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 Why
A Professional Web Site?
Yes,
you've seen them...
"come to our Web
site and create your own
site! You can create it
right here,
on-line!"
The problems with this
"service"
(particularly if you're
in need of a business
site) are in the overall
presentation quality and
limits to content.
All
too often you are limited
to the parameters of the
simplistic program which
the
"build-your-own-on-line"
site uses.
Adding your
own graphics is often very
frustrating procedure- if
it's allowed at all! If
you have a scanner, and
wish to use the resultant
graphics on your
site (of say your
product line) is there a way to
"crunch" or
optimize your
graphics to facilitate
faster display of your
pages?? No.
The
world of Web Site Design
is being refined daily.
Loading pages faster,
being sure that a link to
another related site
doesn't take your visitor
away from your site
(and thereby losing a
potential customer),
better interactive
multimedia aides,
what's the best way to
present your site to a
search engine...... all
these factors and many
other details are part
and parcel of The House
of Hein's everyday
"homework".
They assure you of the BEST
face on the World Wide
Web!
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15 Powerful
Reasons to Start a
Web Site For Your
Business
from an article by Milana Nastetskaya
Why am I telling you this? Because if
THEY
don't get a
web site - YOU
have a better chance at succeeding.
Insurance, home improvement, gift shops and other
companies are among those I see dragging their feet in
putting their businesses online. This means if you do
it now, before EVERY
company is online, you will be
among the pioneers!
Yep, that's right - Internet is still in its babyhood,
no matter how many web sites there are out there. It
has been less than a decade since companies decided to
use web sites as part of their marketing strategies.
Can you imagine what it will be like in 20-30 years??
I could go on and on, but I hope you are convinced:
YOUR BUSINESS ABSOLUTELY NEEDS A WEB SITE!
Even if you are not planning to sell directly online,
people will find your web site and contact you about
the services you offer. You can place your web site
address in your newspaper ads and any other promotional
materials to make people aware of your web site.
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1)
business will be open 24 hours a day. This means
you won't have to stay open on Thanksgiving or
Christmas day. If you live on the East Coast, people
from California will still be able to shop in your
store after you close. Any time someone wants to know
your hours, location, directions, or any other details
about your company, they can get it without disturbing
you.
2)
Low staffing costs. When you have a web site, you can
offer your products and services without hiring any
extra employees. You won't have to spend any resources
on compensating or insuring your new staff members and
still be able to maintain the same level of sales and
customer service.
3)
Gain thousands new customers. Because anyone in the
world can see your web site, you will gain customers
from other states and countries while you are putting
in the same amount of effort and money.
4)
Create an image of a well established company. The
Internet is a great medium through which you can create
any image of yourself you want. It is all in your
hands: design a professional web site, add helpful
content, and your company will immediately take a step
up in the image it represents. No matter how small your
business is, with the right tools and a great desire
you can make it look like a corporation on the Web!
5)
Save on postage and printing costs. Think of how many
cards you mail out to let customers know about your
sale. All of that can be eliminated by putting the sale
information on your web site and inviting your
customers to visit it. You can collect your customers'
E-Mail addresses and keep in touch with them about
special events in your store via E-Mail.
6)
Unlimited advertisement. If you ever advertised in a
local newspaper, you know the costs. You are being
charged per line, per inch, and per color. On the Web,
there is no limit to how much you can put. You can add
pictures, articles, newsletters, rates, product images
and so much more! With just one web site, you can have
almost unlimited advertisement for the same low monthly
cost (under $25 a month!)
7)
Promotional Costs are very low. When I interviewed
the manager of NY State Nissan dealership, he shared
with me the costs of running an online ad compared to a
newspaper or any other printed advertisement. He said,
"We can run a whole month of advertisements online for
the same amount of money we pay for one newspaper ad!"
That's right, on an online promotion you can spend $97
a month, while paying 10 times that much for a one-time
large ad in a magazine!
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8)
Improve communications. If you have employees or
suppliers, your web site is the best way to communicate
between you and them. Changes take effect as soon as
you post them on the Web, and everyone can see updated
information without having to wait for a new database
of products, and without contacting you directly.
9)
Impeccable customer service. This is a dream of any
entrepreneur: "buy my product and leave me alone". By
this I mean that business owners do not like to spend
time explaining to customers how to use the product,
how to install it, troubleshoot it, clean it, move it,
turn it, and whatever else can be done to a purchased
item.
10)
A web site will become your best friend in meeting
the needs of your customers. It will answer all their
questions. Simply create a page of "Frequently Asked
Questions" and include its address on every receipt.
This way, before they come to you for help, they will
come to your web site for answers.
11)
Online presence - in step with your competitors. You
must think of the Internet as a gigantic the Yellow
Pages book. More and more people use the Web to shop
for information, services and products. If you are not
there - your competitors are! Can you imagine not being
in Yellow Pages and try to reach local market?
12)
Unless you spend a lot of money on newspaper ads and
other local promotions - no one will know your business
exists. The same thing with the Internet. If people
can't find your company on the Web, you might as well
not exist.
