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Your Questions Answered
WHY DOES MY BUSINESS NEED A WEBSITE?
Marketing; Image; Visibility; Convenience; Time; Cost Effectiveness:
- Your website is your most valuable marketing tool. Most people looking for product information now simply look on the web. Using a search engine such as Google, potential customers typically type the product they are looking for and the location relevant to them. If your business is not responding to that search then you are missing out on trade meant for your business!
- If you are in business then you must convey a positive and professional image of your business. Having a high quality profile on the internet is fundamental to your capacity to portray that image.
- In order to compete your business needs to be visible so it stands out from the crowd. A high profile on the internet is essential.
- Your clientele is fast becoming aware of the convenience of researching and shopping on the internet. You need to provide answers to questions people normally ask you face to face or over the phone...via your website.
- An excellent website which answers all your customer's questions will save you time and therefore money!!
- A good value website is undoubtedly the most cost effective way of promoting your business.
HOW WILL PEOPLE FIND MY WEBSITE?
Search Engines-Google; Domain Names; Referral Links; Advertising:
- Search Engines such as Google; Yahoo and others will be used to find your business. Searchers will simply type the name of the business; the type of business; or the product they are looking for along with a location if relevant, into a search engine. Your business must respond to that search.
- Your domain name should be relevant to the keywords people will use when they are searching for a business or product such as yours. If your business name acts as a "brand" this will also have relevance.
- Some websites will link to your website because you have a reciprocal referral link ie you link to them and they link to you... or because your product is related to their product and they wish to promote your product.
- You may pay for, Cost Per Click; annual fee; percentage of sales; or other advertising on Google and other websites.
HOW WILL I KNOW HOW MANY "HITS" MY WEBSITE IS GETTING?
Google Analytics
- Google offers a range of free services to assist web users to enable them to understand and make the most of the Internet. One such service is Google Analytics. Google Analytics will provide information about how many hits your website is getting and where your web traffic is coming from, (referring sites; search engines or direct typing of your domain name.) You need an account to access Google Analytics but Google currently provides this service free. Community Websites staff will assist you with placing Google Analytics code within your website.
WHAT DOMAIN NAME SHOULD I CHOOSE?
Business Name; Business Type; Location; .com; .net; .info; Country Domains; Number of Domains :
- If your business name is well known you should use it in at least one of your Domain Names
- If your business name is not well known you should use key words people will search for such as your business type eg. officesupplies; pictureframing; physiotherapist etc.
- If your client group comes from a particular location eg. Bondi it helps search engine optimisation to include the location in your domain name.
- .com .net .com.au; .net.au etc. It is often difficult to know which of these to use. .com and .net domains are often regarded as most valuable because they are international domains. Strictly speaking the .com domain means "Commercial" and the .net domain means "related to the internet". However, as .com becomes more scarce .net is used instead. .info means "information" but is also used instead of .com or .net if these are not available. In some countries such as Australia and United Kingdom, the relevant country domain can be more powerful but these are more expensive and must be registered for a minimum of 2 years. Special conditions may also apply to the registration of particular country domains. If you are using Community Websites services we will discuss your domain name options with you in relation to the needs of your business.
- A website can have up to 2 different domain names pointing to it. You may wish to have a domain name which includes your business name as well as a domain name which includes the business type and location pointing to your website. Alternatively you may wish to have a .com.au and a .com both pointing to your website. Additional cost applies.
WHO OWNS AND CONTROLS THE DOMAIN NAME?
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION:
- Your domain name is valuable to your business because you advertise it (on business cards etc). You need control of your own business domain name. However, this can be confusing and can create issues if and when businesses change hands, passwords are mislaid etc.. Our general policy is as follows. Community Websites will register and manage your domain name for you unless you request to manage it yourself. The price you pay per year includes the cost of a .com or .net domain name. If you cease operating your website with Community Websites you will probably still want control of your domain name.
On request, Community Websites undertakes to provide all information regarding registration of your domain to your business so that you can continue to register and use the domain should you choose to do so independently of Community Websites. If you wish the domain name to be transferred to you initially, Community Websites will facilitate this process. However, you must realise that you will then be responsible for ensuring that you keep the passwords in a safe place and you manage the domain so that it does not lapse.
WHAT IF I ALREADY HAVE A DOMAIN NAME?
