Sitemap When creating the sitemap I wanted to make sure that I had enough pages available in the menu bar. I wanted to make sure that I provided enough information to the customer that they could get any information they were looking for. However, at the same time I needed to make sure that I didn’t include too much information that caused difficulty viewing and navigating the site. I came to the conclusion that I could provide the needed information with seven pages including the home page. My sitemap example is attached separately under the title “Task #3 Sitemap” in PowerPoint format.
Design Mock-Up My mock up pages needed to match with the sitemap I created in the previous step. In order to accomplish this I needed to create seven pages or menus on the website. I also needed to make sure that the headers, footers and menu bar were the same on each page to provide consistency on the site. The only thing that was to change on each page was the content. I used wix.com as the template for this process. The images of the page examples are included separately under the titles home page, about us, customer service and products page.
Web Development and Maintenance Costs Providing a website is a very important step in expansion of a business. However, having a website does not mean that your company will be setting itself up for expansion and growth. Making sure the site is relevant to your business and appealing to the visitors is another component of a successful online business. Spending time and money at its creation will provide great return on your investment. Do your homework and see what characteristics other successful sites out there have and provide to their customers. Putting in effort, time and a little money here is well worth it in the long run. Clintons and granola is a simple business and product line. Yet it is just as important that they implement a similar website that much larger companies in the industry use with their online presence. Getting across the proper message while educating your customer is a crucial function of a website. Clintons needs to get the visitors attention and interest as soon as they enter their site. Once they are there is it just as important to keep them on your site and have them learn more about your products. The goal is to ultimately turn this visit into a purchase. And after the initial purchase a repeat visit to the site turning into another sale. Clintons needs to have a home page that is appealing to visitors while still providing enough information about their granola in a simple manner. To accomplish this, an image of granola is provided on the home page along with the company logo. As part of this logo a brief description stating all natural, high fiber, no preservatives and no trans fats are used. This provides the visitor with a brief overview of their items without boring them with too many details. The company address located on the bottom is another item included on this home page. The remaining features on this page are included on each page on the site in the same location. Clintons title and tag line headers are shown on the top of each page. Additional constants include coupons, blog subscription and shopping cart buttons. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube buttons are also included on the bottom of every page. This allows Clintons site headers, footers and menu bars to remain constant on each page. This provides simplicity on a site and easy navigation. In addition to the home page, Clintons utilizes six other pages to explain and sell their business on their website. About us is a page used that simply describes the story and history of Clintons. It also shows a small graphic of some of the products that they carry. Following this is the Products page where the full product line is shown with images and prices for each. A blog/news page is shown next. This is where Clintons posts their blog information and allow the users to sign up to follow their blog. This is also where news stories or features are included on the site. This makes it easy to locate and search particular press and information the user may want to find. Customer service is the next page that is included on the site. This is where Clintons contact information is included with address, email address and telephone number. There is also a direct email link for communication and a live chat button that can get the visitor in touch with a live person from Clintons through chat. A Google maps location is also provided for the company address here. Recipes are the next page that is listed. This is where Clintons publishes recipes that they have on usage of their products. This is also where other users can upload their own favorite recipes along with images. Another feature on this is that users can vote on their favorite recipes and they have a ranking feature. The last page listed on the site is the where to buy page. This is a page that allows the user to input their zip code and the site will locate the closest retail location for their granola products. This is searchable for the whole world although their current distribution is only in the US. This location finder provides the address as well as the phone number for the nearest store that is displayed as a result.
Cost of a website plays a major role in the development and maintenance of a site. This process can be a large expense or very minimal. It is important to be smart with your sites development and maintenance budget. Doing your homework and research ahead of time can prepare you for potential fees and purchases needed to implement and run a website. Often times this is your most effective tool in marketing your business to the outside world. Understanding this process can save you from spending too much on unnecessary features or not spending enough on needed function of your site. Clintons is a small company with a small amount of budget dedicated to website. In order to get Clintons the most bang for their buck they will need to implement the following strategy and steps.
Securing their domain name is the first step that needs to be accomplished. Purchasing this from GoDaddy.com will cost $15 a year. This is a small cost but is very important to starting your own site. The next step will be in selecting a web host to host your site. The host will store all of your web files. They will also provide email accounts, database support and publish your files to the internet. I recommend using websitepalace.com for the hosting of Clintons site. This host will charge $29.99 per month for a deluxe package that will be sufficient for Clintons and their current needs. Design of the site will be a much larger expense and one that is very important to gain your customers interest and business. Clintons will be using websitepalace.com to host which would provide a simple user controlled design feature. Clintons is in need of a professional with the design of their website and websitepalace.com cannot provide this in the capacity that is needed. There are free offers out there but these often times include advertisements which translate into spam for many visitors. Clintons will need to purchase a design package in order to steer clear of other advertisements and potential for spam. For the design of Clintons site going with an independent web designer will take place. This will allow Clintons to get a more catered design to their site and allow them to publish their needs for a quote prior to selecting a designer. Posting their exact needs and wants to a publishing board will allow independent designers to view their needs and select their interest in designing the site. This will provide both sides the expectation and requirements for the site before anything is even started. The budget provided for design will be $1,000.
Programming software is another component to the website and its development. In order to accomplish this Clintons has the ability to use their CRM package provider. Another option that should be utilized is purchasing a web editor program to be used rather than their CRM package. Dreamweaver is a software package that costs $399 for the life of the package. This will help Clintons with their software needs and allow clearer functionality with their business and website integration. This program will allow them to track and manage all the components of the customer relationship through their website. Photography is another purchase that needs to be looked at for Clintons. Hiring a professional photographer will allow Clintons to get visual appealing images of their products. This is important to have on their site as every visitor will want to see a good representation of the products that they are looking to purchase. Spending $300 on a photographer will be a one time charge that they can utilize for as long as they want as they will own the images.
The last feature that needs to be purchased and implemented is the shopping cart feature. For Clintons shopping cart they will accept payments through Paypal and the most common credit cards Visa, Discover Card, Mastercard and American Express. The hosting package purchase through websitepalace.com will provide this service as part of their additional merchant account offerings for $29.99 a year. This purchase will give Clintons a secure sockets layer (SSL) on their site making it safe to conduct transactions. This will allow the users to purchase through these methods and be managed and oversaw through websitepalace.com.
The table below shows the total costs associated with the development and maintenance of Clintons website. This will give a good overview of the costs needed to run a successful online business and expand on their current presence.

Service Monthly Annually
Domain Name through GoDaddy.com $1.25 $15
Hosting through Websitepalace.com $29.99 $359.88
Design
Independent Contractor $84 $1,000 (one time)
Photography
Independent Photographer $25 $300 (one time)
CRM Software
Dreamweaver $33.25 $399 (one time)
Merchant Acct/Shopping Cart
Websitepalace.com $2.49 $29.99