Homestead review

General Impression

Since 1996, more than 12 million customers have used our award-winning products and services to establish their presence on the Web, maintain and promote their site, and sell or market their products and services all without mastering programming or design. From our award-winning, SiteBuilder software, to our ecommerce solutions and world-class support, we help small businesses achieve success online.

Community Service
Just as we are dedicated to building a great service on the Web, Homestead is committed to supporting activities that enhance and serve the communities in which we live. Service is an inherent part of the Homestead culture, and we support our employees in finding community service opportunities and organizing projects. We invite you to look at where Homestead has been and join us in where we are going.

The Homestead Creed
Homestead was founded on the philosophy of investing first and foremost in an exceptional family of employees, and then striving to achieve long term success as measured by our customers, products, community and shareholders. This creed shall serve as the guide which preserves that founding business philosophy, starting with our most valuable resource: our employees. Every employee of Homestead has both the right and the responsibility to the following:

* to receive honest communication from management concerning decisions and problems.
* to be proactive and voice his/her concerns whenever he/she disagrees with a decision, policy or action.
* to self impose and then live up to exceptional expectations. "Good enough" work is not acceptable.
* to share in the success of the company through equity holdings and annual profit sharing.
* to have fun and be passionate. We believe it is the only way to build truly exceptional products.
* to learn on the job. We believe in building a learning company that means employees will never be penalized for not knowing something, but will be for not striving to learn it. Homestead will always actively encourage and invest in the continued education of our employees.
* to be evaluated based on productivity and his/her contribution to Homestead's future success.

In this spirit, all Homestead employees and directors, empowered and challenged by the above rights and responsibilities, will work and make daily decisions according to the following prioritized responsibilities:

1 Our first responsibility is to our Customers, for without customers we have no company. Everything that we do must be done with the customer in mind. We will do this by:

* Never conceiving a product without taking into account how it meets the needs of a customer.
* Always learning first hand from the customer during the design process.
* Providing exceptional and personal attention to the needs, complaints, or comments of our customers.
* Making customer satisfaction the ultimate measure of success more than money, more than our own satisfaction, and more than publicity or hype. In the long term, we will only succeed if we meet our customers' needs with a better product and with better service.

2 Our second responsibility is to the quality of our Products, for they will be the vehicles for our lasting impact on the world as a whole.

* The first meaning of quality is the quality of the content of our products their soul. Every Homestead product must have the potential to "revolutionize the way people learn, work and live with technology" as our mission statement requires.
* The second meaning of quality is the quality of production. No product will be released until it has been exhaustively tested and prodded, is of the highest professional standard, and every employee working on it is proud to put his/her name on the product. Finally, when problems are found with a released product, they will be relentlessly pursued until repaired.

3 Our third responsibility is to our Community. As we are among its most fortunate and endowed members, we have a duty to participate in and better the communities in which we work and live. Employees are encouraged to give an average of two working hours per week to the community service project of his/her choice. Furthermore, Homestead pledges to contribute a minimum of 5% pre-tax earnings to the KartoffelSoft Foundation, whose sole purpose is to support financially community organizations or causes in which Homestead employees are active participants.

4 Our fourth and final responsibility is to our Shareholders. Our ultimate goal is to build a financially profitable and successful entity so that it may sustain itself and its business practices for decades to come. Without profit, all of the above responsibilities are impossible to realize. In the short term, we must justify a return on all investments, make only reasonable and necessary expenses, and strive for profitability every year. Meanwhile, we will invest in the long term. We will make decisions that will achieve maximum return in ten years, not two, and never pursue short term gain at the expense of long term sustainability.

The success of Homestead day to day, month to month, and year to year shall be measured against our ability to live up to these four responsibilities; and its employees, founders, and directors shall now and for always work and act in accordance to this creed.

Homestead makes it easy: build your own website, market it, sell online! Homestead helps small businesses reach new customers online, so when people search Google and other search engines, they can find you. With our combination of easy-to-use free website building software, affordable web hosting and toll-free customer support, Homestead makes it easy for you to build a website. And once you've created your website, to help your business succeed we can also assist you in increasing your online traffic, sell products and services online and efficiently accept credit card payments.

