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What are the benefits of having a "domain name"?
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There are several. First of all, it looks more professional. Which looks better to you: www.somehost.com/~yourname or
www.yourname.com
Secondly, it allows you more freedom in your choice of providers. If you are www.somehost.com/~yourname and "somehost" goes out of business, or becomes too expensive, you will have to find another host, notify all your customers, notify all the search engines that list you, and reprint all your business stationary.
If you have your own domain name, just move your site to another host. That's about it. (There are some technical issues behind the scenes, but your provider will take care of those.) The Internet address does not change.
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Why should I hire you? My brother-in-law (or cousin, etc.) "does web pages".
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Short answer: Because you can fire us.
Better answer: Because we're professional software developers. We have the experience to take care of your business needs as well as your technical needs. We don't already think we know all about your business - we'll listen to you very carefully. You won't hurt our feelings if you don't like something we propose. We will be sure that revisions to your site don't "break" it. (There's an old software development axiom: "Changing anything changes everything". We understand that!) We use careful and systematic "change control", so that we always have the ability to "undo" something that we did.
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I use a graphic designer for my catalogs and brochures. She wants to do my web site too. Should I let her, or should I hire you?
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This is similar to the previous question. Some graphic designers are terrific web developers. Be sure they can server your
technical needs as well as your design needs. We work well with designers. They can do much of the graphics and design, we
can do the database and technical development. We can "tune" the web site to be quick and responsive. It's often
a great idea to hire both.
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What will I need to provide to this effort?
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It depends, but typically you will need to provide some of the text for the site's content. This means that you should prepare at least an outline for what you want to say on the site. We will turn it into actual web content, but nobody knows your business as well as you. You are the best author for the message you want to get out. We can help make it look better, and present it in an orderly manner, but it's your message!
If you have specific artwork or pictures, you can either provide a file that contains these images, or you can provide a hard copy of it. Either way, it eventually needs to be an electronic form of the image.
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Do I need to have a computer?
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Technically, no. Realistically, you should. Your web site has nothing to do with your computer. The actual web site will reside out there in cyberspace somewhere. (Actually, we'll know exactly where it is, it just won't be on your machine.) You need a computer so you can look at your site, look at revisions that are pending, and so you can read all the e-mail (sales) inquiries generated by your site!
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What kind of response should I expect?
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This is one of the trickiest questions. Honestly, most people have unreasonably high expectations from a new web site. Many web developers will sell you on the idea that "millions and millions" of people will see your site. A new web site is a long-term investment. It takes time to integrate it into your company's strategy and marketing. Response will typically be light for several months, then start to increase. If you are in a very competitive industry, it may take considerable marketing effort on your part as well as ours. It also depends on the type of content you put on your site. If you provide useful information to your clients (and prospective clients), they will come back again and again.
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What can I do to increase traffic to my site?
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Tell people about it! Add your web and e-mail address to your business cards and letterhead. Include it on all your invoices and quotes. Be sure and include it in all advertising. Your web site is probably not the central part of your business. It should be, however, an important part of your company's identity.
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What's the difference between a web address and an e-mail address?
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A web address is the way a person will connect to your web site and see the content we post on it. Our web address is "www.musystems.com". An e-mail address is directed to an individual. All Internet e-mail address will have an @ between the person and the domain name. Our "Sales" e-mail address is "sales@musystems.com". Notice that there is no @ in the web address, and there is no "www" in the e-mail address.
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