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01 • What are the services provided by ABWD?
ABWD will strategize, design, construct,
test, and install your website on the Internet. We will also work
with
you
on corporate
identity branding design, search engine placement and measurement
strategy, as well as website ecommerce and marketing.
We will also create and setup your company with email addresses integrated
with your website.
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02 • What is the differential advantage we provide over our competition?
ABWD is proud to have worked with
many clients for nearly ten years. Based on our lengthy experience,
and quality
of
work,
we have been able to develop the “best practices” of
website design, and utilize those practices with our clients as we
develop successful websites.
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03 • How long does it take to get a new site developed, or an existing
site redesigned?
ABWD will be able to complete
your website in a very effective manner, using Rapid Development,
a
procedure
developed
and refined over the course of the successful completion of dozens
of successfully implemented websites. The time to complete your website
will depend on the scale and scope of your specific website, however,
most websites can be completely designed, built, and installed on
the web within two to three weeks from our first conversation.
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04 • How can my small business profit from a website?
A business presence on the web can be invaluable in terms of
direct contact with your customers 24/7/365 on an extremely cost-effective
basis. You're in business to make Money - and to make it, you can't
waste it. A website is the world's most effective use of Money to
purchase Media to Market to the Masses. The Internet has the most
inexpensive and widespread marketing capabilities ever seen - period!
And a website offers your services to the Masses. Statistics show
that the Internet is an excellent way to market your business and
sell your products and services. More and more customers are logging
on and making purchases, buying services and researching choices
and information through the Internet.
Your company will gain major credibility by having an Internet presence;
effectively, you can look like one of the big companies - all without
wasting your money.
There are several specific areas of benefit:
* Advertising
We all know how important advertising is to a business. On the web
your message and contact gets delivered 24 hours a day all around the
world. The Internet is some of the most cost efficient advertising
you can buy. With a web site you can have as much information displayed
to your customers.
* Direct Lead Generation and Sales
Prospective customers that visit your site can be receiving your sales message
from the moment of first contact. Your website will be designed to feature your
products and services in an attractive fashion, where your prospects will be
able to become your new customers.
* Customer Service
By having a well designed active website, many of the customer service messages
that you currently handle with telephone support can be effortlessly and automatically
answered in real time. How many times per day do you or a member of your staff
answer the phone and give the exact same information, over-and-over? Websites
can provide user friendly customer service. The site will give customers a choice,
and the power to move freely. The customer will not have to wait on the phone
to listen to a recording or take the time of your staff to answer simple questions.
They feel as though they are in control when they are gathering information from
your website. They decide what information they are going to bring up and when
they want it. And they can go back to it and reread it any time they want. Whether
you are a retail business with products to sell on-line or a service business,
a website can not only improve your sales, but it can reduce your costs.
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05 • What are a website's advantages?
This
is a big question with a multitude of answers. Development and distribution
costs are extremely low. When you compare the cost of establishing
a website to what it costs to promote your business in print or on
the air, you'll see that a website is the most cost effective form
of marketing ever created. A radio campaign featuring several 30-second
spots per week for three months could run you $5,000 - $10,000. That
gets you five minutes per week of exposure for three months in the
local area only. Newspaper and magazine ads are similarly highly
priced, and they only last for the life span of that particular publication.
A website has virtually limitless space.
You could put up a website with dozens of photographs and several thousand
words for under less than the cost of traditional media for the first
year, and keep it up and running for a fraction of the initial expense
per year after that. What would it cost to run a newspaper ad of this
size for a year? Imagine how much it would cost to produce a catalog
for 200 different products, and keep it in consumers' hands for an
entire year. You can accomplish this with a website very easily, with
low development cost and almost no distribution cost. Websites are
in full color - a palette of 16.7 million colors for your photographs
alone.
A website is accessible globally; that means your website can be viewed
by anyone, anywhere, as long as they have Internet access. There are
no physical limitations to broadcast areas as in radio, no circulation
region restrictions as in newspapers or magazines. You can keep your
website more current more affordably than any other media; you can
update a website immediately, and as often as you like. Imagine you
sell products whose prices fluctuate. With a website, you can change
these prices every time they go up or down, so your marketing materials
are always accurate.
In addition, with a website the little guys can compete with the big
guys since a website is economical and not limited by size. This means
a small business can present as large or creative an image on the Internet
as a bigger company - with the right design team. A website also allows
easy, safe communication between the consumer and you so that anyone
who visits your site can contact you at any time by sending an email.
Unlike communications that originate from other forms of advertising,
consumers who send emails don't have to deal with many problems of
everyday business: pushy salesmen, remembering to call during business
hours, having to battle crowds to get to your stores, spending time
waiting on voice mail or getting the wrong information. It's convenient,
easy, and safe for the consumer. Email is also convenient for you.
You can respond to all your customer inquiries at the same time, and
do it when you have a free moment - not in the middle of rush hour
when someone calls up to ask for product information or directions
to your location. You can save money on technical support and answering
questions. If your employees spend a lot of time answering the same
questions and sending out the same material, you can reduce that labor
cost significantly by providing the information on the website. For
instance, a client can avoid having to mail or fax information for
over 1,000 phone call solicitations in a one-year period simply by
providing the information on their site. That improves on labor costs
and provides a real cost savings in reduced long distance phone bills
(for faxes) and postage. Your website can also take orders while you
sleep as people can place orders on a website at any time, day or night.
