Absolutely Stylish Web Design - faq, search engine optimisation, web site design, web site promotion, optimisation

Frequently Asked Questions (faq)

Table of Contents

1. What is a website?
2. What is the cost of a website?
3. What do I need to start the web site process?
4. How can I increase the visitors to my web site?
5. Web site tips
6. What is a search, search engine and 'bots'?
7. What are keywords?

8. What are hyperlinks?
9. What is HTML?
10. What is a Domain name?
11. Is website promotion necessary?
12. What is a generic search?
13. Stylish Websites - What is style?
14. Stylish Websites - is your author up to the challenge?

1. What is a website?

A website is simply an electronic book, brochure or flyer designed to transmit information or sell product via the Internet.
It is the shop window to your Internet business.
A successful website is simply the equivalent of a best selling book. It is the most easily found website and receives a very large proportion of the enquiries looking for the services it offers.
The critics of your best seller are the search engines then the public.

2. What is the cost of a website?

A common question which is difficult to answer when the designer doesn't know what the customer requires.
It is similar to walking into a restaurant and stating "I want a meal! How much?".
Make an appointment with the designer, ask questions, otherwise the best he can do is give you his hourly rate or cost of pages.
There is planning, optimisation, promotion, research, evaluation, development, publishing then evaluation and modification.

3. What do I need to start the web site process?

• Time to ask questions, to discuss your goals and plan your website.
• An idea of your target group and geographical area if you have one.
• If possible, view some websites for ideas to help you develop your website.
• Photographs, logo, company colours to be used on your website if available.
• Call or email Absolutely Stylish Website Design.

4. How can we increase the visitors to my web site?

• Ensure it was designed correctly and optimised from the very beginning.
• Check, then Optimise, then Promote your website if required.
• Use well designed page content.
• Ensure it is easy to use.
• Optimise! Promote! Optimise! Promote! and keep on doing it.
• Contact Absolutely Stylish Website Design and allow us to do it for you. We pride ourselves on offering you simply the best promotion.
• Visit optimisation and promotion

Optimise! Promote!

5. Web site tips

If clients cannot easily navigate through your website they may never return. Web site navigation systems must be clear, simple and easy to use otherwise clients may not find your products and services.
Make your website interesting.
Clients should not laboriously need to search through your web pages to find what they are looking for.

Keep It Simple!

6. What is a search, search engine and 'bots'?

Search engines are computers (libraries) which store information / web pages (book) for retrieval by anyone who requires information.
Search Engine Examples: Google, Yahoo, Excite, Alta Vista and MSN and more.

Typically, a search engine works by sending out a spider (bot) to fetch as many documents (books, web pages) as possible to store in its memory. Some of these spiders have names like GoogleBot, Yahoo Slurp or Alta Vista Scooter

Another programme, called an Indexer, then reads the documents collected by the bots and creates an index based on the words contained in each document / web page (book) saving them to the search engine computers for you to access in your searches.

When you search you are asking the search engine to supply all the information it has on the search terms you have chosen ie "Christmas pudding recipe." The search engine will supply every page with Christmas pudding recipe words stored in its memory which could be many millions.

The Challenge!

1. create web pages offering services that people will look for.
2. attracting the bots so that the search engines index your pages quickly.
3. getting onto the first page of a search.
4. keeping your web site on the first page of searches.

Why get onto the first page? Because the public, having done a search will generally choose a service from the first page of what may be thousands or even millions of pages. Often it is from the first 5 or 10 addresses (url's). You may have done the same when using Yellow Pages.

7. What are keywords?

Keywords are words included in the body text of web pages. They are used by both search engines and people. Keywords are also included in the coding of web pages.

8. What are hyperlinks?

Hyperlinks are text words found on every web page, they are normally underlined and a different colour to the rest of the text on the page. Clicking a link with the mouse takes one to the location that the link has been programmed to go to.
Links are not always underlined, they may be a small icon (picture), they may change colour or even increase in size to name a few methods of letting one know that they are a link.
Search engines follow the path of the links in their continual search for information about websites. Links are very important to search engines. Links are the internet's navigation systems enabling access to the internet's highways taking a person from one website to another.

9. What is HTML?

Short for Hyper Text Markup Language, the basic authoring language used to create documents (web pages) in your website.
HTML defines the structure and layout of a web document by using a variety of tags and attributes.

10. What is a domain name?

A Domain name (uniform resource locator - url) is a name purchased by the owner of a website. The Domain name is the unique address of that website, www.absolutelystylish.com is a typical Domain name.
At the end of the domain name you will find .com, .biz, .org, .net etc. These identify the type of organisation represented by the website. .au identifies the organisation as Australian, other examples are .my for Malaysia or .it for Italy.
Domain names are renewed periodically ie 2, 3, 5, 8 years otherwise they become available to other website owners on the open market even though you may have created the name yourself. Don't forget to renew yours! Domain names are relatively cheap these days costing as little as US$6.

11. Is website promotion necessary?

Optimisation (SOE - Search Engine Optimisation) and web site promotion are initially essential to ensure that search engines find your website then after so that the search engines position the website where it can be easily found.
Minor changes to the website are required to ensure successful promotion and higher exposure of your website. These services become even more important as the website progresses through the ratings and competition is greater.
It is highly unlikely that a none optimised and promoted website will be found unless a person knows its domain name or stumbles across it by accident! The goal is to be on the first page of any search, preferably in the top five addresses.
Optimisation is required to develop, promote, upgrade, maintain and customise your website.

Promote!

12. What is a generic search?

Your website is your shop window. Clients should easily be able to find your shop window using generic terms. Typically, a generic term is a term used by a person wishing to locate a product by its common name ie cheese, car, dog etc. Some search terms for a bicycles shop could be bicycle, bike or bike shop. If a bike shop can't be found then adding another word such as the area can obtain results.
We now generate the generic term campbelltown bike shop or sydney bike shop.
If the website cannot be found then their internet shop isn't open and they are losing trade.

Can't find your website? You're losing trade!

13. Stylish Websites - What is style?

An elegant or fashionable mode, good or approved fashion, elegance, smartness - The Macquarie Dictionary

Style is in the eye of the beholder. Most website owners require a successful website which may not be stylish. It will however be functional, informative, to the point, easy to view, easy to move around and pleasant on the eye.

Certain website may need to be stylish like an Image Consultant, Fashion Designer, Interior Decorator, Hair Stylist and many more. Their websites will also need the characteristics discussed in the previous paragraph.

So who determines if a website is stylish or not. Your visitors vote with their mouse, they either stay and buy or move on and find something to their liking. Another reason to optimise and promote?

14. Is your author up to the challenge?

Can you, your friends or someone you know create your business website successfully? Much of our feedback indicates otherwise.
Visit promotion for common design issues

Contact an Absolutely Stylish Professional Web Site Design Consultant today on 4627 6048 / 4628 2528 to discuss your requirements.