13)
Get those cranky customers, too. Many people do not
like to shop in the stores, malls and any other noisy
places (I am first!). They are afraid of long walks,
pressure from sales people, sneezing customers and
bumping shopping carts. Once they discover online
shopping - they will never go back to the stores unless
absolutely necessary. By putting your products online,
you satisfy the needs of such customers and therefore
succeed in one more niche.
14)
Showcase your work. Whether you are a real estate
agent, construction business owner or a beauty salon
specialist - you can put your work on display when you
have a web site. Anytime a potential client wants to see your past work and projects, simply refer him or
her to your site. No need to scan and mail pictures, or
bring your client to a finished building project.
15) Beat your competition to the top. Competition online
is huge today! There are over 3,000,000 sites on the
Web and this number is growing. Still, I see at least 5
businesses a month who are not online and getting a web
site is not in their near future plans.
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K.I.S.S.
(Keep It Simple Stupid)
No
insult intended... just a
fact of life. Especially
when creating a business
site, this principle is
imperative. As with any
area of sales and the
business realities of
today, everyone's in a
rush!
If
your site quickly conveys
your site's purpose, the
unique aspects of your establishment,
and at
the same time catches the
eye artistically, chances
are that a potential
client will wish to
explore your site and
your business further!
Reliable statistics have
shown that while, as of
this writing, Microsoft's
Internet
Explorer is currently in
version 6.0, and that
Netscape is offering its
browser in version 6.2. The
majority of business
computers are still
running version 4.0 or
earlier of both brands!! This
despite the fact that
both of these browsers
and their upgrades are
*FREE* and available
immediately over the
Internet.
There
is also an
unfortunate disparity
in display
functionality between
these Internet
Browsers. Unlike many
other Web Design
concerns and especially the
"build-your-own"
sites, The
House of Hein creates
Web Sites
which
are 99%
auto-functional in BOTH
of the major
Browsers, while
using reliable
industry reports of
averages of Browser
versions used by the
majority of Web
users.
The
House of Hein takes all
these concerns into account when
we discuss creating your
new Web site.
FYI
Even
for those familiar with
the Internet
and Web Page styles, purchasing
a Web Site is your
presentation to the
world.
Please
peruse the following for
some Web Site creation
basics:
PAGES
Today's
Web site is made up of
individual pages of
information and/or
product
illustrations, etc. It
has been found that most
"Surfers" find
it overwhelming or just
plain dull to try and read
the
story which you are
trying to convey, on
ONE
LARGE
PAGE! Try the
one page method, and most
potential customers will
be gone before you
can
make your
presentation.
Generally, dividing your
ideas or product into
topics is the wisest
method of presentation. Your Home or
Index Page acts as the
hub of your site. This is
were you make your introductions or
statement of purpose.
From there you Link to
the subsequent parts of the sale: the
product &
it’s specifications,
prices, guarantees, how
to contact you, etc.
FRAMES-
This style
divides the
pages into
individual scrolling
frames (usually 2), the
parts of which act as
individual displays. In a
typical Frame based
site the left (smaller)
frame acts as a
repository for taking the viewer
(through site Links)
other pages.
These additional pages
are then displayed in the
larger main frame.
TABS
PAGE-
Looks
very much like a series
of file folders. Clicking
on the title of
each “tab” will takes
the viewer to a new page, while file
“tab”
format.
THEME
SITES-
This
style presents the viewer
with pages that all look
the same...
there is generally a
common header and Link
buttons and/or texts.
Only the Page’s text
content changes, to
fulfill it’s purpose
(i.e. product
illustration, contact
sources, etc.).
BASIC
TEXT-
is a “down and dirty”
style, which presents
your site in an
absolutely no-nonsense
way. As the name
implies... no graphics,
illustrations, multimedia
or fancy text styles!
Even the Links to your
Pages are in a purely
text format.
IN
GENERAL, it
is wise to stay with one
style throughout your Web
site. Jumping
from one style to another
on one site can become,
needless to say, very
ugly!
LINKS
(a.k.a.Hyperlinks)
As you've
seen at other Web sites,
you may wish to avail
your visitors access
to other sites which they
may find of interest, or
which bolster your own
credentials (i.e.
professional associations
which maintain sites and
who recognize you there
as a member
in good standing, etc.).
One of the draw-backs of
Links, in the past, was
that they took the
visitor to
another site. This often
left the visitor trying
to find their way back to
your site!
There is
now a way to have a new
screen pop-up over your
site when the visitor
clicks on a Link. Then, when the visitor is
finished following the
“foreign” Link, and
closes the pop-up
window, there they are
back at your site!
GRAPHICS
For
several years now, an
integral part of Web
pages has been the
ability to
include graphics as an
attractant and just for
fun! These illustrations
are limited to the .JPG, .BMP and .GIF file
formats (which also
includes that of the
animated .GIF).