Domain Name - Passwords:
- If you already have a domain name which you want to use for your new website you must provide the passwords to enable us to point the domain name to the correct Domain Name Servers to enable that domain to point to your new website.
WHAT IS DOMAIN NAME PROTECTION?
Registering Multiple Domains:
- Many businesses register a domain and then register similar domains to prevent other businesses from registering these names. This is called "domain protection."
CAN I TAKE THE WEBSITE YOU DEVELOP AND HOST IT ELSEWHERE?
Hosting with Community Websites; Cheap Hosts:
- Community Websites has developed very efficient systems for constructing and managing websites. Our packages are extremely competitively priced based on our market research which has shown that clients stay with us because they appreciate the cohesive service and support we provide. It is not an option within the "package" pricing to take the site files we develop for you and host the site elsewhere.
- Cheap Hosts - There are MANY companies which will try to sell you domain name and hosting packages but these same companies will not look after your real business needs which are efficient design and ongoing support for your web based services. Unfortunately, there are a large number of businesses who will want to take your money to provide the effortless services and who will then expect you to get the difficult work of quality design elsewhere. This ultimately proves to be an expensive option.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PRICE?
Domain Name; Design; Setup; Hosting; E-mail Addresses; Search Engine Optimisation:
- Domain Name - A .com or .net domain name is included in the price. You may wish to register an additional domain name and point two domain names to your website.
- Design - The package cost of your website includes the design for the period of your subscription. If you decide not to continue operating your website through Community Websites you cannot take the files we have developed and host the files elsewhere. The reason for this is that design is time consuming and involves considerable skill. Packaging it with hosting makes it much more affordable. However, many unscrupulous operators will provide cheap hosting services with no real design or support component. You are then left to pay design and support costs separately from hosting costs which is often a much more expensive option. Community Websites packages products to provide a high quality, cost effective design and hosting solution.
- Setup - The price you pay for a package website includes all setup costs for the period of the package. It also includes re-design of your site should you require this at any time.
- Hosting - The price you pay for a package website includes hosting for the period of the package.
- E-mail Addresses - Up to 10 e-mail addresses are available with your package.
- Search Engine Optimisation - We do not guarantee to get your site to the top of the searches. However, we undertake to make a serious attempt to do so. Results will vary, depending on the competition for search terms. In order to assist your search positioning we optimise every page on your site; We may optimise particular pages for particular terms; We link your website to your Community Website; We provide reciprocal links to your website where we believe these will enhance your search engine positioning without causing a competitive conflict.
HOW MANY PAGES CAN I HAVE ON MY WEBSITE?
One Page Website; Standard Website; Large Corporate Website:
- A One Page Website has one page which includes a Banner Image; 4 other Images; 1000 words of text; Contact Details and a Google Map.
- A Standard $1 a day website includes up to 30 pages and may be up to a total of 20mb (most business websites are less than 10mb).
- Community Websites does build large corporate websites according to individual quotations.
WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION WILL I HAVE TO PROVIDE?
Images; Colours; Content; Links:
- Images make your site!! We ask you to provide quality images so that your site can reflect your business in a quality way. However, do bear in mind that you can change your images at any time so you may start with the images you have and change them as you require.
- Colours - We will ask you to specify colours for your website
- Text Content is very important for your website as search engines rely on Text Content to be able to know what your website is about. You can provide as much content as you like whenever you like.
HOW MANY E-MAIL ADDRESSES CAN I HAVE?
E-mail:
- Up to 10 E-mail Addresses can be provided for a Standard Website
- Up to 5 E-mail Addresses can be provided for a One Page Website
CAN I HAVE A GOOGLE MAP ON MY WEBSITE?
Google Maps:
- Google Maps are a standard inclusion on all sites developed by Community Websites.
WHEN WILL MY WEBSITE BE FINISHED?
Your Website is a Work in Progress
- Your Website is a Work in Progress. At first you will provide information to get it to a stage of coherence. From then on you will continually provide information to enhance and upgrade your site. As your business grows and changes, so will your website.
WILL I BE ABLE TO EDIT MY OWN WEBSITE?
