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Web Design
Web Hosting
Web Promotion
Domain Names
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| Phone
586-344-4288 |
sales@ithomeservices.biz |
www.ithomeservices.biz |
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Web Design
Web Hosting
Web Promotion
Domain Names
|
||
| Phone
586-344-4288 |
sales@ithomeservices.biz |
www.ithomeservices.biz |
This question is has been asked by millions of people. The reason is simple, a web site is constantly working for your organization 24 hours a day, 7 days a week regardless of what you are personally doing.
More importantly, a web site can give SO much more information than most other advertising media at a fraction of their cost.
While television commercials, radio advertising, and newspaper ads can reach the vast majority of people, the price of these advertising techniques is FAR greater than the cost of a web site AND these media are only going to be out there working for you for a few seconds or a couple of days. A web site is working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The best way to do great business, is by using a combination of all of these efforts.[Top of Page]
A lot of people ask the question "What should I write in my web site?". The answer to this question is write about whatever you want.. What are your interests? What are your passions? You are the only one who knows what you would be willing to write about. Tell people what you really think. Make the pages colorful and informative, be creative.
The most popular thing people write about is themselves and their family. If you want to tell the world who you are and what your interests are then you can write a site about yourself. If you want to show off your children or family members, make a site to tell stories about them or post pictures then write about the pictures.
Some popular themes & subjects for a personal web site are:
Anyone can write and run a web site, even teenagers and children. They talk about what's going on in their lives and often do what they can to help others caught in the same situations.
Have you ever kept a diary or a journal? Online diaries are extremely popular nowadays.
Webcams add a nice touch to your site. Not only are you telling your visitors about yourself, but you are letting people watch you. If you really want to get the attention of the Web surfers out there, this is the way to do it. Most people are natural voyeurs at heart. They will watch you just to see what you are up to and what you will do next.
You don't have to write your whole site about the same thing either. You could write about a number of subjects and combine them into a single site, putting each subject on it's own page within your site.
Finally, personal means just that. Your personal web page should be about whatever you want it to be about. Be creative and make it as personal as you want it to be. [Top of Page]
Personal web sites are, as Forrest Gump put it, like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get until you open the box and dig in. Some are sweet and tasty, while others are foul and unsavory. But what we are concerned with here is not the content but the quality of that content. What are the qualities that make a site stand out as being valuable and distinctive? The following are some ideas on what to do and what to avoid.
Layout and Design.
The presentation of your page is very important. To start with, good web pages should have a consistent layout and organization throughout the site. Consistancy is important because it keeps your visitor from becoming confused and disoriented. Make your visitor feel comfortable by providing the same basic design on every page in your site.
Good web pages also control the use of inline images, and don't go overboard with slow-loading graphics. Optimize the graphics you do use by making them smaller and using fewer colors.
The need for navigational aids on large pages cannot be overstressed. It can get very easy for a visitor to get lost in a large site so help them out. Insert aids like "top of page" or have a link to the site map posted periodically on your page. The larger and more complex your site is, the more important it is to have navigational aids easy to access. It's always a good idea to have navigational aids at the top and bottom of each page.
Usability
It's been my experience that usability needs it's own heading. I have seen plenty of sites that look absolutely beautiful and in some cases, dazzling but are not very usable. Here are some basic components that each and every commercial site and some personal sites should posses in order to be functional to the site's visitors.
Content is KING.
One of the main things that makes a home page valuable is that it is one of a kind. When you take into account the size of the Internet, what makes pages unique is the personal material that the site's author produces. A home page should be more than just a hotlist of other people's sites; it should relfect your interests and passions. Far too many pages are simply a list of "my cool links" and not much more. And what is the point of going to a personal home page if all you see is a listing of the places that person has surfed recently? Not to say that you shouldn't put links in your personal pages, but the point is that what makes a home page stand out is the material on that page, not the other pages it links to. Of the pages that prominantly feature lists of links, the best are the ones that add some value to these lists by providing helpful descriptions of the sites within the list or grouping the links in some intelligent way.
Depth.
The best home pages are like a good mystery novel, they give you a sense that there is something lying just beneath the surface, and if you keep reading you will be rewarded. This doesn't mean that you need dozens of different pages to convey your idea; it's just a matter of using hypertext links in an intelligent way to help you increase the impact and depth of the material you have.
