple.com, and others, are called domain names. Domain names must be registered with a “domain registrar”. Only one party can register a domain name at a time and so the domain name that your own is unique. We suggest that you let us get your website domain name as soon as possible. Here is the Pacific Grove Websites domain name as it appears in the address window of your browser:
The words “pacificgrovewebsites.com” is the actual domain name that is registered by us. You will need your own domain name and we get it for you. Questions?
q. What is a URL?
a.. The URL is the web address of a website. For example, “http://www.pacificgrovewebsites.com” is the URL for the website of Pacific Grove Websites. Your URL is the web address you will use on your marketing materials to tell people where to find your website. Questions?
q. What is a Sub-domain and how is it used?
a.. If you would rather wait to obtain your own domain name, you can still have a web presence through a “sub-domain” hosted on the Pacific Grove Websites site. This would give you your own web address that you can use for your marketing. The sub-domain replaces the “www” in the URL of the site. For example, if your business is Mary’s Flower Shop, your web address would look like this in the browser:
Sub-domains are less expensive than a domain name. Questions?
q. Do I have to pay you every time I want my site updated.
a. We have two very economical solutions to that problem. One is that you choose to have a site that you can easily update yourself, right through your browser window. The other solution is that you purchase a yearly maintenance contract.