1. Why should an author have a website?
   
• Information
• Interaction
• Promotion
• Credibility
2. Why should an author NOT have a website?
   
3. Why should he or she have it professionally done?
   
4. How long does it take to build a website?
   
5. What should be on the website?
6. How much does it cost?
   
• Domain name
  
• Hosting
  
• Design
  
• Maintenance
  
7. How many visitors should I be getting to my site?
   
8. What about a hit counter?
   
9. How can I get people to come to my site?
   
10. Should I pay for search engine placement?
    
11. How do I pick a webmaster?
    

1. They agree with the information in this FAQ (heehee)
2. They are experienced in marketing authors online and marketing to readers within your particular genre. They have a relationship with existing online genre websites, or the ability to develop one.
3. Their work is professional looking, fast to load, fits the personality of the author/business being promoted. You don't see a lot of typos, misspellings, and poor grammar on their sites. Textual accuracy is of course critical in professional literary sites such as yours.
4. Their clients' sites tend not to be so out of date as to be useless. A good webmaster will help motivate a client to update their site, to keep it fresh.
5. You can find what you're looking for in one or two clicks.
6. There aren't any missing images or links that don't work.
7. They ask about the content of your work, think creatively about how to help you market it, and ask about future plans for both your work and your website.
8. They respect your budget, your taste and your ideas.
9. They offer you options for designs, content, navigation and deadlines. You are as involved in building the site as you want to be.
10. They understand the role of the publisher, the agent, the writer, the publicist, and can coordinate with them if needed.
11. You like the sites in their portfolio.
12. Their current clients recommend them.
13. Your work style and theirs match up.
14. They communicate well with you about basic website-related terms, technical information, and can answer your questions in a way that you understand.
15. They meet their deadlines.
16. They communicate clearly about what is and is not covered under the project cost estimate. They state their rates clearly and offer information about options beyond the original site launch.

CincinnatiMedia is a website firm specializing in author, nonprofit and small business websites. We present this FAQ as a service to our clients, as well as to others who might be considering building a website.

• To learn more about CincinnatiMedia visit our main site.
• To see screenshots of some of our websites, click here.
• To read blurbs and testimonials, click here.
• To contact CincinnatiMedia, click here.