Creativity.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) gives everyone the same set of basic tools for creating web pages. Good web pages use these tools in new, creative and innovative ways. This gives web surfers a reason to come check you out rather than some other, similar page. Your web site gives you the opportunity to show off your work to thousands, or even millions of people around the world. It's up to you to make the most of this opportunity!
Personality.
They say that the eyes are the window to your soul. If that's true then your web page is the Internet equivelant of your eyes. It should give people viewing it a sense of who you are, how you think, what you believe. You could start with the obvious, like writing a biography of yourself, and then move into more subtle content that shows your interests and outlook on life. You don't have to feel that just because some site you visited is "cool" that you have to copy it. Your site is just that...YOURS. [Top of Page]
We will need to get the following materials and information from you:
If these items don't already exist, IT Home Services will work with you to create them. [Top of Page]
The first step is to gather all the materials and information. The length of time needed for this step depends on your individual needs and the amount of content on your site. Once the materials and information are collected, the average timeframe is as follows:
It depends on your individual needs. For sites that aren't constantly changing, you should look over your site every 2 months to ensure that no content is outdated. Your site content should be updated every 4 - 6 months so your visitors know that your site is current and maintained on a regular basis. [Top of Page]
It depends on the details of the individual project. Because each project is unique, the price will vary accordingly. IT Home Services charges "per project" for some services and "by the hour" for others. The way it generally works is that the project starts with a per project price, then additional work falls under the hourly rate. A large web page for a small business would start between $300.00 & $600.00. Personal pages start at only $50.00.
A way for potential customers to keep that in perspective is this:
A full page C & G Newspapers advertisement that runs in limited colors 1 time only in Macomb County, Oakland County and Wayne County, Michigan ONLY, costs $19,303.00 (1/2006 price quote). This ad doesn't say much at all about your product, service or company; and remember, it's 1 time only.
In contrast, a web site can be presented in full color with as much
information as you like. Also, you can add multiple ways for
potential customers to contact your company (your mail address,
your email address, your phone numbers, your fax number,
etc.). The cost of your web site most likely won't approach
anywhere near the amount of a newspaper ad and your potential audience is worldwide.
[Top of Page]
Each job is unique, which means that you will be given a custom quote.
We can administer your site from our office or yours depending on your specific needs and preferences. Additional fees may apply if we service your site at your location.
Prices for minor site changes (i.e. changing a single phone number) can be negotiated. [Top of Page]
Yes. As with any venture, you need to get the word out about your organization. Just because you have a web site, it doesn't mean that people automatically know about it and the search engines don't automatically list your site if you don't let them know that you are here.
To have the attitude of "Ok, now that I have a web site, people will come to it in droves and buy my product (or read my content)!" is just not realistic nor is it good business sense. To get the kind of traffic the "big boys" get, you will have to invest in getting that traffic to your site. [Top of Page]
The cost will depend on your particular advertising campaign. A lot of online advertising can actually be done with no third party fees. Some examples of this fee-free advertising are:
However, not all advertising is free.
In the past, search engines and directories would list you for free, but now it's a whole new ball game and the companies who run the search engines realize that there is money to be made here. Following is a breakdown of what it costs to have a guaranteed, paid listing for some search engines or directories:
*Source: Dogpile.com
One important thing to remember:
Although doing business online is much cheaper than doing business in a "brick and mortar" store, it will still cost you money to do business. It's just one of those things you can't get around. [Top of Page]
This can go either way. If you'd rather do the "legwork" yourself, great! If not, IT Home Services can handle it for you. We offer affordable web hosting and domain registration which basically means one stop shopping for you. [Top of Page]
The answer to this question is... it depends. How well do you know HTML and how complex is your site?
May you perform the updates? Yes.
Do you have the ability to perform the updates? You tell us.
If you are not familiar with HTML, you could do some serious damage to your site. Also, if your site design is fairly complex, it's very easy to scramble the layout of the site by altering the source code. Finally, using an HTML editing program can also cause serious problems if you're not familiar with the site's structure.