From Simple to Complex Sites
- Regardless of the Complexity of your website you will be able to learn to edit the parts which you wish to edit frequently. For our Simple One Page websites a basic editor is provided and you can edit all aspects yourself. For more complex sites we also provide editing options but these increase in complexity as the website itself increases in complexity. Please talk to us about your requirements so we can advise of the best solution for you.
WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO EDIT MY OWN WEBSITE?
Year Round Editing Support:
- Many business owners simply don't have time to edit their own websites. Community Websites will edit your website for you without additional cost. You must provide all text and images to enable us to do this for you.
HOW OFTEN CAN I MAKE CHANGES TO MY WEBSITE?
Changes to your Website:
- You can make changes as often as you like.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR REQUESTED EDITS TO BE MADE TO MY WEBSITE?
Question:
- If you are making your own changes they will take effect immediately.
- Changes made by our design staff will be made within 2 days if you notify us precisely of the images and text changes you require. If you require changes which involve our design staff in sourcing images; resizing or enhancing images or formulating text...this may take up to one week.
HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY SEARCH ENGINE POSITIONING?
Domain Names; Website Content; Dedicated Pages; Referral Links In; Links Out; Directory Listings:
- Your Domain Name will influence your search engine positioning. Community Websites staff can assist you to select an appropriate domain name for your business.
- The content you place on your website will influence your search positioning. Community Websites staff will assist you to identify appropriate content which highlights important key words to enhance your search engine positioning.
- If there are particular keywords you wish to compete for in the searches it may be useful to develop dedicated pages to respond to those terms. Community Websites staff will assist you to identify appropriate material for optimising your website for specific terms.
- Links are important in helping to determine your website's position in the searches. The more you can encourage others to link to your site, the better your search positioning will be. The more high ranking sites which link to your site, the higher your search ranking will be. Community Websites can assist you with developing reciprocal links with other sites.
- Linking from your site to other sites with related content, can, if done properly, enhance your website's positioning. Community Websites staff are informed in this area and can assist you with effective linking strategies.
- Directory Websites are powerful in terms of their capacity to increase your search engine positioning. Community Websites can advise you regarding which directory websites you should list on to enhance your search engine positioning.
WHY DOES MY LISTING ON DIRECTORY WEBSITES OFTEN COME UP BEFORE MY OWN WEBSITE?
Directory Websites are powerful search engine optimisers:
- Business owners are often concerned that their own listing comes after other Directory Listings in the search results. Directory Websites are powerful search engine optimisers. When a directory links to your own website, the perceived search value of your website is increased. De-linking from a directory will decrease your search result...not increase it.
- To ensure that your positioning is as high as possible, when you see your listing coming up in a directory website, ensure that you contact that directory and improve your listing as far as practicable. Many directory websites will provide an excellent free listing which will considerably enhance your search results.
WHAT ARE THE PAYMENT OPTIONS FOR MY WEBSITE?
One Page Websites; $1 a day websites; On Line Stores:
- One Page Websites must be paid for in advance each year.
- $1 a day websites may be paid for in advance or for a small interest charge may be paid in quarterly installments
- On Line Stores must be paid yearly 12 months in Advance.
HOW DOES COMMUNITY WEBSITES OPERATE?
Australian Company; Products; Referral Agents:
- Community Websites Pty Ltd is an Australian company registered in NSW.
- Community Websites operates a megawebsite which encompasses every community in the world and allows individuals to add information without cost.
- Community Websites also builds websites and on line stores which are linked to the Community Website which by it's very nature provides a powerful Search Optimisation function.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF PURCHASING A WEBSITE FROM COMMUNITY WEBSITES RATHER THAN FROM SOMEONE WHO JUST DOES "DESIGN"
The advantages and disadvantages of having Community Websites develop your website rather than an independent web designer are:
- Whilst there are some outstanding independent designers, good design purchased on it's own is usually very costly
- you pay for updates every time you need something changed
- the disjointed services and various password accesses for separately provided domain registration; design and hosting are typically very confusing.
- The real "point of difference" in the product we offer is in the level of year round support. It is not just our sales people who answer the phone!! Our support staff are always there to update your images and information as needed; assist you with changing your pricing and assist with your search positioning. Community Websites also links your site to a range of other directory websites which we also operate and which increases your search engine positioning dramatically. We pride ourselves on co-ordination of your web based marketing and support to keep your business profile on the Internet working for you every day.