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Questions you should ask.- references - references - references!
Have you designed any successful sites? Ask to see it and the sites statistics.
References: Ask for phone numbers, ask if the customer is satisfied.
How much will cost? Ask for an estimate.
Do you provide maintenance? How much does that cost?
Do you do database work? After your site becomes successful, sooner or later
your company will need remote users to update, query, and maintain records via
the Internet. If the designer cannot do custom internet database integration,
does he work with someone who can?
What software will I have to purchase?
Will you build and maintain the site for a monthly fee? In most cases this will
be the best option for the company and designer. The designer guarantees "up to"
certain number of hours per month working on the site (large company sites can
take months to complete). This benefits both the company and the designer. The
terms of the contract should be agreed upon and on paper. Don't be surprised if
the designer stipulates he can't be fired if he achieves clearly defined goals
and objects.
Normally, the designer will put in more hours than guaranteed in first few
months to complete the site and then maintain it “up to” the guaranteed hours.
Make sure you settle on a price for any time in excess.
Will you include support to my staff? Most designers and developers have a
vast knowledge of computers, networking, and software applications. Will he
include a certain number of hours each month to help employees with hardware and
software issues? At the very least he can provide informed recommendations.
What host should I use? There are many types of web hosting available. They
range from free to thousands of dollars a month. Like it or not, most companies
are using Microsoft applications one way or another, chances are you're using
outlook to receive email. (We won't get into what's best, asp/dot net vs. php/cgi,
debate, we provide both and recommend the best for the particular application
and usage), but your host should be able to support all current and future
Microsoft applications. Hopefully, your designer has a good working relationship
with internet providers and can recommend a good one for your needs. There are
designers out there that take a kick-back for referral, so check around to see
if the price is comparable for the services offered.
Services? Look for a company that offers:
FrontPage Server Extensions (every employee wants to type on the web )
More than adequate bandwidth (you don't want to have to change horses in the
middle of the stream)
Email accounts (no limit on attachment size) with browser access
Secure Shopping Cart available
Asp, Asp.Net, Sql, Database compatibility
Streaming video/audio compatibility
VPN
CGI, PHP, asp, Dot Net
Video Conferencing
Site Statistics - Webtrends or similar application
24 - 7 Support
What kind of traffic can you expect?
A small business web site selling products (if it is designed and registered
properly) will get a five hundred to one thousand people a week dropping by to
look. (not hits - visits)
Want more? It can cost you.
10 - 15 thousand dollars a month for major search engine promotion (you pay
the search engine to promote you) - you can expect 4 - 5 thousand people a
week to visit your site (depending on your product).
For 3 - 5 thousand dollars a month you can Bulk Email - Expect to get 3 - 5
thousand people a week to your site. But you will have to employ some tactics to
ensure the search engines don't band your main site.
Joining clubs ,web rings, link sharing, etc, will have a relatively minor
effect.
Good News - One person searching for your product is worth 100,000 bulk emails.
Search engine placement is important! So lets talk about it.
Next > search engines
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CENTRAL FL TECH SOLUTIONS
