I
can barely manage to turn my computer
on - much less design and look after
a web site. How much do I need to know
about computers and the Internet to
have my own website?
Answer:
Many of our clients have little or no
computer knowledge, while others are
quite experienced. Our web site packages
are designed to make it easy for you
to maintain an effective internet presence.
If you can turn on your computer, connect
to the Internet, and manage your e-mail,
you're all set. We take care of the
rest for you, from planning and designing
your site to helping draw traffic to
you.
What
are META Tags? Why do I need them?
Answer:
META Tags are snippets of html code
(the underlying programming language
behind what you see in your browser
window). META Tags tell search engines
how and where to list your web site
so that people are able to find you
when they do a search. META Tags can
be optimized so that your page has a
better chance of getting a high ranking
(listing near the beginning) on each
search engine. This is an important
goal, since statistics show that most
people only bother to view the first
20 or 30 results for any search performed.
What
is a "domain", and why do
I need one?
Answer:
A domain is an
address which is used to locate your
web site through a web browser. It is
your "dot com" address, and
can be customized with your business
name. There are two types of web site
addresses; domain addresses and sub-domain
addresses. A sub-domain is a folder
residing on a domain address, and a
domain is an address unto itself. For
instance,
www.whoopie.com/debbie (folder "debbie",
residing on domain www.whoopie.com
) is a sub-domain, and www.debbie.com
is a domain.
We believe
that it is in our customer's best interests
that we secure a domain for them.
With a domain, your web site address
will never change, regardless of where
your site may be hosted at any given
time. This is very important, since
a lot of effort goes into developing
search engine listings, which would
be invalid in the event that your web
site address should change. Domains
are also easier to give to people, and
they look more professional on your
business cards and advertising materials.
For these reasons, domain registration
is included in all of our complete web
site packages.
How
long does it take to have a web site
designed?
Once
we have received your photos and information,
it generally takes from 2 weeks to one
month to complete your web site. We
can usually complete a web site within
a pre-designated timeline. This timeline
is affected by how well organized our
clients are. Delays occur when we are
given outdated information and photos,
or when clients change their minds about
a graphics scheme or site layout after
initially approving it, since this requires
redoing much of the work already completed.
The most expedient web sites are those
where the client provides us with a
concise information package, and refrains
from e-mailing us several times a day
for progress reports, since answering
e-mails takes away from our "design
time".
How
does my site get listed on the search
engines like Yahoo and Altavista?
At Moore
Designs, we do our best to ensure that
our clients get the best search engine
promotion available, once your site
is completed. We use our experience
and expertise to optimize the html code
for each page in your site, using Meta
Tags (see above) and key words embedded
strategically throughout your text.
These tricks of the trade help your
site to get listed or ranked as high
as possible on as many search engines
as allow free submissions.
There
are some limitations, however, to what
we can do. Many search engines now require
"pay for placement". Yahoo
currently charges $400 USD per year
to list commercial sites, and many of
the other major search engines are following
suit. Some require that you "bid"
on keywords, and when a visitor finds
your web site via that search engine's
link, you are charged a fee, based on
your bid - say 10 cents. We believe
that this trend is due to failing banner
advertising revenues. The search engines
used to be funded solely with banner
advertising revenues. Now that that
stream has all but dried up, they are
looking for other sources of income,
to the very people who are listed on
their indices.
We at
Moore Designs are in the fortunate position
of being the owners of several very
large and popular pet-related web directories;
Pet Net, Pet Net USA, Pet Net Canada,
Dogs Central, The Horse Site, Cats Central
and others. These web sites have been
in existence for more than 7 years,
and currently receive in excess of 5
million unique visitors per month. Through
strategic placement of listings, banners,
editorials, contests, sponsorships,
articles and links, we are able to direct
this very targeted traffic to our customer's
web sites.
Of course,
there are no guarantees with web site
traffic. We do promise, however, to
do our best for you, within the limitations
that currently exist on the internet
today.
I
want to be able to make changes to my
own web site. Is this possible with
your design packages?
Absolutely!
We encourage our clients to get involved
with their web sites, and we offer some
great tools that make it easy to do.
For beginners, we have a great program
called "moorenews". This nifty
little program allows you to make instant
changes to announcements, news and other
similar information by clicking a button,
typing in the text, entering your password
and pressing a submit button. Easy as
pie! For more adventurous clients, we
offer "Frontpage Extensions"
which allow you to make changes to your
site using Microsoft's Frontpage web
site design program, available at most
computer software stores and online.
The program is fairly easy to use for
intermediate to advanced computer users,
but we will certainly help you learn
the ropes by giving you an online tutorial
session via instant messenger. These
features can be added to your web site
package for a modest additional fee.
