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You can include photographs, logos, backgrounds,
special fonts, drawings, etc. to make your site more visually
appealing to your visitors. In adding graphics to a web
page, it is important that those images load quickly without
noticeable deterioration in quality. As artists with years
of design and layout experience, we use sophisticated graphic
software such as Photoshop and Fireworks to keep all your
web images sharp, colorful, and quick loading.
One of the first things a business or
organization needs to consider is whether or not it wants
its own domain name (i.e. http://www.yourname.com/). It
is generally a good idea to secure a name when you go online,
as it allows you the flexibility to switch ISP's at will
and yet keep your same address. Having your own domain name
does require being hosted at your own Internet Service Provider
(ISP) or we can make all arrangements for you with the registration
process and in setting up an ISP account.
This is overwhelmingly the fastest growing part of the Internet. There are a number of ways a business can incorporate e-commerce
into a site: for example, there are a variety of software
programs available which make it easy for a customer to
gather products into a "shopping cart", then type
their credit card number into a form so it can be securely
transmitted to you (using encryption software) for order
fulfillment; or, you can simply provide all your contact
information online so the customer can contact you by e-mail,
phone or in person.
Check our electronic commerce page for
a more detailed discussion of the options available.
As mentioned above, order forms can allow
for either the encrypted transmission of contact information,
or, forms can be included which simply send you this information
via unencrypted e-mail. If you want to encourage people
to use their credit cards online, however, then it is to
everyone's benefit for this information to be secure.
Javascripts allow your site to have more
dynamic content for your visitors to enjoy, and allow for
visually interesting page enhancements. These would include
mouse rollovers, slide shows, pop-up info windows, easy
bookmark buttons, pull down menus, typing marques, and much
more - all of which increase the aesthetics and friendliness
of web pages.
Because simple animations download reasonably
quickly, they have been incorporated into web sites over
the past couple years to make the site more visually appealing
and fun to visit. Beyond being informative, it is very useful
for a site to be "entertaining." With the recent
arrival of advanced animation software, expect to see the
use of animations continue to increase.
By encouraging visitors to provide you
(at the very least) with their name and email, a guestbook
is a simple way to gather feedback; to allow potential clients
to request information; and to expand your mailing lists.
If you can give something in return for this personal information
(such as discount coupons, email notification of sales,
etc), then a guestbook is even more likely to be productive.
PDF files allow for scan or HTML conversion
of your existing print materials (ie. forms or newsletters)
to then be uploaded and viewed on the Web by free Acrobat
Reader software. The original graphics and page layout are
retained, and can be printed out by any printer. PDF pages
are slower to load, and difficult to read online, but are
beneficial if you have detailed text content you would like
your clientele to be able to print out.
How many times have you heard someone
say that their web site is "not working for them"?
There is a reason for that: All web sites are NOT created
equal! Way too many people believe that being "on the
web" is all that it takes. To do it right, your site
must be properly constructed. We specialize in making "silk
purses out of sow's ears," as the old saying goes.
Give us a call if you think your site is ready for a makeover.
If your site is not giving you the results
you had hoped for, it may be because of its structure. We'll
check out its HTML coding, layout, download time, graphics,
and attractiveness to search engines, then will prepare
a detailed written evaluation for you. You select how many
of the pages on your website you want professionally evaluated
- you can then make the changes to the site yourself, or
have someone else do it for you.
One proven way to increase traffic to
your own Internet address is to place a banner on other
web sites. For example, if you sell children's tennis shoes,
it would be advantageous to arrange to put an advertising
banner on a site featuring children's jackets and another
banner on a site selling children's books. For greatest
effect, we will design the banner to pick up on your logo
and the look of your overall site presentation.
Search engines are like an advanced form
of telephone directory assistance. If someone is looking
for you, they can type in your name and, if you have a web
site, your web address will come up. Or, if they are simply
looking to find a business or organization in your field,
the search engine can also help. While we automatically
register you with many of the major search engines, it's
important to realize that for a web site to be easily found
it must be properly constructed... having extensively studied
the workings of search engines, we are especially aware
of the various design techniques required to help our client
sites respond well to search queries.
For larger web sites, or those with varied
content, an intra-site search engine allows the visitor
to quickly find an item by entering a search word query
into a search box on the home page. The search engine indexes
only the pages on your site, and returns results of instances
of pertinent content on a list, so the viewer can easily
link to the desired item.
Don't make the mistake of putting up a
web site and then forgetting about it. For a web site to
be truly successful, it MUST be kept current and fresh looking.
That means updating with state of the art visuals and current
text content. One of the many services we provide is taking
care of your web site maintenance and revisions for you
on an "as needed" basis - by outsourcing this
work to us, you and your staff are free to focus on your
own professional activities without the need to learn code
or buy software, and you'll be guaranteed the dependable
top quality work which Cyberfirms Web Development brings
to every client project.
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