Question:
Do I need a web site?
Answer:
A. Having a web site is more important for some businesses than others. Companies
trying to reach customers in different locations (i.e., hotels or tourist attractions)
or who have products that can be shipped to customers far away (i.e., flowers, handmade
dolls, industrial patterns and supplies, telephones, etc.) obviously need to have
an online presence. However, even local businesses (i.e., dry cleaners or shoe repair
shops) can benefit from a web site that shows their location, lists their services
or offers special promotions. And businesses that serve other businesses rather
than retail consumers can benefit from a web site. Many businesses search for new
suppliers online, and order online, too. If you want more customers, you should
be online.
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Question:
Why should I pay for site development and hosting? Can’t I
just do it myself?
Answer:
Web site design done right is complex and requires a number of different skill sets
that aren't commonly found in any one person, especially someone that doesn't do
this for a living. Technically, you can build a site yourself. The real question
becomes this: can you afford to take time away from your customers and your business
to develop your site? Time is money, and it’s often a better use of your time and
money to outsource web design projects.
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Question:
I can get a free web site and e-mail addresses through my
Internet provider (or Geocities, Angelfire, Tripod, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc.) Can’t
I just promote my business through these free web services?
Answer:
Having your own web site with its own domain name provides several advantages. Your
web address should be a reflection of your unique business and the products you
sell, rather than an add-on to someone else’s web address. Your domain name should
be easy to remember, and easy to type. Will customers find you at http://www.myinternetprovider.com/userpages/~hereismypage.html?
Or would your site be easier to find at www.mywebsite.com? Owning a unique domain
name for your business also give you more flexibility in choosing your hosting providers
and the features they offer, and allows a richer, more reliable interaction with
your customers.
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Question:
What is a domain name?
Answer:
Domain names are the familiar, easy to remember names for computers on the Internet
(such as armanda.com). They correspond to a series of numbers (called Internet Protocol
numbers) that serve as routing addresses on the Internet. Domain names are used
generally as a convenient way of locating information and reaching others on the
Internet.
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Question:
Can I register my own domain name? Does Armanda Designs
register domain names?
Answer:
Only registrars accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) are authorized to register .com, .net and .org names in the registry. Some
of these accredited registrars offer their services through resellers, such as Armanda
Designs, which may provide assistance in completing the registration process. You
may also register your domain name directly through one of these registrars. Either
way, your registration contract will be with the accredited registrar and that registrar
will maintain your contact information.
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Question:
I’ve seen web site templates for sale at prices as
low as $50. Will I save money by buying a template instead of hiring a designer?
Answer:
Although affordable site templates are available, your choice between buying a site
template or building a unique site needs to be made with the understanding that
other businesses, perhaps even your competitors, may also be using that template.
Remember, too, that after buying a template, you will still need to add text and
images, create links, and otherwise complete your site.
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Question:
OK. Once my site is built, how will people find my site?
Answer:
What a great question! Your designer could create the perfect web site for your
business, but what good is that site if no one knows it’s there? All of our site
proposals include optimization of your site’s code and content for search engines.
We also submit your site’s information to all of the major search engines upon completion,
and re-submit on an on-going basis. We regularly track your progress and fine tune
sites in order to achieve the best possible results in search engine ranking.
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Question:
What can I do to drive additional traffic to my site?
Answer:
Promote your site. Let other people know it’s there! Include your web address (URL)
on your business cards and letterhead. Mention it in your tv, radio, print, and
outdoor advertising. Have your URL lettered on your business signs, door, and company
vehicles. Put it in the signature line of outgoing e-mails, in letters, and in direct
mail campaigns. Show your URL on promotional merchandise (shirts, balloons, key
rings, or other items). Contact Armanda designs for additional site promotion strategies.
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Question:
What will my on-going costs be after launching my site?
Answer:
On-going costs will vary depending on your specific use for your site. These costs
will likely include hosting fees, search engine positioning, site updates and maintenance,
and domain name renewals.
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Question:
How can I reduce my cost for developing a web site?
Answer:
Armanda Designs bids most projects on a complete site development, including consultation,
domain name research and registration, content development, digital photography,
design, layout & navigation, search engine submission & optimization, and
on-going maintenance and service. By taking care of one or more of these on your
own, you can reduce the investment required to build and maintain a web site. Talk
to an Armanda Designs representative today for details.
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Question:
Do you offer packages?
Answer:
We work primarily on a project basis, ascertaining our customers’ desired outcomes
and tailoring solutions that fit individual requirements. Armanda Designs believes
in a “one size fits one.” sales and service philosophy. Over the years, we have
learned the hard way that ‘one size does not fit all.’
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Question:
What are your hourly rates?
Answer:
Armanda Designs provides a variety of services. Our hourly fees range from $45 -
$125, depending on the nature of the work involved. In addition to examining hourly
rates for specific services, you should also consider the number of hours a specific
vendor will commit to completing a project, the guaranteed price for the project
as bid, and the quality of the final product or service. When you examine all available
criteria, you'll come to appreciate why so many businesses choose Armanda Designs, Inc.
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Question:
What about link exchanges?
Answer:
In order to keep users happy, search engines are always developing ways to make
their results more relevant. Links have become more important to the engines because
they see links as an endorsement of your site by other Web sites. This concept is
referred to as 'link popularity.' Based on the links pointing to your site, the
search engines either increase or decrease how relevant your site is for particular
keyword searches. Therefore, it is important for you to develop partnerships with
other web sites who are willing to link to your site. However ... it is also very
important to develop those partnerships with the right sites. Major search engines
and directories may decrease your ranking in search results (or drop your site altogether
from their listings) if you associate your site with the wrong partners. Armanda
Designs can help you evaluate potential link partners to improve your search engine
position.
