What can a website do for me?
The answer to this question is neither short nor easy. With a
little research and thought you can find hundreds of reasons,
but there are a few general statements that may help you realize
your needs. First a website can reach millions of people that
might not otherwise be available. Second, customers can view
products, services, or whatever you want to share from the
comfort of their own home. No matter what type of business you
have, there are ways to grow.
I want to establish a strong presence on the Web. But where do I
start?
The four easy steps we
provide below will guide you in the direction of a
professionally designed, developed and marketed Web site.
Step 1: Domain Name (URL) Registration
-- This is the address people will use to access your
Web site (www.yourcompany.com). A domain name needs to be
renewed every year.
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What domain name
should I choose?
This depends on how you are going to use it.
If you are going to be telling people over the phone, choose
one that is easy to say and spell out loud.
Choose one that is memorable and not confusing.
Step 2: Design of the Web Site --
This is where the look, feel, and content of the Web site
are determined and created. When you receive a visitor to your
site, they will instantly perceive the quality of your services
or products. The first impression a customer or potential
customer gets depends on the appearance of your website. A
visitor will be interested and explore your site if it is
appealing and easy to navigate.
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What are the things that you expect from my company to
complete the web site design?
We can certainly use your
existing company literature such as logos', brochure, etc.
for incorporating in the new or redesigned web site.
Brochures, logos, photographs, product descriptions,
business cards etc. are all recommended resources to use.
For new businesses we will help you get started from
scratch. A dedicated person will answer any questions during
your website project.
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Consider the following as you decide what content will be
posted on your website.
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About the Company - Describe the history
of your company with its growth and development. You may
want bios on key company personnel, possibly with links
to a page for each of them. Include company goals,
philosophy or mission statement.
-
Products -
Show graphics and photos of your products
with short descriptions.
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Services - Describe the service you
offer. Different categories of your services can each
have their own page with a full description.
-
Catalogue - Provide a catalogue of the
products you wish to sell. If you are a musician, it may
be your CD's...if a realtor, your listings.
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What's New - Display new products or
information . You need to keep this page current, so
customers will continue to come back to see what's new.
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References - List companies or
individuals using your products or services...possibly a
page with quotes from customers praising your product or
service.
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Contact List - Your address, phone,
email, etc. You might want to include a form on your
page for customers to fill in, allowing them to request
more information or express opinions.
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Links - Link to other sites containing
similar information. You want to be careful with this.
If a client clicks on a link outside your site, he may
not get back, or worse, find your competitor.
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Ordering - Explain how to order or obtain
your services, with possibly a mail order form or
e-commerce form.
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Site
Map - List all your website pages, on a Site map page.
Many viewers go to the sitemap page first to streamline
their browsing experience.
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Other - Display other links or categories
pertinent to your business.
Step 3: Hosting & Maintaining Your Web Site on a
Web Server
--
Hosting your site means that you rent space on a computer
that is always connected to the Internet. Price will vary,
depending on the amount of disk space you will need.
-
Website Maintenance
and Updates
refers to changes
made to your website after the initial design,
setup and hosting.
Keeping a website up-to-date is essential in having
repeat visitors to your site. Updating the site with sales,
articles, new products, newsletters, press releases,
financial figures and links are all examples of website
maintenance.
-
If you already have a website
but your business does not have the time to take care of
keeping the website maintained. We offer weekly, monthly and
bi-monthly updates.
After the
completion of a website project we are available for after
sales service. Any slight tweaks or amendments are carried
out to the site free of charge in the first month. Any
support thereafter will be charged at an hourly rate.
Step 4: Marketing Your Web Site
-- You should be thinking
about the marketing of your Web site as it is being designed.
The content of the site needs to reflex the search terms if you
want your site to appear on search engines. All
web pages should be 'optimized'. This
will enable your site to gain a high search engine ranking, it
revolves around the Meta tags (descriptive
words) programmed into your web pages, a web page that
isn't optimized won't appear in the search engines to any great
degree.
It is free
to submit to several of the major search
engines and we can do that
for you. We submit all websites we
design to Google, Yahoo! and DMOZ.
How much will it cost?
The cost to design is a website is made up of
several different factors. We can design a design basic website or
a complex e-commerce website depending on your needs. The
cost to design your specific website will be based on your
needs. Please
contact us for a quote.
We require a 50% deposit for all standard
sites. The balance of payment is then due on completion of
the project. The only ongoing costs will be your monthly
hosting fee and a maintenance fee if we are updating your
website.
After the completion of a website project we
are available for after sales service. Any slight tweaks or
amendments are carried out to the site free of charge in the
first month. Any support thereafter will be charged at an
hourly rate.
How long
will it take to design my website?
The website design
process usually takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks but can be
completed in as little as 14 days.
The most common
delay in the creation of a site is waiting for content
(text/images) to be sent to us by the client.
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