Website Design

News Flash!!!

"Now offering search engine optimization (that works!), MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc... profiles with SEO, and social network integration, "share", "like", and "follow" buttons, Google "+1", Stumble Upon, Foreign Languages, Email capture, and much, much more!".

Please contact me now.  Don't try to spend the time it takes to learn all this stuff on your own.  At only $30/hr., my rates can't be beat!  Call me at (715) 752-3085 or email Pat@AlternativeMIDI.com right now!

Why do I need my own website?

If you've been thinking that your MySpace and Facebook pages constitute a website, think again!  Those and others are useful, even necessary tools these days, however, if you want to get your band, brand, or business really noticed, you need to have your own website as well.  Agents, venue owners, fans, customers, clients, and other businesses are expecting you to have your own site where they can see, hear, and learn much more about you than a social networking or online directory page can provide.  When you integrate your own website with the social networks, your "searchability" increases dramatically, and more people start finding out about you.

Although MySpace offers some levels of customization, the structure remains basically the same for everyone.  Facebook offers little to no customization, and you usually need to find and set up 3rd party "plug-ins" to do things like a music player, or to put up videos.  Even then, everything often has to be on one page, so your page can get pretty "long" and/or cluttered.  With your own website, you can break that "mold", and organize it into separate pages any way you see fit, or that will make it easier for your visitors to find what they are looking for.  If you are a band for instance, you could have separate pages for your Home/Bio, songs/music player, videos, pictures, schedule, song list, lyrics, contact info, along with links, especially to your MySpace, Facebook, etc...  The list of things you can do is endless!  The best part is you can have your logo, artwork, navigation, pictures, pages, or anything else, anywhere, anyway you want them.  You won't be limited to the structure of a "template"

Here's a great article I ran across:  5 Benefits of Having a Website for Your Small Business

What's wrong with "Do-it-yourself" (DIY) websites?

It's a fact that there are hundreds of "do-it-yourself" website building websites out there.  The truth is, no matter how "easy" they make it sound, you still need a fair amount of basic computer technical know-how (and time) in order to make it work.  Many of these site-making-sites are intentionally designed to "never be moved" so if you decide later that you need more control over how stuff looks, or a webmaster, like me, you could be in for a real challenge.  One DIY took me 30 hours to copy, move, & reassemble because there was no "export" option!  They do this on purpose to make you think twice about moving.  The free ones (and cheap ones too) are very limited and often won't let you put things (like pictures) where or how you want them to appear, use templates that you must stay within and everyone else has access to, and/or put advertisements on your site, and you have to do all of the work!  Why not have the peace of mind knowing that you can focus on your business, and let your webmaster make the changes to your website?

What's wrong with "Flash-based" websites?

Flash-based websites, although they may look really "cool", take a long time to program (and therefore cost much more) and the search engines cannot read Flash files, so all that information in your cool Flash movie will not help your being found by a search inquiry.  These are the reasons I don't do Flash-based websites.  I use it for things like picture slideshows and music players, but that's about it.  The search engines can't read anything in pictures or music either anyway.

An affordable "Alternative":

The Alternative offers affordable solutions for those looking for a web presence that doesn't need to rival big corporate sites, or really "flashy" ones.  People really appreciate the ease of navigation a clean, simple design provides that lets them find the information they are looking for--fast.  I believe that having a website is necessary for getting your name out there, you just don't need to spend thousands to do that.

A typical $400 3-4 page site allows for 15 hours or so of design and construction time.  Because projects vary in requirements and difficulty, work will be billed at only $30/hr. for hours beyond the initial 15.  Typically this will be the case where extra pages, pictures, Mp3's, and/or videos (more than 6 or 8) are needed, as was the case with some of the examples below.  Updates (minor), and upgrades (more major) will still be at only $30/hr.  If you are hosted with the Alternative, small, routine monthly updates may even be included!

Larger sites are available.  Let's sit down and talk about the details and options for YOUR website.  Initial consultations are HIGHLY recommended, and always free.  Please also visit the Web Hosting page for more info there.  Oh, and yes, I DID take all the pictures on this site ;-).

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The Alternative specializes in Music Industry Websites. . . .

. . . .but can do sites for anything else, especially local businesses.

Now offering search engine optimization, MySpace & Facebook profiles and social network integration, "share" & "like buttons, Google "+1", and much more".

I understand the aspects, products, and terminology of the music industry with:

• 15 years music retail experience
• 35 years live performance experience
• 25 years recording and live sound experience
• 31 years computer experience with associate degree
• 23 years as a music technology consultant
• 25 years as a musical instrument instructor
• 9 years website design

I invite you to tour more of this site, and these others to see more examples of my work:

Sample Sites:

Tommy L. Music       Singer/songwriter/musician    ($400 site, 2011)

Jim Purtell MySpace     Songwriter (based on Stoney Beach Music below)     ($75, 2010)

Rosetti & Wigley     Solo, duo, full-band, orchestra    ($350 upgrade, 2010, 2011)

Stoney Beach Music-Original Acoustic based Folk, Soft Rock, Country, Americana Songs, Lyrics, & Videos                   Purtell & Bellos, Songwriters   ($400 site, 2010, MAJOR upgrade 2011)

Brandon Hills Music Publishing     Music Publisher   ($600 site, 2009)

Harp Music For Memorable Events    Harpist/Teacher   ($1000 site, 2007)

Songwriters Of Wisconsin International    ($600 site, 2008)

Reading Success Press     Elementary Reading Teacher   ($300 site, 2009)

Sound and Lighting Design     Sound & Lighting Company   ($400 site, 2006)