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Frequently
Asked Questions
We have tried to answer the most commonly
asked questions in the simplest way possible,
so if you are already "Internet savvy",
we apologize for not defining things more
technically - our answers are aimed at those
who may not be as experienced or knowledgeable
as you are. Please bear with us.
If you feel we have still failed to adequately
answer a question, or we used some terms you
didn't understand and that were omitted from
our Glossary, please feel free to contact
us with your question. One of our aims is
to take the mystery and confusion out of the
Internet, and make your time on it more pleasant.
Please click on questions from the menu to
access required information quickly: |
GENERAL
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what is the World Wide Web? :::::: |
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Basically
THE WEB is the pretty part of THE INTERNET.
However, though many people use the
terms interchangeably, this is an error
as, in actual fact, the WEB is a way
of viewing information transmitted to
you over the INTERNET.
Basically, the entire Internet is a
bunch of computer networks hooked together
with a bunch of telephone lines. The
computers store information in a really
boring way - as plain text - its very
basic and not too attractive. Each document
is given it's own "address",
so you have to know exactly where to
go to and what to type in to look for
things. We mean "exactly".
The Internet is very unforgiving when
it comes to misspelled words, or incorrectly
written address - unlike your friendly
Postmaster.
The web was dreamed up as a way to link
documents together making it easier
to reference your information to other
places, hence the name HYPERTEXT LINK.
The web also allows you to display pictures. |
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what are browsers? :::::: |
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are that "window" you open
up to view the Internet. The two most
popular browsers are Microsoft Internet
Explorer (which has the blue "e"
icon) and Netscape Communicator (which
has the "N" icon). |
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what is a shopping cart? :::::: |
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| A shopping
cart, or virtual shopping cart, is a
means by which visitors to your web
site can purchase your products directly
online. Shopping carts can display the
product, item number, quantity desired,
colour, size, price etc., as well as
shipping and payment information. We
can build you a shopping cart customized
to your specifications and can even
set it up so that you can update it
yourself with the minimum of technical
knowledge required by you. |
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how much does it cost to have a site
on the Internet? :::::: |
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| This
will vary depending on the size of the
site, how much technical work is required,
and if there are any special requirements,
this is a one-time charge. The only
ongoing charges would be the annual
hosting costs, you may also have a monthly
maintenance and/or marketing costs but
these are optional. |
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what is the process of getting a web
site? :::::: |
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| Contact
us to make arrangements for a quote.
Tell us what your needs are and based
on that we will submit a proposal to
you. Pending approval of that we will
draw up a contract and get a 50% deposit.
Then you submit to us all text, pictures,
links, and other content that will be
applied to your web site and any marketing
materials that are to be used as a guide
for the web site's design. We then work
on the design and layout. We generally
upload work in progress to an approvals
area of web site where you'll be able
to see it take shape and have us make
any adjustments and refinements that
may be necessary. |
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what are some reasons to be on the web?
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On the Internet, your company
can be as big as the largest company
in your industry. It's the great
"equalizer" where you
can compete right alongside the
big guys. |
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It's a great way to communicate
to potential clients or customers
- 24/7! |
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To increase the visibility of
your company, it's products and
services. |
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To increase and improve customer
services. Take advantage of the
interactivity of the Internet. |
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To support your traditional
advertising by adding to it -"For
more info, check out our web site
at…….." |
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To set your company apart from
your competitors. Note: As more
and more companies get on the
web, this will cease to be a benefit
so ACT NOW! |
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Web sites can be made far more
attractive than Yellow Page ads,
and can be changed at a moments
notice. When was the last time
you heard someone say: "That's
a really nice Yellow Page ad!"
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People that are searching the
Internet for your product or service
are already qualified as "interested"
- traditional promotion can't
guarantee that? |
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Why do I need a web site? :::::: |
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The
Internet is fast becoming the new "Yellow
Pages". More and more people use
it everyday and its growth shows no
signs of stopping, or even slowing down.
Shouldn't you be there?
There are currently 60 million
Internet users around the world. That's
a large potential customer base. Even
if you figure it out conservatively,
how many of these people could conceivably
be looking for your product or service.
If you're not on the web they'll go
to your competitor! |
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what are the right reasons to get on
the web? :::::: |
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Revenue
Generation - While there is a definitely
a chance for increased sales and revenue
because your increased visibility, web
development is a long-term business
development move, so don't expect a
windfall overnight. However, that said,
we get comments regularly from customers
who maintain that having a web site
has improved their business volume.
Expense Reduction
- You can now sell you product directly
from your site and have the payment
and shipping all handled from your site
- so it's like having an extra location
at a fraction of the cost. Plus, it's
open 24 hours a day and you don't have
to worry about paying overtime! Also,
you can save a lot of time and money
by not having your sales staff tied
up answering questions about your company,
it's products and services - you can
provide most of that information on
your site.
Enhanced Customer
Relations - The most successful
business web sites put the customer
first. They do this by providing detailed
and up-to-date information about products
and services. In a way, you are creating
"self-educated" buyers and
a self-educated buyer is a happier buyer. |
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how much information can I have online?
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sites can be as small as a single page
or as large as is needed. There are
sites on the Internet that have thousands
of pages. Some hosting companies have
a limit, however, or they may charge
extra over a certain amount. |
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can I start small and expand my web
site at a later date? :::::: |
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| Absolutely
- and depending on the circumstance
and your particular needs we will sometimes
recommend this. A web site can be begin
as an "Online Brochure", and
gradually expand. |
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how is a site kept up to date.....?
