Affordable Web Design Baltimore

Web Maintenance

Don't make a bad first impression!

Maintaining a website is easy... correcting a poor first impression is not.

We've all seen those error messages when links get broken, little red X's appear on a page where there should be photos, or even worse - your potential customers see old, out-dated info. Letting your website get stale can give visitors the impression that you're less than detail-oriented, making a poor first impression and discouraging them from calling you in the first place.

Don't put up a nice website and then neglect it!

Your website represents your business on the world wide web 24 hours a day, every day. There is the potential for hundreds or even thousands of visitors to view your website, from down the street and around the globe. Make sure you've got your best foot forward and review all your website content frequently.

You don't get a 2nd chance to make a first impression.

We make it easy to keep your website up-to-date. Our Web Maintenance plans provide our clients with the ability to send us updates to their websites whenever they want to. We take pride in getting updates done quickly and accurately. Many times we can make updates to your website on-the-fly while on the phone with you instructing us on what to change. We enjoy it when our clients say "WOW, that was quick and easy"!

Even if we didn't design your website, we may still be able to perform maintenance for you. It really depends how the website was constructed and what programming language was used. If we are unable to assist you with maintaining your website, we're certain that we can refer you to one of our professional affiliates who can perform the necessary tasks.

Web Hosting

Managed Web Hosting - We'll handle it all for you!

Every website needs to be 'hosted' in order to be viewed on the internet.

With our Managed Web Hosting plans you get our industrial grade infrastructure coupled with our all-encompassing customer service and care.

Our Web Hosting plans are basically unlimited. Yes, unlimited. Unless you're planning on building the next iTunes or Amazon, your website probably qualifies for our unlimited plans. We don't believe in splitting hairs, in charging you for every little thing. We like to keep it simple, so we've setup our business to be flexible and uncomplicated.

We offer PCI Compliant Web Hosting for all our ecommerce websites. Security has never been more important than it is today. Doing business online is easy, but it comes with a slew of potential pitfalls and vulnerabilities to deal with. The online situation is further complicated by the ever changing nature of the internet. Technology is always advancing, but then so are the threats that new technology brings. So it is vitally important to make sure your ecommerce website is safe and secure for your online shoppers!

What is PCI Compliant Web Hosting?

PCI Compliance is a set of standard by which all credit card merchants must abide by to keep sensitive data (and credit card numbers) safe from misuse. You can learn more about PCI Compliance by visiting the PCI Security Standards Council website. The ultimate goal of PCI Compliance is to eliminate credit card fraud and identity theft. PCI Compliance actually governs a lot more than your website. It provides standards and guidelines that must be followed from your website to your office to your employees. Basically, every aspect of your business that concerns obtaining, storing, and destroying sensitive data should be examined to assure secure processes are in place.

If you have an ecommerce website, and you accept credit card payments from customers, you MUST have your website scanned regularly to test for vulnerabilities and hackers. We offer PCI Compliance scanning as an Authorized Reseller through Comodo's Hacker Guardian program. With Hacker Guardian, your website (and our servers) are scanned thoroughly for security risks, vulnerabilities, hacks or other spyware, etc. When a risk is detected we are notified and we go to work immediately to correct the issue. So your website is always safe and secure.

Content Management - Blogs, Forums & More!

What is CMS?

CMS is an acronym for Content Management System (or Software).

When we talk about CMS, we're talking about content management software specifically made for websites. Typically, a CMS program stores large amounts of web content in a database, then displays that content to visitors upon request. The content is displayed into a template, which controls the structure, layout and colors of the website.

CMS platforms are very common nowadays, and there are so many websites using a CMS, you probably don't even realize it when you visit one.

CMS can take your website to the next level of interactive functionality.

CMS is can be used to build your entire website, or it can be used for just one section of your website. The applications and uses for CMS are virtually endless. Depending on your specific needs, a CMS program can be an easy way to manage content and add interactive features to your website.

Do I need CMS?

CMS is typically useful for websites with larger amounts of content. Using a CMS makes storing, organizing, and displaying that data simple and easy. So if you are considering building a large website, you might want to consider CMS as a viable option from the start. Another benefit of CMS is that it can allow owners (non web designers) to access an administrative area where they can add content as needed on their own.

If you don't require CMS please visit our Web Design section.

SEO Basics

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization.

What that means often depends on who you're talking to, and what exactly they're trying to sell you. We've heard many SEO sales pitches & schemes, strategies & loop-holes about getting top rankings with the major search sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Some of these include shady approaches to SEO, ranging from adding useless links on your website to placing hidden elements or text on your pages.

The one thing they all have in common: it's going to cost you.

Our approach to SEO is simple and honest: Education, planning & design.

Wasn't that easy?

The best part - we don't charge any additional fees for SEO when we build your website from scratch. We don't offer SEO services to just anyone. Our SEO services are only offered to new and existing clients.

How do we build search-friendly websites?

We understand that we need to build your website to be attractive to both humans and search engines. First we listen and understand your business. Then we discuss how your new website can enhance the business and help you reach your marketing goals. Lastly, we implement the appropriate elements to make your website perform it's best in organic search rankings.

We advise our clients on the importance of creating powerful, relevant, keyword-rich content. We build your website on a solid, search-friendly foundation, and structure the site to be easily navigable by both human visitors and search engines alike. As we're laying out your web content, we're placing emphasis on your keyphrases and other important on-page factors using elements like headings, bold type, and bullet points. We want your website to be informative, but also visually appealing.

There are many "flavors" of SEO - but 2 basic types:

On-Page SEO refers to elements that reside ON your website, while Off-page SEO refers to all exernal SEO related items.

Some of these Off-page SEO tasks can be accomplished for free, and others are fee-paid services. While we are never advoates for spending money, depending on the level of online competition for your business, you may need to consider some of the paid options that are available.