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Question:
What can a web site do for me?
Answer:
Create an online brochure that will help potential clients, customers, and partners
learn about your company and look at it in a favorable light. Conduct e-commerce
and sell to a national or international market through an ordering system for one
or more products, or perhaps an extensive online catalog. Provide product information
to drive local sales of your products and services at dealer locations. Provide
customer service and support. Websites are a great place for troubleshooting guides,
FAQs, technical information, or even Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) labels.
Provide multiple ways for your customers to contact you. Save money through efficiencies.
Use the Internet to take orders with real-time credit card authorization to save
call center operation costs and cut entry errors. Save on paper, printing, and distribution
costs. Use online FAQs and knowledge base articles to cut the number of customer
service personnel you need. Earn affiliate commissions for sales and leads generated
through links on your website. Perhaps a form on your site generates leads or subscriptions
for another company. A web site can do a lot of things. And knowing what you want to accomplish through
your web site should be first and foremost on your mind when you contact Armanda Designs. A clear understanding of your goal and the possible
routes to reaching your goal is important. Consider how others have used the Internet.
Examine other sites, including your competitors’ sites. Which sites do you like
or dislike? Print out pages and make notes for your discussion with our team.
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Question:
How long will it take for Armanda Designs to build
my web site?
Answer:
There are several factors that will affect your project’s timeline. Obviously, your
own target date is our first concern. How soon do you want to be online? Once we
understand your goals, we also consider the complexity of the site you need, our
current workload and outstanding commitments, your availability to provide the information,
images, and other resources we need to create the site, and other considerations.
In the end, our goal is to deliver your web site the way you want it, and when you
want it. At Armanda Designs, we put it in writing.
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Question:
What if I don’t need a whole web site?
Answer:
We help many of our customers develop specific pages and enhancements to existing
sites. For example, it may be time for you to add a shopping cart to your site for
online sales, or perhaps you simply need to add pages to promote new products or
services. We can help you by designing new features that complement your existing
site.
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Question:
What if I already have a web site?
Answer:
In addition to adding new features to your site, Armanda Designs can also assist
you with marketing your site, improving your search engine position, updating content,
training your staff to maintain your site, enhancing your site’s features, and a
variety of other web related goals. Contact us to learn how we can fulfill your
specific needs.
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Question:
Can we work together effectively across long distances?
Answer:
Absolutely! We regularly work with customers throughout the U.S., exchanging information
and files via e-mail, FTP and fax, and we stay connected through telephone, fax
and e-mail.
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Question:
Do you offer discounts for non-profits and service
organizations?
Answer:
We are happy to support the ongoing efforts of charitable organizations through
reduced fees for our services. Contact
Armanda Designs for detailed information about how we can help your organization.
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Question:
Will my site look the same on everyone’s computer?
Answer:
Not quite, but Armanda Designs works hard to maintain the look of your site on a
variety of platforms and internet browsers. It's a complicated equation of PC vs.
Mac, Internet Explorer vs. Netscape vs. other browsers, Windows XP vs. Windows NT
vs. Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, and all of the other operating systems. We build our sites knowing that more than 95% of our customers' web traffic relies
on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. We also check our work in Netscape, and Mozilla
Firebird and adjust as needed. And, knowing that roughly half of all web pages viewed
are seen at screen resolutions of 1024x768 or higher (while another 40% use screen
resolutions of 800x600), we cross check our work on large screens and on smaller
screens, both LCD and CRT. So … what do all of these statistics mean? Feel free to contact us for a more detailed answer, but the short story is this: we understand
the current trends in computer usage & do everything we can to make sure that
our customers’ sites display correctly and are easy to navigate for a wide variety
of users across the Internet.
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Question:
My current site runs slowly. Why?
Answer:
The speed at which a web page loads on your computer is affected by a number of
factors, including your computer's available resources, connection speed, bottlenecks
in the internet, and issues with the site's design and file sizes, and the site's
server platform. Armanda Designs can help you examine current conditions and you
options to identify the most practical solution. Ask us about our image optimization
strategies, and our use of streamlined pages and cascading style sheets to improve
your site’s performance.
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Question:
Will you host my site?
Answer:
Armanda Designs has partnered with various web hosting providers as a re-seller,
in order to deliver the right hosting solution for your specific needs and budget.
Our affordable pricing and convenient service are guaranteed to perform.
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Question:
Who will maintain and update my site?
Answer:
Internet-savvy businesses keep the content on their Web sites fresh, and redesign
their sites at regular intervals. Why? It takes only a byte or two of dated information
for users to think they've come to a dead or an orphaned site. Contact Armanda Designs
to learn more about our hourly and contract rates for site maintenance and updates.
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Question:
Who visits my web site?
Answer:
Savvy traditional store owners analyze customer traffic to learn ways they can improve
the buying experience for their shoppers. You can do the same thing on your Web
site. We recommend examining the following statistics: the number of visitors, the
length of time visitors spend on your site and on each specific page, the most popular
pages, the least popular pages, the number of e-mail and phone inquiries driven
by your web site (along with the nature of those inquiries), and the referring web
site or link which brought customers to your site. If your current site design and
hosting provider do not give you these kinds of statistics, talk to Armanda Designs
about creating a more effective web presence.
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