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can update it for you for a fee based
on how often, and how complex the updates
are. Or in some circumstances we can
set up specific pages that can be updated
by the client with no special knowledge
required |
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what type of graphic files do you accept?
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We
can accept any graphics file format
that is Windows compatible. Apple users
should covert files to a multi-platform
format prior to sending to ensure the
best possible conversion. Our preferred
format would be the original file that
was created Photoshop Document or Tiff
as those are editable, but JPEGs and
GIFs are acceptable as long as they
are good quality. We can also work with
good quality photographs as we can scan
those and create graphic files out of
them.
If you are local to us we can meet with
you and get everything we need. If you
aren't, no problem we have clients in
Spain, Denmark and other countries,
you can always e-mail graphics files
to us, or mail photographs. |
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what is a secure server? :::::: |
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Though
no method is completely foolproof, there
is a method of purchasing across the
Internet that is very safe. Order forms
that are on a secure server encrypt
all data before sending it across the
Internet for processing. Encryption
is a method of jumbling the data so
that only your computer and the secure
server can read it. This greatly reduces
the probability of your credit card
information and precious data being
viewed by unwelcome eyes.
An insecure transaction is basically
an "open" transaction that
can be seen by anyone who knows how
- which could mean your credit card
information could be captured and used.
Always make sure the web design company
and host you use makes order form pages
secure. You should see a little locked
padlock in the bottom left-hand corner
of your browser, as well on the toolbar
of your browser. If the padlock is open,
it means that page is not secure and
there is a risk of a third party accessing
your information. |
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how do I know if I am on a secure page?
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| While
on a secure page, the lock icon on the
bottom of Web browsers such as Microsoft
Internet Explorer becomes locked, as
opposed to unlocked, or open, when you
are just 'surfing'. |
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SEARCH ENGINES
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what are search engines? :::::: |
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search engines are web sites where you
can type in words and phrases called
"key words" to help you find
what you're looking for on the Internet.
It's important to be indexed on as many
search engines as possible. Although
we would advise getting it professionally
done, rather than attempting it yourself.
Some search engines offer this as a
free service, but more and more of them
are now starting to charge fees. |
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what are search engine robots? :::::: |
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| There
are two ways a search engine will look
at a web site that has been submitted.
Yahoo for example use human beings to
actually view the site to determine
whether or not it matches their criteria
for listing. Google uses a "spider"
which is an automated means of "crawling"
all over the site looking for the necessary
elements it expects to find on a web
page. The automated search engines are
generally referred to as "robotic",
since they are not viewed by human beings.
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how do search engine robots list a site?
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Think
about a visit from the eyes of a robot.
He finds a site, usually from links
on other web pages, then records the
text from the page or saves the page.
He extracts just the text from the page
without the HTML coding, including the
title. He uses a mathematical equation
to catalogue all the words on the site
(this is called an algorithm). He follows
the links on your site and retrieves
any information he finds. All this information
is then stored.
Now he knows how many pages you have,
how significant your site is for a given
keyword. How many "outside"
links your site has, and can give your
site a "score" based on how
it is set up. This is how your site
ends up being ranked high or low.
He then travels the links that leave
your web site, and visits new web sites. |
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what do search engines do with the information?
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| When
someone searches for a phrase or keyword,
another search program takes over using
the information the robot found. A person
types in the keywords and the search
program returns the thousands of pages
matching their keywords. They also consider
the following: How large is the web
site? Was it properly constructed? How
many other web sites link to this web
site? |
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Will my site be in any search engines,
if so, which ones...? :::::: |
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| We
have a Search Engine Maintenance program
available on a monthly basis. For complete
information visit our search engine
page. We hand-submit your site to all
the major search engines. Each engine
is its own independent company so the
time it takes will vary. It can be anywhere
from 1 week to 12 weeks. |
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Can't I just resubmit my site every
month...?:::::: |
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Quite
emphatically: "NO"
Resubmitting over and over is no
help at all and, if it is "required",
it could be a symptom of a much deeper
problem with your web site. The search
engines are designed to index web sites
and then keep them in their index. It
can take 4-6 months to truly move up
the search engine rankings. The only
way you need to resubmit every month
is if you are getting kicked out of
the search engines. If you are getting
kicked out of the search engines resubmitting
the same exact web site won't help you.
Plus, if you are getting kicked out
of the search engines then you're being
told that there is something wrong with
your site that needs to be corrected
before the engines will accept it.
Search engine submission programs are
useless. Constant repeated submissions
over burden the search engines, and
your requests are eventually just ignored.
If someone tries to sell you search
engine submission services ask them
the following questions:
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Why do we have to keep resubmitting
my site? |
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How does this help me in the
search engines? |
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Can you give me examples of
clients that have been "significantly"
successful doing this? |
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Can my URL get banned from search
engines for doing this? See the
answer to this directly below). |
NOTE: Repeatedly resubmitting to the
search engines can get your URL banned
from many of the search engines. |
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| Our development team has wide
experience in HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, CGI, Perl,
PHP, ASP, JSP, Flash, MySQL + SQL Server< (database),
Java, graphic
design and optimisation. |
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| We offer a number of HOSTING
packages to suit your specific requirements. We
provide the essentially reliable service to make
sure your website is
visible at all times. |
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Search Engine Marketing - Providing
your company with:
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Greater exposure |
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Increased sales |
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Distribution on a wider basis |
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An effective way to
market yourself |
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| Tel: |
(+34) 952 76 64 08 |
| Fax: |
(+34) 952 82 28 75 |
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