But most importantly, no salesmen manning the store, no utilities,
no insurance, no payroll...computers don't need a benefit package or
overtime. For every second of every day, your website is working for
you!
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06 • Who will see my new site?
In
our experience, the answer to that question is everyone! People from
all walks of life use it. There are many options out there for
Internet access and now available at incredible speeds through local
cable services and DSL technology. More and more people each day
are getting on the net. Think of how many times you find yourself,
your family members, and your friends utilizing the power of the
web to locate products and services, to compare competing vendors,
to make travel plans, to communicate, and many other reasons. The
Internet and the web are making giant strides each week, month, and
year.
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07 • How will people find my site?
There are many ways people will see your site.
The Internet has its own
white and yellow page directories called search engines. These include
such popular search engines such as Yahoo, AltaVista, WebCrawler
and others. Different search engines index websites in a different
manner and there are different search indexes for different types
of websites. There are also local and regional directories that only
list sites within their area. Specialty items can be advertised with
link pages, message boards and web rings, so that other people can
view those categories of interest. Another important way people will
find your site is when you tell them about it. You should treat your
Internet address and E-mail address as though it were as important
as your telephone number. Print it on everything from yellow page
ads, envelopes, business cards, stationery, brochures, marketing
materials, and all print ads. Get your website address out there
for all to know and see.
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08 • What does it mean to "register" a domain name?
The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) consists
of a directory, organized hierarchically, of all the domain names
and their corresponding
computers
registered to particular companies and persons using the Internet.
When you register a domain name, it will be associated with the computer
on the Internet you designate during the period the registration
is in effect.
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09 • I already have a domain name, can I transfer it to my new website?
Yes, we can assist you with the simple procedure
utilized by the various
domain registration services. ABWD will setup, implement,
and test your domain name transfer to your new website.
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10 • Do I receive an e-mail address with my website?
Yes,
in fact you can receive multiple email addresses set to your new
website name.
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11 • What is "E-commerce"?
E-commerce is the buzzword for the new millennium,
and for very good
reason.
The Internet is changing the way business is done with literally
billions of dollars being made over the Internet. E-commerce simply
means Electronic Commerce. E-commerce gives you the ability to accept
payment over the Internet, by either credit card or electronic checks.
Through E-commerce, you can sell products or services instantly to
anyone in the world without having to constantly monitor your website.
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12 • Do I have to come to your office to get a website? What if
I live in a different part of the country or a long distance from
you?
We can design a website for you no matter what
part of the world you
live in. There are several ways you can send us your information.
If you already have digitized photos and text files, i.e.. Word documents
and gif and or jpg images, you can email them to us. If not, you
can mail or FedEx us the information that you want on your website.
ABWD has many customers from all across the United
States.
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13 • How does ABWD create my website?
There
are many steps involved in designing and creating a fully functional
website.
First, we determine the exact goals of the client's website. If, for instance,
you are selling a tangible product then the goal would be a site that has
your product listings, pictures, descriptions, prices and shipping information
in an on-line catalog. The end goal being a website enabling the consumer
to easily view, gather information about and then purchase these products
on-line (e-commerce). In addition to these basic goals, there is the more
far reaching and highly important goal of determining how this site will
fit in with your marketing strategy. All these facts are formulated in
a design layout that describes the fundamental business strategy behind
the client's website. In essence, we want to ensure that we, as the website
design team, fully understand what is required to satisfy our client's
ultimate Internet and marketing goals.
Secondly, our design team works with the client to create a basic visual
layout of how the site will appear on the screen. This can be as simple
as being drawn out by the client on a plain piece of paper, using a word
processor or even by showing us another website that looks like what you
want your site to look like. In this step, we might make suggestions about
adding any additional functions that are absolutely necessary or that might
be useful. This step is our outline for the actual website.
The third step is to map the flow of the site from the consumers' point
of view in order to ensure that potential customers can easily navigate
from the entry point through to the main content pages (and all other pages
within the site). This is done by providing intuitive and thorough navigational
tools. In this last step, we combine all the above information (marketing
strategies, e-commerce, and visual layout) and come up with the final and
complete website design plan. Our design team registers the client's domain
name, activates the client's host account, codes the pages and implements
any other functions necessary to make the client's website functional.
We fully test all components of the site. Then we submit the site in beta
(or test) format for the client to view and approve. If any additions or
adaptations are necessary, they are made at this point. The site is re-tested
and then re-submitted for the client's final approval. Next, the site is
uploaded to our server with a final test of all the site's functions.
Finally, when we are sure the test is in perfect order and the client is
satisfied, the site is submitted to search engines and/or directories and
the client is instructed to implement any additional marketing strategies.
Your website is now ready for the world to see!
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14 • Does ABWD redesign existing sites?
Yes. We can usually redesign an existing site more
quickly, and for
less
money, than building one from scratch. Send us your existing site's
web address and a general idea of what you'd like to do, and we'll
be glad to give you an estimate. ABWD has performed
many “second surgeries” and re-made existing websites
into very successful new sites.
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15 • Your services seem geared towards business. Do you design websites
for individuals, too?
Of
course! Our competitive and flexible pricing makes professional website
design affordable for individuals and organizations. We can build
a website for your club; a family reunion, wedding, or other special
event; a tribute to a special person—the possibilities are
endless. Tell us what you have in mind.
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ABWD Frequently Asked Questions