Easily create your own website with our award-winning, free website building software Anyone can build a website in minutes! Even if you've never tried to make a website before, you'll find Homestead's design tools easy to use. And seasoned website builders, you'll love how powerful Homestead software is. It's straightforward, intuitive, yet powerful: the perfect combination! Homestead's free website building software gives you everything you need to create a website yourself; no programming or HTML skills are needed! Best of all, everything you need to create your own website is included in every Homestead website package for free! Web hosting is also available, and check out some of the designs created using our software: small business website designs and real estate website designs.

Choose from hundreds of detailed website templates Build your website to fit your business to a "T". without starting from scratch. Homestead provides you with a library of hundreds of website templates created for 100 different business categories. You can easily combine elements from several templates for a completely unique look, or just start from scratch. You can even make your website match your business card!

Start with a complete, functional site, including images and text. Unlike generic page templates you might find elsewhere, our free website templates are complete, working websites custom-designed by Web professionals for your type of business. Each site template includes unique pages, working navigation, relevant images - even usable text! If you're rushed for time, you can just drop in your business name and logo, add your contact information and publish the site as-is! You can always "tweak" it later.

Customize and update your site with ease.
Familiar-looking editing tools appear as you need them and disappear when you don't. Edit the default text right on the page, or replace it by pasting in your own words. Add images from your computer, or use any from our library of over 250,000 high-quality photos for free! Website hosting and editing has never been this easy. Add or delete pages, change navigation labels, and add links wherever you need them. Add forms to your website to collect contact information from visitors, so you can convert them to customers by sending promotional emails and newsletters. You can also add a guest book to collect and publish comments from satisfied customers. Change anything and everything - you're in charge!

Get your own personalized website address and email.
Make it easy for customers to find you on the Web and build a professional image with your own personalized domain name (www.yourbusinessname.com), and email branded with the same address. If the name you want is already taken, our team of experts can suggest others that your customers will remember. If you've already got a domain name, we can transfer your registration to Homestead for you or simply redirect traffic to your Homestead site. Just give us a call, and we'll handle everything. Try creating a website on a trial basis - it's free! Web hosting can then help you find a domain you'll really like.

Want to sell online?
Homestead makes it easy for you to add a PayPal Shopping Cart to your website so you can ring up sales at your customers' convenience, 24 hours a day. Let your customers purchase multiple products and services from your site with a single payment. It's the most cost-effective way to conduct transactions for a small number of products. And, if you think you might need an ecommerce store.

Get help every step of the way.
Our tools are so easy to use, you may never need any support. But if you do, we've got you covered. Whether you'd rather get help by talking to a live person or via email, our excellent support staff is happy to help.

Want a professional to build your website for you? You got it! Do you want a design that's uniquely yours? Do you find the prospect of creating your own website too time-consuming or intimidating? We can help you there too! Homestead WebExperts, our team of professional website design consultants, can design and create a website to your specifications, giving it a well-designed, professional look that will really make it stand out. We build you a professional website, and then show you how to easily maintain it. Check out these custom website designs made for some of our current customers.

Sell online with your own web store.
Make your website an efficient online store as easily as you can build a personal website! Homestead offers several types of inexpensive ecommerce solutions, so you can build an ebusiness from scratch, make your personal website an online store or easily take your existing business online. Homestead provides everything you need, including online catalogs, shopping cart, real-time transaction processing, integration with eBay, custom shipping tables, support for instant PayPal payments and much more. And if you need real-time credit card processing, high-end inventory management or sophisticated supply chain communication, a Intuit Storefront can meet your needs. Simply put, with Intuit Storefront's unique package of ecommerce software and business web hosting, it's easier to make money online than ever before. If you need help deciding on the type of ecommerce solution you might need, we can help you choose, or we can show you some of our ecommerce website designs.

Bring new visitors to your website.
Homestead offers powerful tools to help you manage your websites and increase your website traffic. Our Homestead SearchLight package uses advanced website promotion techniques, including search engine submissions and advertising on Google, Yahoo and MSN. Expert consultants will take care of all your marketing optimization, driving highly-qualified leads and ready-to-buy customers to your site automatically, letting you focus on running your business. Not only can you make your own website rival that of a professional website designer, you can easily bring qualified prospective customers to it.

Homestead does it all - Website Design, Software, Hosting, Ecommerce & Marketing. Homestead is the comprehensive solution to your online needs. Whether you want to create a personal website, make a personal website into a small business website, or make an ecommerce website or any other kind of website, we've got you covered. We invite you to make your own free website today with our Free Website TRIAL, and see how easy it really is. With our award-winning free website design software and our friendly support, let us help you get started!

Conclusion

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