What you get when you hire Amherst Partners to Design and Develop your website

At Amherst Partners we don't believe in hidden fees or charging extra for services we feel are standard, not optional.  Our philosophy is that when you hire us to build a website you get a complete website that is ready for both people and the search engines. This article outlines all of the technical and service components that are included in our proposal when we develop a quote. And, since there are always legitimate optional services that can be provided, it also provides a partial list of the additional technologies and services that Amherst Partners can provide.

The Design and Implementation

Everything below is included at no extra cost in Amherst Partners initial website development fee. You could pay hundreds, if not thousands, in "extra add-on fees" to many other website developers for these features :

• At Amherst Partners the majority of our websites are developed using the latest Joomla CMS (Content Management System) available. The Joomla CMS is a highly optimized platform for developing robust websites that expand easily to meet a wide variety of client needs.
• We license Search Engine Optimized (SEO) templates from both RocketTheme and Shape5
• We perform further Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on website content using a licensed tool from iJoomla. This allows us to easily manage Title, Description, and Keyword meta data.
• We utilize Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs, or internet addresses, to improve overall search engine performance and an improved user experience.
• We install a website firewall along with other measures that detect attacks on the website from hackers and prevents hostile takeovers of a website for malicious purposes. We currently see an average of 3 attacks per week against sites we maintain.
• We install licensed tools for performing regular website backups.
• We setup and configure a Google Analytics account and install GA tracking code in the website to track a wide variety of visitor statistics.
• We Add the website to Google Webmaster Tools and load a dynamic sitemap of the website that is always current and that gives the Google search engine robots pointers to the site pages we want them to index.
• We Add the Website to Microsoft's Webmaster Tools and load the same sitemap used for Google to the Microsoft Bing and Yahoo search engines.
• If appropriate we claim a Google Places listing for your business and configure it so that it is consistent with the website.
• If requested by the client we create a Facebook Business Page and configure tools in the website to post to Facebook whenever content on the website is updated.
• If requested by the client we create a Twitter account and configure it to be fed from Facebook (or the website if a Facebook account isn't created).

Ongoing Support

When a website goes "live" Amherst Partners job isn't done. We continue to take an active role in the following at no extra cost to our clients. Most website design firms charge a base monthly fee for these services.

• Malicious activity and hacker attack monitoring and pre-emptive blacklisting of known hacker sources.
• Periodic website software updates. When we find out about updates to software tools we use in the development of our clients websites we update it if necessary.
• Periodic website backup.
• Periodic review of Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools accounts.
• Periodic updates to better optimize website visible content for specific targeted keywords.
• Response to email or phone support requests within 2 hours during normal business hours (8:00 – 5:00) [During holidays and vacations we usually respond within 24 hours.]

Additional Optional Services

Amherst Partners provides a number of enhanced Internet Marketing and website marketing services at affordable rates:

• Local Search Provider Business Data Optimization – we can manage your business's key data across more than 150 local search providers through our affiliation and partnership with Localeze.
• Google AdWords configuration and management – we can setup and manage Google AdWords campaigns for you in conjunction with your Google Analytics tracking account.
• Google AdSense configuration and management – we can setup and manage your Google AdSense account and make the appropriate modifications to your website to display Google Ads on appropriate pages of your site.
• Deep website SEO and SEF analysis and modification – we can rewrite your website content to better align with your intended market and the search terms you wish to be found under.
• Expanded social media utilization to further your business and your web presence (YouTube, Google+, etc.)
• Mobile device site pages – customized pages on your website specifically for iPhones and other smartphones.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 June 2012 16:59