Web Site Design FAQ

How can I design my own web site?

There are a lot of services on the Internet that allow you to create your own web sites by using a Content Management System that is installed on their hosting services. You can also use such software at Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage. They allow you create pages and then creates links between the various pages.

When should I use a professional web designer?

If you are looking to project a professional image for your company, it is worth the money to hire someone who has build a lot of web sites. It will save you headaches because you don't have a learn a complicated software, and should reward you with greater sales or leads because visitors see you as a trustworthy company.

How do I make changes on my web site?

You can make changes to your site using the softwares mentioned above. Many web site development companies also offer Content Management Systems.

What is a Content Management System?

A Content Management System (CMS) allows you to make changes to content on pages without you having to buy software or learn that software. Often they charge more for hosting because of all the time it takes to maintain the CMS. With the CMS you log into an adminstration area and then go to the page you want to change. Often you will have an interface that is similar to Microsoft Word, so it is easy for you to make changes, create links, insert pictures or graphics, etc. By having a CMS, it eliminates your need to contact your webmaster everytime you have to change something on your site.

What is a URL?

A URL is actually your domain name, such as www.venturewide.com. It is your online address for your web site.

Does my business need a website?

Ask yourself, "Does my business need 24-hour exposure 7 days a week, 365 days a year?" The answer is obvious. What other medium allows you to expose all the benefits of your small business to your target market at their convenience and provide a source of direct correspondence from them to you? The benefits of a website are innumerable.

How many pages do I need?

This all depends on how much content you have. Every business website should have an 'About Us' page (or something similarly titled) to tell your visitors about your business. After that, it depends on what type of business you have. A good rule of thumb is to not overwhelm your audience with too much information on each page. Disperse the information and break it up into digestible pages and paragraphs. Long pages of text tend to overwhelm the reader. Break content up to truly get your audience's attention.

What domain name should I choose?

This depends on how you are going to use it. If you are going to be telling people over the phone, choose one that is easy to say and spell out loud. Above all, I would choose one that is memorable and not confusing. Also make sure the domain name is something they can associate with you business, service, or product.

Can you register my domain name for me?

I would prefer not to. Your domain name is your address in cyberspace, and often it is the only way someone knows to contact you. It is important that you keep good track of it and keep your contact information updated on your domain record so that nothing happens to it. I always recommend that people have full control and knowledge of how to administer their domain name, just to be safe.

There are a number of domain registrars on the internet that can offer you competitive prices, such as GoDaddy.com

What are my options for e-commerce or online donations?

You can take payments online in a number of ways. The first is PayPal - this an inexpensive way to start taking payments quickly, especially if you don't have a merchant account. With PayPal, your visitors can pay you with a credit card or by sending a payment from their checking account (echeck). PayPal provides a shopping cart and many other free services that are helpful to sites that are starting out. They charge 2.9% +$.30 per transaction and have no start-up fees. The downsides are that PayPal is not a very customizable solution, and it can have a “start-up” feel. However, this is changing and many mainstream sites are now accepting PayPal as more and more people have PayPal accounts. PayPal is inexpensive both because there are no merchant account of payment gateway fees, but also because PayPal provides a very easy way to integrate their shopping cart into your site, which reduces development time.

Another inexpensive option is a free solution called Mal's e-commerce. Mal's is a shopping cart system that is remotely hosted. With the free version, you can accept PayPal, offline payments like checks, and credit cards if you have your own way to charge them already. It will store the numbers for you to run offline. For $6 a month you can upgrade your cart so it can integrate with a number of popular payment gateways like Authorize.net. There are other fees associated with payment gateways and merchant accounts that you would also be responsible for. Finally, there is the option of creating a full e-commerce solution. This involves many different components - a merchant account from a bank, a payment gateway service that allows you to accept payments into your merchant account from your website (this is often bundled with the merchant account), a shopping cart or payment script that integrates with your payment gateway, and certain elements of the server environment like having an SSL certificate and a static IP. There are some shopping carts that are available as pre-packaged scripts such as X-Cart that can be customized for your situation, or a custom payment script can be developed that exactly matches your needs. Full e-commerce is much more expensive and time-consuming to develop than PayPal or Mal's, but it can be integrated into your site for a truly seamless payment experience. It can also save you money in the long run if you are doing a high volume of sales.

What is the difference between a “static” and a “dynamic” site?

A static site is one that is written in HTML only. Each page is a separate document and there is no database that it draws on. What this means functionally is that the only way to edit the site is to go into each page and edit the HTML - so you'd either have to do it yourself using a webpage editor like FrontPage or pay me to go in and edit the site each time you wanted something changed.

A dynamic site is written using more complex code and can do a lot more. For instance, I can make an area where you can log in and change various parts of the site, such as adding information or products. This is because each page is constructed based on the information in a database, and the information in that database can be changed via another interface.

Dynamic sites can reduce ongoing maintenance costs if you don't want to change things yourself with a webpage editor or with the HTML. They usually cost more to develop, as they require more complex coding and a content management utility needs to be developed to help you manage your website information.

Another benefit of dynamic sites is that they allow you to change only the content of the site and not the design, so you will not be able to accidentally break the visual style of the site. They have other benefits when sites start to get very large, as they make data management much more efficient and your site more expandable.

Many clients do a combination, having some dynamic areas such as a product catalog where they have to change information or pictures regularly, and leave other pages such as contact information as static pages.