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Frequently Asked Questions (Click here to return to the FAQ's page) Below you will find the answers to many of your questions about owning your own web site. Simply click on the question to view the answer. The questions are broken down into the following categories: Web Design & Domain Name - Hosting & Service - Email - Marketing WEB DESIGN & DOMAIN NAME: Why not do it yourself? HOSTING & SERVICE: Does Electric Web Designs provide all the
services I will need to get my Web Site on the Internet? What is an E-mail alias and is it unlimited? MARKETING Does Electric Web Designs help promote my
web site? That is an excellent question. Some people do build their own Web Sites. There are product reviews in almost every computer magazine for new Web construction tools. It is so tempting! How hard can it be? Well, the answer depends on how professional you would like the finished product to be, how much money you're willing to spend, and how long you're willing to wait...AND...HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO SPEND. Web design can be very time consuming. A combination of the best software tools alone will cost you close to $1000. Then you'll either need a training course or two on how to use them all, and use them together to achieve the desired results, or you need to spend at least a few dozen hours with trial and error. A course on your image editing package is a must! You'll also need to read a book on good Site design to avoid "beginner" mistakes. Another book on HTML... you'll need one that covers how to design pages that look good on which browsers, on what platform, in what resolution, at any color depth. And don't forget to build a few Sites for practice... there's no substitute for experience! With four to six months of your time and several thousand dollars spent, you'll finally be ready to begin building your own "professional-looking" Web Site. Although we might exaggerate certain elements a little bit, it should show you that you need to spend lot of effort and money before you are able to lay out and build your very own Web Site graphics and html codes. Plus, let's not forget that your site needs to be MARKETABLE through search engines! Some of the most attractive web sites will never be found through search engines. WHY? Because during the web design process there are scripts written into the HTML that imbeds 'META TAGS'. Many search engines use them as the only source to categorize you. I guess it would depend on what kind of time you had on you hands and how much of a hurry you may be in. A Better Idea What we recommend is that you focus on your business and the message you want to deliver with the Site. That is what YOU know best! And WE will handle the art and science of building a good Web Site. That's what designers do best. Working together, you'll have a better Site, in less time, at a lower cost. And a lot less aggravation Q: Can I really afford to have my own Web Site? Yes, For a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising you can have an on going Web Site that can change as often as you would like. Q: How can my small business benefit from having a Web Site? Having a Web Site gives the small business owner the opportunity to advertising to a worldwide audience and reach millions of potential customers. Also customers will be able to search and find you through many search engines on the Web. Or, you can market directly towards the internet audience that has a history of viewing sites from the same type of business as yours! Submit your email address to receive "Step by Step Guide to Marketing your Web Site" to find out how! A web site can also help cut down the cost from time spent serving on Customer Service by having a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page that informs your customer of information that is most common. CUSTOMER SERVICE is a very important part of a successful business. By owning a web site you will be able to offer your customers information 24 hours a day. 7 days a week, 365 days a year! Q: What will it take to get my Web Site started? Simply have an idea what you want on your Web Site and give us a call, or E-mail us. We will be happy to put your business on the Internet. It is helpful if you have a few URL's of web sites you feel are similar in style or like features for your own web site. Since Electric Web Designs is designing a web site specifically for you, communication of your needs and likes is very important. Q: Can an individual have their own Web Site? Of course, we can make a great personal Web Site for you or your family. Some individuals like to have a resume' web site for their career needs. Other people like to have a portfolio for acting careers, artist and even dating. A web site is also a great way to have an engagement & wedding announcement! You can include pictures and stories that wouldn't be able to be seen or known, otherwise. A couple can even include their gift registry information. Q: What is different about Electric Web Designs from other web design services? After listening to your independent needs for a web site, your web site is not only designed specifically for you... your hosting service is also chosen with your specific needs in mind. If you need help registering a domain name, you are assisted as part of the regular service. From the first step to the last, we will hold your hand through the whole process. That is one reason why Electric Web Designs is great for the first time web site owner, as well as the pros! After designing and developing your web site to your specifications you can also receive information on helping you make sure you market your web site successfully. If there are any ways of saving money in the process, it is always advised to you. If you have an e-commerce web site, training to maintain the catalog will be included as part of your service. You will also have available to you for a fee, a CD disc of your completed web site! This is something we have never heard of other web designers offering. It makes you even more independent as a web site owner. Along with the purchase of the disc is TRAINING on how to make changes on products/art and also change of address and phone number information. Yes! Electric Web Designs is proud to be a full service Web Site design and hosting provider. We will design your Web Site and provide a place to host it, all for a very reasonable price. We also offer additional services for your pages, including domain registration, updating and maintain your Web Site. We even teach you how to market your web site if you submit your email for the weekly newsletter "Step by Step Guide to Marketing Your Web Site SUCCESSFULLY" Training is also include in e-commerce sites and also if you purchase your web site on a cd disc to manage yourself! Q: Can I have MyOwnName.com with Electric Web Designs? Yes. You will have your own domain with any of our hosting packages. BTW, we offer only true virtual domains with unique IP addresses. Beware of hosting companies who provide only a shared or temporary IP. Q: How long will I have to wait before I can start? Not long at all! We will set aside space and a unique IP address for you very quickly. You will want to make sure your preferred Web address is available as soon as possible. Gives us a call and we will help you reserve your domain name if you haven't already. Q: How do I transfer an existing domain name to your servers? Simply let it be known that you want to transfer your domain. There is no extra cost for this. While waiting for InterNIC or the registration authority to complete the transfer process, keep connected with your current host. Keep in mind, your new IP must go through the Internet system, i.e., be "propagated," before the IP numbers will actually resolve to your domain name. Since you are probably the administrator for your domain, InterNIC or the domain registration authority will ask by email if you approve the transfer to your new hosting company. You will want to answer "yes." This is very important: Be sure you reply to the email with your email address of record, or your request for transfer will not be processed by them! The hosting company you will be assigned to will depend on our previous discussion on what your specific needs are. The advantage of having flexibility with your hosting company is very simple. If you are not happy, you can simply ask to be assigned to a new server. Electric Web Designs does everything in our power to keep up to date on the best and most dependable servers available. Hosts vary according to needs of each customer. We do everything we can to place you with the host we feel you will be happiest with. Once you receive an email saying the transfer is completed, the propagation period begins. We advise waiting three or four days before asking your previous host to cancel your hosting service. When transferring a domain, keep in mind that InterNIC will ask the administrative or technical contact, and not the billing contact, to reply to an email authorizing the transfer. If you are one of the authorized contacts (and you should be!) Make sure you reply using the same email address you have on file with them. If the confirmation request from InterNIC is promptly returned, the registration change can usually be processed by them in 72 hours or so. Meanwhile, all Internet providers are updating their records (DNS tables) to reflect the new worldwide database of IP addresses, including yours. If you have any confusion or questions about this process...don't worry...we take you step by step so you don't feel overwhelmed or lost. The InterNIC is the organization responsible for registering top-level domain names, such as .com, .net and .org. Other registration authorities and top-level domains exist. Other domain authorities such as register.com and namesecure.com will have our name servers on file and you can choose which registration authority to register your domain through. E-commerce is short for Electronic Commerce. In short, selling something over the internet with the buyers 'click of their mouse'. A customer can purchase your products without calling, faxing or emailing you to place the order. They simply place their order by clicking on the items they want to purchase, the products go into a 'shopping cart' to check out when they are finished shopping. Usually these sites can receive credit cards as the payment form. A merchant account is usually used to accomplish this, by the web site owner. There are several types of account services available to accomplish this. If you do not accept credit cards presently, there are services available that will process credit cards for you for a percentage of the sale. Q: Who can I contact if further questions come up? Feel free to send us an email Info@ElectricWebDesigns.com or call (949)363-1856 from 9am-4pm Pacific Time, M-F. Depending on who your hosting company is, you will be furnished with their customer service numbers, also. Some customers may decide to use a hosting company that supports Miva Merchant for their e-commerce needs. They will also receive Customer Service information for Miva Merchant. That means that you will have up to 3 directions that you can receive the answers or guidance that you may need. Yes. They are always connected and always monitored. We never refer or use a hosting company that doesn't have this available. Q: What do auto responders do and are they included? How many? An auto responder, in short, is a robot that sends an "instant message" once any email is received at your POP account. Sometimes called "vacation or holiday replies," simply go to your Mail Manager in your Control Panel Toolkit, choose your POP, and fill in the blanks to write your very own auto responder! Q: What programs can be used to access E-mail (Outlook Express, Netscape, etc.)? Any program which downloads mail from your POP onto your computer should be able to be used. The most popular ones are Outlook Express, Netscape and Eudora. Q: Can I access my domain address with or without the "www"? Yes. You will be able to access the domain address with or without the "www" in front of the domain name. Q: What is an email alias and is it unlimited? An email alias means if you send mail to support@your--name.com, that address is aliased to whomever needs to receive it. It can be one person or multiple people, and you have access to your own Mail Wizard! The number of aliases available depends on your hosting plan. They can range from 5-unlimitted free email aliases per hosting plan. All this is done through your mail manager control panel Q: Do you charge additional fees for hosting a secure web site? Your hosting plan is decided on according to your needs. E-commerce capabilities is usually a little more monthly than a non-commerce site. The technology that is necessary, built into your hosting capabilities makes this necessary. Q: Does Electric Web Designs help promote my web site? Electric Web Designs does not have a marketing service available at this time. What we do have is a weekly newsletter, "Step by Step Guide to Marketing Your Web Site SUCCESSFULLY". If followed, you should be able to have great results! To sign up for the newsletter just email Newsletter@ElectricWebDesigns.com and put your name and email address in the message body...and 'Request Newsletter" in the subject line. Q: May I promote my Web site with bulk email? There are legal and ethical issues involved in mass mailing of unsolicited email. It is not an acceptable practice and you are advised not to use this form of marketing. Q: What are some simple and easy things I can do to promote my web site? Including your domain name on all printed information like: checks, return address labels, receipts, any printed company forms, etc.. Always ask your customers for their email addresses to send out periodic updates about your company and your web site. Any applications or forms that you have your customers fill out should also request their email addresses, also. These are just some simple steps you can take. To learn more you can request our weekly newsletter "Step by Step Guide to Marketing Your Web Site SUCCESSFULLY!" During the web design process there are scripts written into the HTML that imbed 'META TAGS'. Many search engines use them as the only source to categorize you. To make your web site marketable through search engines, it is important to have Meta Tags written into the scripts. These meta tags should include 'key words' that are used to describe your service or product. You should furnish Electric Web Designs with the Meta Tags you feel would be successful. Call (949) 363-1856 or email Info@ElectricWebDesigns.com (Click here to return to the FAQ's page) |
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