The BEST thing to do (if you want to do your own updates) is to inform us of your intentions while your site is being built. That way, we can enter instructions, or hints within the code, giving you direction on what is safe to edit and what you shouldn't touch. If you don't believe that your programming skills are up to par, we will be glad to do the updates for you. [Top of Page]
There may be a bit of humor inserted into the question, but with all of the people making web pages these days, it's a valid question. IT Home Services has actual working experience with web site design. We use a variety of methods to create and test sites to prevent surprises from popping up. By surprises, we're talking about such things as how a site can look different between browser types and versions (Netscape 4.7, Netscape 7.2, Internet Explorer 6, Firefox, Opera, Mozilla, etc.). Cousin Mike may design a site that looks great in internet Explorer 6, but when it's viewed in Firefox, it looks completely different. By the way, if Cousin Mike really messes up, IT Home Services can come in and do repair work too!
You'd be surprised at how bad a site can look in different browsers if it's not handled by the experienced designer. [Top of Page]
Unfortunately, this is something we can't do nor can anybody else. Because there are so many millions (literally) of sites out there, it is very tough to get to the top of the heap. We manually submit your site to the major fee-free search engines. We will follow up with these to make sure that your site has indeed been listed.
There are services claiming that they can guarantee you higher placement, but they can be very expensive and have no affiliation with IT Home Services. However, if you decide to go that route, we can act as a liaison between that company and your business. [Top of Page]
IT Home Services only submits to FREE search engines (unless you request otherwise) and with free submissions, your site is not guaranteed a listing. This sometimes means that we will have to resubmit your link for listing. We will do that for free if your listing doesn't show up. When your site is submitted to the search engines, it can take up to 6 months before your site appears - so plan accordingly and be patient.
Paid inclusion will get you listed faster for search engines that offer that service. If you request paid inclusion into a search engine, you will be responsible for the additional inclusion fees.. [Top of Page]
Here's a piece of good advice: DO NOT rely on search engine placement only for your business to be successful. You will get far greater results by doing these simple things:
Make sure your web address is on EVERY piece of promotional material that your business uses. This includes business cards, stationary, advertisements, etc.
Add a signature line that contains your web site address to all of your email correspondence. It's subtle, but effective!
Add "web coupons" to your site offering discounts to people that come to you from the web site.
If there is another site that you would like to link to you, let us know and we can try to set that up if the other site is willing. For example, for an employment web site, it might be great to have hotjobs.com link to you.
If friends or family have web sites, ask them to link to yours.
Let's not forget the good, old-fashioned, offline advertising venues. For example have an inexpensive classified ad in the newspaper telling people to go to your web site for complete information.
VERY IMPORTANT:
UPDATE YOUR SITE ON A REGULAR BASIS! If the
content on your site never changes, there's no reason for people to
come back because "I've been there and done that." It's
always a good idea to have something new for your visitors to read
or experience. Never forget that CONTENT IS KING.
[Top of Page]
For a personal site, it is a viable option if you are not interested in a high number of visitors. For a business site, the answer to this question is 'no'. Here are some reasons why:
Let's say you had a site hosted with Brinkster.com. Your web address (URL) would be something along the lines of "http://www24.brinkster.com/joeschmoe/~myinterest/index.html"
This is a very long web address that will be hard for your customers to remember. It's also hard to communicate this address to those not familiar with the terms "slash", "tilde", etc. The length also makes it difficult to fit the address on a business card.
Having your hosting provider's name in your web address (and email address) removes credibility from your business. It says "how successful can they be if they have their site hosted free?"
VERY IMPORTANT - Search engines will not list these sites. When you do a search, you rarely see these kinds of addresses. When you do, they're usually personal web pages and not business pages.
Typically with free hosting comes third party advertising banners that you have no control over. If you are trying to run a business, do you really want to advertise for companies or other (possibly competitor) web sites that you have no affiliation with? If you're not paying for your server space, someone has to (the advertisers). This also goes to the heart of your company's credibility.
If you purchase a domain name and Brinkster, or another commercial hosting provider, hosts that domain name, they will not host the site for free. They only host personal home pages for free and not businesses.
So if you're going to be in business, do it right! Get your own hosting space and your own domain name. We provide hosting starting at $71.40 for an entire year with free domain name registration. For a business investment, it's a pretty small price to pay for a lot of legitimacy. [Top of Page]
No, we don't. Sure flash media products look great but they take a long time to download when your visitor is using a dial-up connection. The last report that came past this office said that most Americans were still using dial-up connections. One of the characteristics that we offer as a part of our web design service is "fast page load", and flash media definitely does not load fast. [Top of Page]
Sometimes. We prefer to produce custom design jobs for each customer using hand coding. However, if you prefer, we can use templates to accommodate your specific needs. [Top of Page]
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