Web Design
It is important to have an online presence. Your website to most people will be their first impression of you. You want to display your best self. When conjuring up ideas about your site, let your creativity shine!
For me, I like to start with how I want it to feel before I add any text. I start with the pictures and the mood, then fill it in from there! – michael
There are many different companies offering web hosting and do-it-yourself templates. Many of them bombard you with add-ons and subscriptions you do not need. It is our goal to bundle together services that can help you at all stages of your business. Whether you are just starting out and needing a simple drag and drop front page to announce who you are or a fully responsive site providing streaming video content and selling products, we have a bundle right for you. And if you want to select services à la carte, we offer that too!
Lean Towards Joy™ did not set out to become a hosting company. As you may have discovered by now, we are simply looking to add joy to the world not compete with companies that spend millions on Super Bowl ad buys. As we began developing and hosting websites for our clients using third party providers, we began to notice a theme. Clients want to have full access to their websites so they can make the changes. They just don’t want to be bogged down with setting it all up in the beginning. Which makes sense, you were inspired to start a business not learn the ins and outs of web hosting! With Lean Towards Joy™ now offering domain registering (or transferring), hosting, easy drag and drop web building, and more, you can stay focused on following your passion and shining your light online!
It is up to you to choose what works best for your situation. Our goal is to provide you with simplicity. We basically do all the leg work for you. Having one point of contact for all of the different processes will make your website launch simple.
Ins & Outs
There is broad range of information out there about websites. Of course, the further you dive into the different technologies the more daunting it can seem. However, the basics of websites are pretty simple. So here are the essentials.
Domain Names are like a house addresses. The name directs people to where they can find you. A domain name can be purchased through many different companies. Once it is purchased, you own it and it is registered through a registry. However, just because you purchased an address doesn’t mean you have a house. You still need a place to stay and that’s where hosting comes in. We’re clearly still into this house metaphor, so bear with us.
Hosting is your place to call home. It’s where you can put all your stuff. In this case instead of furniture and clothes, your stuff refers to pictures and files. It is a computer server kept in a large (or small) warehouse. A hosting server can be purchased with your domain name or it can be purchased separate through another company. They are not linked together until you tell them to be. With a domain name and a hosting server, you are about two thirds the way there. Without any sort of webpage with programming language, there is no organization only a directory listing all the files you added. It’s as though someone goes to your house and just finds all your stuff in a pile on the floor (in alphabetical order, of course). That’s why webpages are so important.
Front Page or landing page is the first page a person sees when they go to your website. It’s where you display your fresh cut flowers and best hanging art. Just like you wouldn’t want people to walk through your closet when they first arrive to your home, you want to make sure that the first impression they have of you is solid. Now don’t misunderstand us, it should be authentic. We’re just saying, maybe an after you had your morning coffee (or tea) kind of authentic.
Now that you have a domain name, a place to host, and a front page, you have all the essentials. The rest of the things we will go over are those “dive a little deeper” things we mentioned earlier. And we will do so free from metaphors, although we do welcome the challenge.
Domain Privacy helps keep your personal information safe. When you purchase the domain the registry needs to keep track of who owns the website including all of your contact information. This is made public to anyone who knows how to look it up. Therefore by paying for domain privacy, the company you purchased the domain from will display their contact information instead of yours. That way your boss doesn’t need to know about your IAmObsessedWithKitties.com website.And just incase you were wondering/yearning that domain name is available.
SSL Security stands for Secure Socket Layer. This one can get complicated. But it is essentially adding security to your website. It makes the link between your web browser (Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer) and the web server (where you host your site) an encrypted link. It makes sure that all the data that passes to or from the server remains secure and private. You can tell if a website has SSL because the http:// in the beginning of the address will automatically become https://.
NameSafe or Site Lock is another security measure to prevent unauthorized access to your domain name. It is not offered through every company that sells domains, however it is a nice feature to have. It prevents account ownership changes without a proper email authentication from the owner on file.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essentially making sure your website is seen by search engines. Because if Google can’t find you, neither will your customers. For better or worse, we now live in an age that people Google everything even if they don’t mean too. Most web browsers today will automatically take you to google if you type in a web address and leave off the
.com. So like it or not, you have to play by Google’s rules. This doesn’t mean you have to buy advertising through a search engine (although that is a value to some), it simply means your website must be structured in a way that search engines can do their job and search your site. This SEO process is done by adding creative and technical elements to the backend of your website (frontend = what people see, backend = the coding). SEO will organically improve your ranking in search engines and drive more traffic to your website.
Page Builders, drag and drop user interfaces, and templates, are all different ways that the technology has shifted to allow more access to building webpages than a decade ago. The barriers to entry have been greatly reduced. You no longer need to know HTML, CSS, SQL, and other languages to build a stunning webpage. There are many different options in this space. Some are easier to navigate than others. It is up to the user to find what is more intuitive for them. Lean Towards Joy™ offers clients a secure environment to sample a few of these technologies before they purchase a package. Contact us for more information if you are interested in this experience.
