Taking the First Important Steps in Making the Internet Marketing Work for Your Business
You will need a Domain Name.
What is a domain name? A domain name is the .net, .com, .org, .info, .biz, etc. address that folks enter into their web browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla) in order to find you on the internet. You should try to pick a domain name that is easy to remember and relevant to your business. Go for the .com addresses over the others whenever possible. If you are an organization, go for the .org. You can have more than one domain name all set to point to the same website, but each name will cost you a nominal fee. Purchasing more than one domain name increases the likelihood that you will rank high in the search engines (Google, Yahoo) and that you will be easily found on the internet.
How do I get a domain name? You will need to go on the Internet and register a domain name from a registrar company. The most popular and reputable registrars are: www.networksolutions.com, www.register.com, and www.godaddy.com. However, with our website design, we offer packages that includes the domain registration, domain management, and website hosting.
You will need to host your website.
What is webhosting? Your website files must be stored on a computer that is connected to the internet 24/7 and is properly maintained. You can do this yourself at home if you have an extra computer with no programs installed on it, have time to install the proper networking programs, have a high speed or better internet connection hooked to a router, and have a backup power supply to keep it active at all times. But, in the "real" world, it's easier to pay someone else to do all of this for you. Our typical webhosting costs for basic internet capabilities range from start at $20.00 month with no set up fee if we design the website for you, and are available without contractual obligations.
So where can I get webhosting? We offer affordable Webhosting services, we offer up to date technology to support up-to-date coding standards.
If you will not host your website with us. Here are some questions you may want to ask your webhosting provider:
- Do you support virtual includes? Virtual Include files assist a programmer in designing a quick-to-load, easily maintained site. If the answer is no, don't even think about using them, you'll have problems. Include files, also known as SSI for "server-side-include" are a very, very basic server software function. If their servers can't handle that, they are likely not up to date on a number of software settings that are necessary for having a well designed website.
- Do you include emails and email forwarders with your webhosting? You will likely want some email addresses to go with your new website. Don't worry, you don't have to check them all, you can have them all forward to your personal address automatically. This way your customer sees yourname@yourdomain.com instead of someone@aol.com.
I have a domain name, and webhosting. How do I get my website?
Now you need two things: a website developer (a professional who will design your website) and a webmaster (the person who maintains your site). We do it both, we can design your custom website, and host it for you. With your hosting we include one hour of minor updates/changes to your website per month.
What Do I Have To Provide?
You will need to provide the following information to the website developer:
- The domain name you would like to register (www.yourcompany.com)
- Your logo and any photos you wish to use, including those for a scrapbook. Don't have a logo? We can design a professional appealing logo for your business.
- Your website navigation list (home, company, services, links, contact, etc.)
- Your keywords (all words or search phrases having anything to do with your company and your services to ensure your optimal search engine placement).
- A description of what you would like to see on your website.
- Your home page content.
- Your contact information. Try to include an address, email, and phone number.
- A list of all of the email addresses that you would like created for your website.
- Verbiage for all of the other pages.
I have my website, how do I get it updated?
Short of learning all of the complexities of good, clean html and programming, we can do it for you. If we developed your website, and host your website, we will give you up to one hour of free updates to your website. It's always best to get your original website developer to maintain it, after all, we are the ones most interested in your business succeed - Because our designs succeed.
We also offer monthly maintenance service for a negotiable fee depending on the type and frequency of updates, and are available without contract or obligation. If you don't like our work, just let us know and stop paying, it's that easy. Billing can be done by the job, by the month, quarter, or annually. No up front money is required to start building the site. When you are satisfied that your website is a good representation of your business and shows a competitive edge in web presence, let us know and we'll send you an invoice either via email or the postal service. You can always decide later how you would like to handle maintenance.
Now I have my domain name, webhosting, web developer, and webmaster and my business is doing great… What else can I do to improve my Internet exposure?
- You could sell items or services on your website. Visit www.paypal.com to see how easy it is to set up a free business account in order to accept secure credit card and e-check payments over the internet. We can build your e-commerce shop and maintain it for you, but you will be able to manage your own finances through Paypal. There are merchant accounts available at your local banks, but all of them want upfront set up fees in the hundreds of dollars…paypal is a very respected, secure, and an affordable way to get your business selling on the net for a very small investment.
- Not selling the things in your store as well as you would like? Advertise your store on www.ebay.com. Setting up an ebay account is easy and listing items for auction is very inexpensive.
- Still not getting as many hits on your site as you would like? Optimized your website learn more.
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