Goin Design - Cost Effective Professional Web Design


	Basics
	How to Prepare
	Ecommerce

Frequently Asked Questions and Design Information Here are some answers to some of the most basic questions raised by businesses as they first venture onto the net. The Internet is still a new marketing tool, and many new businesses often find the terminology and concepts foreign at first. We hope the following information gives you a better idea of what to expect and why now is the right time to finally get on the net with your business.
Is a website worth it?
Ever hear this? Get on the net and you can increase your sales by 500%!!
It's true that the Internet is a medium that allows you to advertise globally to millions of potential customers. Customers can contact you, and even place orders, directly from your website at the touch of a button. For the most part that's not what you want or need from the net and if you expect to build a website and have your sales and/or leads double or triple overnight you'll be very disappointed. While true the number of actual sales on the Internet is growing as more and more people get Internet access. Unless your Amazon.com or Ebay you won't probably see a huge overnight growth. Just as flyers or business cards aren't your only marketing tools, your website shouldn't be considered your only marketing tool either. Once you have completed your website you should make sure all your business cards, vehicles, anything that you currently use to promote your business has your website included. A website for the small business should be used to enhance your current marketing program, not replace it.	If your business specializes in something really unique with the right targeting you can see large growth on the Internet. But if you are a Realtor or a local contractor your business is still going to be primarily confined to your local region. A properly designed website lets a potential client, that sees a flyer, one of your vehicles or a business ad, get a better look at you from a distance. This is the true power of the net. If you can imagine that the net is like a huge ad where you are not constrained by size limits and you can change whenever the mood suits, you will have a better idea of what you are getting. And that's the beauty of it, once your web site is up, you have a permanent ad that anyone can go to. So it doesn't matter if your a small landscaping company or a large corporate entity. No business can afford not be advertising via the net.
The Basics
Design/Layout Designing a basic website involves HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), and graphics.You can also add dynamic features, frills and other things such as animations, java, javascript, sound, video, and so on.... but the basics can be learned by anyone. However, as you will notice as you surf the web, a lot of folks learn just enough HTML to put up a badly designed page. A well-designed site means the HTML is clean ( you can toss out Front Page there... ), the graphics load fairly quickly, the site is easy to navigate through and overall it conveys the right message about you and your business. Placement/Hosting Where to put your web pages? You will need commercial web space to advertise your business. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) will give you a small amount of web space with a basic account. Expect to pay around $20 per month for a basic account, and get between 5-10 mb of webspace to play with. They also provide you with email etc. You may already have such space and not know it, AOL, Earthlink, Mindspring, AT&T, all provide this service with your monthly fee. The other option is that you can host your pages with a "Web Host", such as clck.com. Host Companies generally do not provide dial-up access, but can host your website for about $15 (for a basic site) to $50 (for a Ecommerce site with heavy traffic) a month. In the case of clck.com they don't provide access but we do provide e-mail accounts through a POP server and provide services to help host your domain name, provide shopping carts and other types of programming. Your Domain Name What is a domain name? Basically a domain name allows users to locate your website by typing the URL http://www.yourdomain.com/. Although getting a domain for your website involves additional costs, there are some significant advantages to having one. First, it tells people that you're serious, much like having quality letterhead, business cards and other marketing materials. Second, it makes your website easier to access and easier to remember, simply because the user doesn't have to type an incredibly long string of text. But, perhaps the most important factor is that it makes your website portable. If you host your website with your Internet Service Provider under a basic account, your URL might be something like http://members.aol.com/~yourname/index.html If you decide for any reason to move your site to another ISP, your URL will change, and any links to the old site, including those in the Search Engines, will result in a 404 Not Found message. Bad for business. With a domain, when you move, your domain travels with you, and your URL remains the same. That's a BIG plus.	Domain Registration You can find information about registering a domain name at GoDaddy.com. The easiest and quickest method is to set up an account with your web host, and have them register the name for you. They have the know-how, so it's just easier to let them do it, Goin Design does not charge additional to setup your domain name for you. Although take note, there is a $35 annual fee involved that is charged by the registration company. If you want to register a domain name, but aren't quite ready to build your website, GoDaddy.com offers the service for free, but once again the annual fee does apply. Marketing A most crucial consideration. If you don't let people know about your site, it's like the proverbial needle in the haystack. You need to submit your site to the various search engines and directories so people can find you. Again, it's not brain surgery. You can do it yourself, but a good consultant / marketing specialist can help you with the process and save you a great deal of time. Other things you can do to draw traffic to your site: Request cross-links from related sites. This may mean adding a "links" page to your own site. Participate in newsgroup discussions and mailing lists and be sure to use a signature at the bottom of your e-mail, that includes your URL! Buy a banner ad. This can be very costly if you want a banner posted on one of the large search engines, but affordable banner advertising can usually be found with smaller directories that target your industry. The most cost effective place to get your site noticed on search engines is buy registering with GoTo.com their system is effective for the comparable cost involved. And don't forget the traditional stuff! Be sure to include your URL (web address) and e-mail address in all your printed advertising materials.
Now you are ready to find out how to prepare for your website so that you and the designer can create what will work best for you.