We at Northwest Custom Webs thought it would be nice to share commonly asked questions that come up every day from our customers about the internet and having web sites. Feel free to call us at Northwest Custom Webs to clarify any of your questions from Internet connections, search engine submission, to designing a web site. We don’t mind answering them a bit.

Let’s start with your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your connection. This is your turnkey to the Internet. This can be through your TV cable, or phone. This is just your passport to the Internet. Many folks do not know that once you turn on the Internet, you may use any software you want to navigate in it. Just because you have AOL, MSN, Netzero or Comcast, doesn’t mean you have to use their software. Just minimize their programs and use what you please, this also means you can use Windows products to check your email too.

There are a lot of companies out there for Internet connections, and the main thing to look for is good price, customer service and reliability. Believe us when we say, paying more does not insure better connections.

The next item we get questions about is Hosting. Hosting is a place to park your website that you have created yourself. Our company is a registered FrontPage Hosting company that supports the FrontPage software that many people use to make their own websites. There are many programs out there to use other than FrontPage, but they can be hard to learn.

When choosing a Hosting company, you must have an Internet connection already and your own software. This also includes email programs, graphics software and any other required software that you need to create your site.

The next thing to check for when finding a company to host your site is speed and performance of their servers. If you contact those companies, have them walk you through what is called APinging@ to check their server speed against any other company you are interested in. You may find many companies avoid this test. Keep shopping!

If you are using software like FrontPage 2000, 2002 or 2003, you should also look for software support that may address some of your questions by phone or email, day and night. Don’t always think a hosting company should have big office building, many companies are affiliates of server companies, which can be great for you. These folks are what we call freelance people who may be working from their homes and are available 24 hours a day, which is better than a nine-to-five company with large overhead expenses. Remember the Internet is a world wide service.  Location means nothing. Service and reliability is what you should be looking for.

A good hosting company should also be able to produce a good portfolio for you to look at. Contact some of their customers and ask them how they like the service. You will be surprised.

When you set up a hosting account, you will also be given the choice to create an email server. If you have been on the Internet, you may have noticed email addresses that seem to be custom created, like ours: (info@nwcustomwebs.com, sales@nwcustoms.com, or webmaster@nwcustomwebs.com). Those email accounts were created by us on our email server that help us support our clients. When you set up your hosting, you should also make sure you get support with that company as to the process of setting up your own custom email service. There are many ways to use this service.

You may also want some features like SSL (Secured server) for forms that may require credit card data. Also some hosting companies have search engine submission services and shopping carts to sell products and services.

Web design companies are also one of the great wonders of the world. They can be costly and a waste of company resources and marketing if you are not careful. Spending a lot of money does not insure you will do well on the Internet. We have seen clients come to us that have spent thousands of dollars and have a useless web site. They look great sometimes, but were designed poorly or were not marketed correctly.

Once again, web design companies should have a portfolio and be happy to have you contact their clients. The following are some questions to ask:

$        Is Hosting included, or do you pay extra for that too?

$        Does my web site include search engine submissions? (You can have the best site in the world, but it must be submitted to the search engines to be found.)

$        What are the extra charges that could occur beyond their bid?

$        How do I make changes to my site? (Email, phone, fax, online or mail). Not all folks are great with email and such, and the company you use should be flexible to your abilities and needs.

$        What methods do they use to market your web site?

$        How much is the setup and the monthly fees?

$        Check their people skills, and call them a couple of times before you set up an account with them. Remember that you will be working with them a lot. Test them.

$        Do they explain things to you? Do they make you feel bad? Do they have evening support if needed?

Remember that a web site is only as good as you want it to be. This means you have to give your designer feedback, information and a vision so they will create the right site for you and your company.

The last thing to talk about is search engines and how to get in them. Many folks think that once you have a web site that you automatically get in the search engines. This is not true. You must submit your site to each search engine and wait up to three months to get into them. It can be very frustrating.

You can go to each search engine web site, like Yahoo, Excite, or AOL and submit to them by hand, or use a submission service company like ours at http://www.submissionweb.com and pay for this service.

Please remember that a web site needs your support too. You must put it on your business cards, fliers, posters, letterheads, shirts, envelopes, newsletters, radio, TV, and any other conventional advertising you do. Don’t blame poor success on just your web designer, he or she is only a partner with you.

Before we conclude, please remember this is only a fraction of information about web sites and search engines, and if you have more questions, please feel free to call 541-390-81283, and we will be happy to help you out even if you are not one of our customers.   You may also use our online support form for any of your questions at http://www.nwcustomwebs.com .

This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at 7:15 am and is filed under Affiliate, Internet Services, Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.