These are company logos,
product illustrations,
buttons for Links, etc. I
can also scan your
illustrations/logos/photos,
then save them in the
file formats listed
above, and include
them on your Web pages.
The animated .GIF is very
popular as a Banner Link.
This acts as an
advertisement
on another person/company’s
site. It is a series of
picture frames with a
product/service
synopsis, which “play”
in succession,
automatically, and when
clicked on, takes the
visitor from another
site, to your site.
Graphics
can also include the
background of your Pages.
For solid color
backgrounds there is the full palette
of
known colors available to
us. It must be
remembered, though, that
how the color looks to
the visitor depends
greatly on how they have
their own monitor
controls set and the
viewer's graphics
hardware.
FONTS
These are
simply the style of texts
(type faces in printing)
. There are literally
thousands of these!! As
an illustration, I
recently created a Web
site for a local Boy Scout
Troop, and used a Font
which looked like wood
logs, for the title.
MULTIMEDIA
A
fairly
new feature, and the
success of presentation
of which is limited to
more recent Web
Browser versions, these
features are often very
dependant on the viewer's Browser's installed "plug-in(s)"
.
In the case of Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer,
background sounds (short
musical
or voice
selections in the
.WAV or .MID file
formats) are played
automatically, while in
Netscape their play
involves physically
invoking a
"plug-in"
program.
A site owner can
include multimedia
presentations
(audio/video) of products
or just fun
"Stuff", but
this can not only mean longer
Page loading time, so in
a business setting is best left as an option
(a Link, which when
clicked on will
auto-invoke the
"plug-in" &
download/play the media presentation on the
Page) to the visitor.
BOTTOM
LINE??
We
are
making an electronic
brochure/prospectus for
the world's customer
base!
Thank you for your
patience in reviewing
this and, again, let’s
make a winner Web
site!
Domains
Why
Your Own Domain Name?-
There is
nothing like your own
Domain Name to
establish "your own little acre" on the
World Wide Web". For
a business especially,
there will be no
confusion about where to
find you! It's a
convenient and friendly
sales method, with the
dramatic flair of
"high tech".
Yes, you can get
a free
site name, but how
frustrating do you find
it to try and scribble
down:
"www.members.freeby.com/~mhallo/index.htm"
or worse yet, to try and
remember it??
ESTABLISHING
YOUR OWN DOMAIN
(www.yourcompany.com)-this
is a 3 step process:
1.
Internic is the
international agency
which controls Domain
names. With luck, the
exact name you wish to
use for your domain will
be available, but be
prepared to "get as
close as possible".
Further, you should know
that there is a
yearly "license
fee" of sorts involved in
securing a Domain name.
2.
There is a charge by the
Web Hosting
Service
Provider of your choice for
setting-up your Domain on
their Server (i.e. their
computers). How much??
Well, this varies among
different plans, from
different
WHSP's.
3.
Additionally, there is
generally a
monthly service charge,
by the Web Hosting Service Provider to
Host (carry)
your Domain on their Servers (computers) and
maintain their
equipment.
E-Commerce
It's
exciting, and the latest
fad! But you should know
that E-Commerce also
involves added
costs.......An
E-Commerce
site is a
"triad" of
functions. The first
part of which is your
Main Site (conveying
your business'
"Internet
Brochure"), the
second part the
functioning
"Store",
and the third is the
on-line order
credit-card
auto-processing agent
link/function.
Many
ISP's offer
E-Commerce software
the use of which is
available on a
monthly fee basis.
This also involves an
initial setup fee, in
which the ISP loads
the needed software
which
"runs" the
"store" to
your Domain
space.
The House of Hein
provides an E-Commerce
program
free of charge to Web Hosting customers.
Being
a separate service, the credit-card services
(Verisign, etc.) charge an
initial setup fee, a monthly
maintenance fee and a
transaction fee
(either a
per-transaction or
percentage) to process your
credit-card orders.
Why use
these services and
incur all these extra
expenses? You could simply
have a
form
on one of your pages
which E-Mail's you
and the customer all
the pertinent
information for a
transaction....
SECURITY!
It is
no secret that computer
hackers are inventing new
ways of causing chaos on
the Web, daily. Besides
helping you process your
orders, these services
also are "manning
the ramparts",
constantly guarding
against
"invaders" who
cause chaos and possible
litigation!
Establishing
your E-Commerce store
will also involve
additional site
creation costs.
Besides maintaining
site page layout,
very often custom
scripts for the
E-Commerce program
must be written to
optimize your
store/order
processing
functionality.
Generally available
purchase options are
Credit-Card, Bill Me!
(for established
customers or those
who wish to establish
credit for future
purchases with your
business), and
Off-Line purchases,
in which the
customer can E-Mail,
Phone, Fax or
Snail-Mail their
orders and payments.
To
get an even better
idea of both the
function of the
E-Commerce Site "triad" and
the essence of an
actual E-Commerce
purchase, please
click the button below:
Click Here
More
Questions??
If
you have more questions
about these, or any other
Web creations topic:
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