Voka Online, Inc.
Professional Websites Made Easy

Home     Web Packages     Jobs     FAQ     Links     Sales Locations     Contact     About    
   
  1. I'm not a large corporation and I don't do business on the World Wide Web. Does my business really need a web site?

    The Internet has become an integral part of daily life for many people. It is often the first (and sometime the only) place a potential customer will look for products and services.

    While giving a presentation to a local group of small business owners I asked them to tell me how they look for other businesses. To my surprise, everyone indicated that they use the Internet first

  2. What are the advantages of a good web site?
    1. Convey a professional image.
    2. Display sufficient information to entice new and existing clients to visit you.
    3. Make your business look bigger than it really is.
    4. Generate a good return on your advertising dollar.

      Bottom Line: Good web sites increase sales.

     

  3. How do I get an Internet presence? 
    A good Internet presence consists of a web site and e-mail addresses based on your own business's Domain (e.g. www.mybusinessname.com or me@mybusinessname.com). In addition, you want to be easily found when potential customers use search engines, directories, etc. This usually requires integrating the services of several companies.
    1. Web Designer
      • Understands your business and creates web pages.
      • Provides HTML (code to create a web site)
      • Might assist you with on-going changes
      • Cost: professionals usually start at few thousand dollars and go up
      • Alternative: Do It Yourself Tools ?????
    2. Web Hosting Service
      • Provides: Domain Name and E-mail Address
      • Serves your web pages to customers
      • Cost: charges a recurring fee, which often based on amount of storage and network usage.
    3. Search Engine Submissions

  4. What do I look for when considering a Web Designer?
    1. How do they get to know your business?
    2. What web pages do they build for you?
    3. Do their existing customer web sites look good?
    4. Will their customers recommend them?
    5. Are the web pages free of copyright and trademark infringement?
    6. Who owns the web site design?
    7. Can customers using a modem easily upload the web pages?
    8. Do they assist you with transitioning to a hosting provider?
    9. How are changes made to your web site?
    10. Are services provided in a timely fashion?
    11. How much do they charge for their initial services and later modifications?

  5. What do I look for when considering a Web Hosting Service?
    1. Do you get your own Domain Name?
    2. How many e-mail addresses do you get and what are the size restrictions?
    3. What type of Data Center services is provided?
      • Redundancy: power, A/C, network, servers, etc.
      • Network Performance
      • Backup/Recovery
        • How quickly is your web site restored?
        • What is the maximum amount of data you might loose?
      • Disaster Recovery
    4. Do you get a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
    5. Do they have sufficient technical support?
    6. How do you contact them when you have a problem?
    7. How do they charge?
      • Disk Space
      • Network Utilization
      • Other?
    8. Are web site access reports available?

  6. How do I promote my business' web site?
    There are numerous methods to utilize in promoting your business on the Internet. Some things to consider are:
    1. World Wide Web Tools
      • Search Engines
      • Directories
      • Links from other web sites (Note: some of these can be done for free while others charge a fee or membership)
        • Business Associates
        • Complimentary Businesses (e.g. Wedding Services: Bakery, Jeweler, Limousine Service, Wedding Dresses, etc)
        • Chamber of Commerce
        • Trade Associations
    2. Traditional Advertising
      • Business Cards
      • Direct Mail
      • Flyers
      • Magazines
      • Newspaper
      • Signage
      • Yellow Pages

  7. There seem to be thousands of Internet search engines. Do I need to promote myself to all of them?
    A lot of different theories exist regarding the use of Internet search engines. It would take too long to document all of them. My general recommendation is that you should promote yourself to Google (which is used by AOL, Yahoo, and others), MSN and the Open Directory Project. In addition, I don't usually recommend that you pay for placement. My company has some web sites that have achieved the number one or two free positions on Google by concentrating on making the web site search engine friendly.

  8. What is your overall web site recommendation for small to medium sized businesses that don't do e-commerce?
    1. Businesses must have a Professional Web Site
    2. Keep It Simple
    3. Be Sure to Get Your Own Domain Name & E-mail Address
    4. Web Pages Must
      • Download Quickly: Remember, many people use dial-up connections
      • Convey sufficient content to entice customer visits
      • Be Easy to Change
    5. Ensure your website will be available
      • Available at least 99.5% of Normal Access Hours
      • Data Loss should be no more than you can tolerate (~1 day)
    6. It should be reasonably priced.


 
Copyright © Voka Online, Inc. 2003 - 2008 Website designed by Voka Online