Kate O. Lynch

Website Basics

Website-Basics

Website basics to help you understand the basics of having your own website.

As a website designer, I often find people confused when we first get started. They’ve bought a domain, what else could they possibly need? There is in fact yet another step in order to have their website built. When I ask them about setting up their hosting, this is where I find they are often confused. Hopefully I can help clear the air!

Before getting started, a domain can also be referred to as a web address or URL.

Buying a Domain

The first thing you do is purchase your domain or web address, this is the URL that people will enter to visit your website. Tye cost of this is typically around $12 but can vary depending on who you purchase your domain through. There are countless places that sell domains: Google, HostGator, GoDaddy, etc. You will have to renew your domain annually, unless the company you purchase it through offers multiple year contracts.

Website-Basics-KateOGroup
Hosting Your Website

Whether you go with WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify or one of the many platforms available for building your website, you have to pay a monthly fee to keep your website visible. Depending on who you choose to host your site, this monthly fee could be anywhere from $4 to $30 dollars, possibly even more. Often you can prepay for a year or more at one time and save big time on the hosting fee.

As a personal preference, I build websites on the WordPress platform and recommend HostGator (affiliate link) for web hosting.  Most companies that provide hosting services offer easy to use website templates that could easily be used for launching  a business if you want to wait to have a custom website designed.

What platform is your website built upon? Let me know in the comments below.

KateOGroup uses HostGator for hosting services.  While they may not be perfect we don’t have a lot of complaints about them either.  KateOGroup is an affiliate of HostGator.  We’ve included our affiliate link throughout this post.

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What’s in a Name?

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What's In A Name | Small Business | KateOGroupSo, you’re thinking of starting a business, yay!  Good for you.  Whether it’s a hobby you want to turn into a money making opportunity or something you’re already doing but want to venture out on your own, first things first, you need a name for your business. As I work with people as they start their businesses, one piece of advice I find myself giving out over and over again: Don’t just choose a name, do your homework first.

For some of you, I would venture to guess that deciding on a name could be the hardest step of becoming a business owner.  Just like naming a child, naming a business is very important.  Before you decide on a name, I have three things for you to consider:

1. Are you leaving room for growth?

Whether your business is offering products or services, will you ever expand your offerings? When I formed KateOGroup in 2011, I thought my focus would solely be on managing social media for my clients, but, I knew that I enjoyed graphic design and web design.  Rather than go with a name like “Social Kate” or “Socially,” I decided on KateOGroup.  I had already established an identity online as KateOLynch and I wanted to allow my company room to grow.  Being KateOGroup allowed me to not only expand beyond social media but also leave room for the possibility of employees.

2. Do you mind being called that?

Are the initials or abbreviations of your company name okay with you? For example, you might be a photographer wanting your name to be “Camera Action Roll” but that could be abbreviated to CAR. Do you want to be called that?

While this sounds simple you wouldn’t believe the number of business owners who didn’t actually think through this step of their business name. It’s easy to jump on a name without considering the shortened version or a potential nickname of your company. Find a few people who’s opinion you respect and run the name by them to get their feed back; they may see concerns with the name that you don’t.

3. Can you have a consistent name on line?

Can you get the same URL (web address) and social media profiles for your chosen name? Having the same name across all social media channels will make it easy for your customers to find and connect with you. Think about how vital that is to your business.

What's-in-a-Name-Tiles-KateOGroup

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Moodboard Monday: Homey

Whenever I’m brainstorming a new project, I like to start with a moodboard.  It really helps me to establish the direction and message for the upcoming design.  I haven’t meet with my clients yet, so I’m not sure this moodboard will be what I use going forward but still thought I’d share it incase it provide inspiration for someone else!

Homey_Moodboard

Through this moodboard I wanted to establish a “homey” feel with the opportunity for personal touches throughout the design.  This is the first step in a rebranding and website design.

Want to see even more sneak peeks of the projects I’m working on?

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Rebrand: Anders Group

I’ll confess that before working with the Anders Group on their rebrand, I didn’t really understand what a travel healthcare job was.  Essentially as a healthcare professional (nurse, therapist, etc) you take short term assignments that are approximately 13 weeks and your assignment could be anywhere in the US.  How cool is that?  You get paid to travel and experience living in different cities.  Anders Group does all the work finding assignments, getting you to the assignment and setting up a place for you to live.  If you know anyone interested in this type of job I highly recommend you look into Anders Group!

Because Anders Group already had a logo it was important to stick with the same color scheme and just give the logo a more up-to-date look but we didn’t want to completely abandon the original design.  Here is the final design they selected:

Anders-Group-Logo-&-Elements

Anders-Group-Business-Cards

Once the logo was chosen it was time to get started on their marketing materials.  Designing the marketing pieces was my favorite part of this project.  Anders Group really wanted unique items that required out of the box thinking. Instead of a big brochure full of company information they opted for a folder with information sheets that could be customized for each event they attend.

Anders-Group-Marketing-Materials

Anders-Group-Folders-exterior

Anders-Group-Folder-with-Information-Sheets

Another part of the project was creating a brochure for the Anders Group.  Rather than a traditional tri-fold brochure we designed a square tri-fold brochure with a cutout on the front panel.

Anders-Group-Brochure

Anders-Group-Brochure-Open

Anders-Group-Marketing-Materials

Thanks to Emily for working on this design and copywriting project with us!

Custom Home Builder Branding: Patten Custom Homes

This custom home builder branding project was a lot of fun. The initial concept was a monogram design. The first set of concepts included:

The first concept was inspired by the modern garage doors this custom home builder uses. The second concept was me just having fun with some architectural element. The third concept was the closest to what we discussed in our initial conversation. Ultimately the concepts were narrowed down to these two options:

Custom Home Builder Branding for Patton Custom Homes

Ultimately we adjusted the color palette to grey and white instead of black. The final design was the initial monogram design that has an architectural element to it.

Along with the custom logo we also designed additional items for Patten Custom Homes. Including, business cards, yard signs and stationary.

Patten Custom Homes builds beautiful homes in the Dallas, TX area. Follow them on instagram to keep up with their beautiful designs.