Custom Emails are emails that contain your domain name instead of gmail, hotmail, iCloud, etc… Although these alternatives are better than having an AOL address, having a custom email with your domain in it provides users a piece of mind that your business is here to stay a while. It’s odd what people find comfort in, however studies have shown people trust “business email” more than personal emails when it comes to doing business with a company.
HIPAA Compliant Emails are emails that meet HIPAA compliancy. Most email systems are built to send and receive emails as quickly as possible and the servers are not much interested in how they are sent, this includes Gmail. However to meet HIPAA compliancy emails that are sent must be encrypted. If you enjoy the ease of use that Gmail provides, you can setup HIPAA compliant custom emails through Google so it will look and feel the same as a regular Gmail account. These are good things to do for any business, but it is a necessity if the government states that your business must be HIPAA compliant.
Google Workspace Formally gSuite, is a bundle of products from Google that will bring your email, file storage, and device management systems together in one easy to use platform. Professional emails will be sent from your business’ website. You will gain access to upgradable free cloud file storage with live support from Google. All while having full control over the data on any and all devices within your business.
Pricing
As we mentioned above it is up to you to choose what works best for your situation. Our goal is to provide you with simplicity. By purchasing one of the packages below, we basically do all the leg work for you. Having one point of contact for all of the different processes will make your website launch simple.
- Domain Name'
- Domain Privacy
- Hosting
- Disk Space 2.5GB
- Bandwidth 5GB
- Site Lock
- Custom Emails'
- Setup Fees
- Domain Name'
- Domain Privacy
- Hosting
- Disk Space 5GB
- Bandwidth 10GB
- Site Lock
- Custom Emails'
- Setup Fees
- SSL Security
- Front Page Design
- Code Guard Backup
- Domain Name'
- Domain Privacy
- Hosting
- Disk Space 5GB
- Bandwidth 50GB
- Site Lock
- Custom Emails'
- Setup Fees
- SSL Security
- Front Page Design
- Code Guard Backup
- SEO Package
- Premium Website Theme
- Drag & Drop Page Builder
- Domain Name'
- Domain Privacy
- Hosting
- Disk Space 10GB
- Bandwidth 100GB
- Site Lock
- Custom Emails'
- Setup Fees
- SSL Security
- Front Page Design
- Code Guard Backup
- SEO Package
- Premium Website Theme
- Drag & Drop Page Builder
- HIPAA Compliant Emails
- Google Workspace
Package Details
The Sprout package includes everything you will need to get a website up with a coming soon as the landing page. If you are unfamiliar with HTML or other web design options, the Flower package is recommended. The $285 package price reflects the initial years fees. Annual fees of $159 will be billed 365 days after your initial purchase date to cover domain and hosting fees.
†Domain Name
Includes a standard domain name.
††Custom Emails
Includes four emails with the domain address, more are available.
The Seedling package includes everything you will get with the Sprout package. In addition to all the features of the Sprout package, the Seedling Package includes SSL security, Site Lock, and website backup tools.The $375 package price reflects the initial years fees. Annual fees of $249 will be billed 365 days after your initial purchase date to cover domain and hosting fees.
†Domain Name
Includes a standard domain name.
††Custom Emails
Includes four emails with the domain address, more are available.
The Flower package includes everything you will need to get a website up and running with a front page. In addition to all the features of the Seedling package, it will include your business name and contact information, one photo and a paragraph of text (if provided), and a “coming soon” logo announcing your website site development is still in progress. You will also receive access to SEO tools, a premium WordPress or Weebly theme valued at $49.99 and a drag and drop page builder. The $875 package price reflects the initial years fees. Annual fees of $499 will be billed 365 days after your initial purchase date to cover domain and hosting fees.
†Domain Name
Includes a standard domain name.
††Custom Emails
Includes four emails with the domain address, more are available.
The Garden package includes everything you will get with the Flower package. In addition to all the features of the Flower package, the Garden Package includes HIPAA compliant emails with a Google Workspace BAA Certificate as well as the added benefits of Google Workspace, disk space, and bandwidth listed above. The $1025 package price reflects the initial years fees. Annual fees of $649 will be billed 365 days after your initial purchase date to cover domain and hosting fees.
†Domain Name
Includes a standard domain name.
††Custom Emails
Includes four emails with the domain address, more are available.
Design
If you choose a package above and want us to also do the design work, the design fee will vary depending on your vision. Design costs will be determined by how many hours are estimated for your web design. For this reason, it is a good idea to have an idea of what you want your website to look like and what you would want it to feature.