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Below are answers to some frequently asked and common questions about web site design and hosting.
I want a website but am not sure where to begin, what do I do?
First of all, don't rush to give anyone your money. This includes buying domain names, hosting, or anything else.
Be sure to do some research and consult with someone you trust or talk with a few different professionals.
Understand that the more time and effort you spend planning your site, the more likely you are to have excellent results.
It is important to know who your primary audience will be, understand what they want, how they will find you, and convey relevant information effectively.
Also, think about how you would like the web site to look. We always suggest taking a look at your competitors and other web sites which have
characteristics you appreciate in order to incorporate them into your unique style. Drafting an outline on paper is always a good idea.
The most effective websites are developed with clients
that are intimately involved with their project. Nobody knows your business better than you.
How much does a new web site cost?
Just like tangible goods, cost is generally based upon features. But there is no reason to think that you have to spend thousands of dollars to create an
effective web presence. Generally, you should expect starting costs to be $500-$800 for basic packages with Great Lakes Tech Solutions, LLC.
There are some ongoing expenses including domain registration/renewals and hosting and any additional work you may want. Visit the pricing page for more details.
What are the steps to creating a web site?
In its simplest form, there are 4 basic steps.
- It is first necessary to have a web site address, also known as a URL (universal resource locator) or domain.
Typically, the www.yourwebsitename.com format is used. Other extensions are used for different types organizations:
.org, .edu, .gov, .info & .biz are a few of the more common ones. It is not difficult to register a URL, but often
many names are already in use and you may not be able to get your first choice.
- The next step is to find a web hosting service. Basically, the web host is a computer (server) that holds
your website information. When another person attempts to access your site by entering your domain name (URL)
into their web browser, your web site information is transferred to them from the serve. Compare our hosting packages.
- The third step is to design and program your web site in a way that web browsers can interpret.
Browsers read a computer language known as HTML (hypertext markup language), others such as DHTML, XML, javascript,
php, asp and more. Not all browsers interpret computer languages in the same way. Netscape Navigator®,
Internet Explorer®, Mozilla Firefox and other browsers all understand different dialects of the same language. Therefore,
the same web page looks differently depending upon which browser is used. Creating web sites that are compatible
with multiple browsers is important, so visitors see what you have intended for them.
- Finally, the web site must be published or uploaded. This is the process of transferring the website
from a local computer to the web host computer.
I already have a web site but need some help. How can you help me?
First of all, we are easy to reach and always responsive to emails and phone messages. There are no automated telephone service or customer service representatives. If you want to change something, we can quickly and easily log on to your current host (with your permission) or download your entire site. Minor changes are easy; an entire makeover is slightly more involved.
- Are visitors having problems accessing your web site?
- Are you paying outrageous sums for minor changes?
- Is your current designer not concerned with your needs?
- Has your site become outdated due to lack of maintenance?
- Does it take an unusually long time to download your web site?
- Do you want to add or change graphics, photos, video or audio?
Great Lakes Tech Solutions, LLC can help solve these problems and many more.
How do I get more people to find and visit my web site?
Firstly and most importantly, know your audience and consider their needs. Determine which other
web sites they may already be visiting. Contact those web administrators and set up a reciprocal link exchange.
This is mutually beneficial, inexpensive and easy.
Also, make sure your pages have appropriate keywords which accurately describe the content.
Search engines have "spiders", programs which regularly search the web for sites to add to their database.
Sites are then categorized by a set of alphanumeric equations or logarithms. These equations are changed regularly
in order to be more accurate and keep individuals from abusing the system. The process of fine tuning your web pages
so they are shown during a search is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. SEO is the most productive
and cost-effective method for getting customers to your web site.
What does SEO work encompass?
There are four primary steps.
- Research in order to find out what keyword phrases your target audience is using most often
- Page optimization which consists of editing the title, text, image descriptions and meta tags
(this is computer code embedded within every page of your site) to properly match the keyword phrases chosen from
the result of step 1.
- Develop One-Way Incoming and Reciprocal Links by creating site descriptions
which are then used to manually submit listings to free and paid online search directories. These will get you some traffic,
but more importantly, they will establish one-way incoming links to your site which the major search engines see and love
(especially google), thus promoting you for relevant searches.
- Follow-up research, Tracking and Reoptimization by performing a comprehensive review of visitor stats and
your rankings for keywords. We can then determine where we've hit/missed and the best way to move forward.
Great Lakes Tech Solutions, LLC recommends that most clients review stats on a monthly basis and reoptimize
quarterly or if rankings and visits start to diminish. Contact us today for your free SEO analysis.
Once my site is up and running, is any additional maintenance required?
Required? NO. Preferred? YES. As long as you maintain web hosting services, nothing need be done until
the domain registration has to be renewed. What you will likely want to happen will be minor modifications, add/delete pages,
upgrade services, Search Engine Optimization, etc. Also, you will probably want to know the statistics of your site,
such as how many people are visiting, how much time they spend at your site and sources from which they link. Additionally,
as the web grows and new sites are added, the dynamics of search engines change significantly. At first, it is likely that
your site be listed near the top of a particular category or keyword search. In time, it may be beneficial to change your
site's keywords or relocate your site within the search engine structure to get better results.
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