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The Artist This is the easiest area of web design for you to make choices about
because it's the one you can see. It is also the area that is most wide open to matters of
personal taste. You can use the existing graphics from your brochure or catalog, create
your own designs, or have your web design company do them for you.
Artists who specialize in working on the web, know how to
create graphics, or optimize your existing graphics so that you will have no loss in
quality but will have fast loading pages.
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The Programmer Programming on static pages is is done with fairly straightforward HTLM
code, and can even be done by many software programs that exist on the market.
Creating programs for shopping carts, credit card approval, message boards, etc. is not as
simple a matter.
When you add interactivity to your site the programming
becomes more involved, and security becomes an issue. Any place that allows visitor input
requires an "open door" to the server, making your site more vulnerable
to hackers. Experienced programmers and server administrators know how to protect
against these potential problems.
The programmer working on your site will also know, as
mentioned above, how to work with any graphic files you are using to make them
suitable for use on the web.
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The Web Marketing & Promotion
Specialist This is the most
important aspect of web site building. The worlds greatest artists and programmers
can not make a success of a web site that can't be found.
95% of all hits are generated by 8 search engines
(Technically, by 7 search engines and Yahoo, which is a directory). It is techniques used
in the design of your web site (visual design and code design) that will make a difference
in where your site come up in the search engine listings.
Strategic planning of what keywords and phrases will be
targeted and then using individual pages to target them, will make a major difference in
the traffic to your site.
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The Server Administrator The server administrator is someone who unobtrusively maintains your
web site's "home". If they are doing a good job you will probably never
hear anything about them, or talk to them. The server that houses your web site needs to
have a fast (and redundant) connection to the backbone of the Internet.
In an ideal world, severs would never go down, programs
would always run correctly from the server, FrontPage extensions (if you are using
FrontPage) would always be installed correctly and act as they are supposed to.
There are many fine servers that would make you think it
is, indeed, an ideal world. Unfortunately, there are some terrible ones. The worst thing
about a bad server is that you almost always think that the problem is something you did,
and keep trying to correct it when it is not even within your control to correct.
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Do-it-Yourself or Have it Done?
It is rarely cost effective to create your own business
web site. Some people just have to try their hand at though, and we understand that. (We
also offer a lot of information and advice for those of you compelled to do it yourself.)
If you are going to have your site done for you, it is very
important to make sure that the company you choose will be well versed in all of the
areas mentioned above. There are a surprising number of companies (and some expensive
ones) that are not. |
We will be happy to give you further information any time you would like to
give us a call. We'll even be glad to clarify information you have gotten from another
company. And, if we can't beat their features and price, we'll tell you that and wish you
the best of success.
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