Frequently Asked Questions
Take this information as is and at your own risk. Please see our legal notice.
1. What is a web page?
2. Why do I need a web page?
3. How much does a web page cost?
4. How long does it take to get
a web site running on the Internet?
5. Can't I build my own web site?
6. What is the best way to get people to
visit my site?
7. What is a URL?
8. So what do I really get for $50.00 a month?
Can you give me an example?
9. What is HTML?
If you are looking at this on a computer screen, you are probably looking at a web page. Web pages are just collections of information formatted for presentation on the Internet in a particular way. The format of web materials allows any combination of words, pictures, sounds, colors, or movies to be presented. More importantly web pages, or parts of web pages, are able to be linked (connected) to any other web page, on any computer in the world. Most importantly of all from a business perspective, ALL web pages are able to be viewed from ANY computer in the world that is connected to the Internet thus creating direct, interactive access to customers.
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2. Why do I need a web page?
There are as many reasons to want a web page as there are people who have them (hundreds of millions). For a business, however, a web page provides a unique means of presenting information about your business to millions of potential customers at an extremely low cost. A web page can also provide a means of doing business with your customers in the most convenient manner possible, right from their home or office. A small business, with a limited budget, can have the same access to consumers as an international corporation spending millions. Additionally, in today's economy, it is almost required. More and more people use the Internet like the traditional yellow pages. The main difference is, they generally look on the Internet first.
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3. How much does a web page cost?
As little or as much as you want. "The latest information about the costs of building small, medium and large Web sites in five different cities can be found at NETMarketing's latest guide (July) to making it all happen. This is now a monthly event. The sample size at the moment is 25 companies in five major U.S. cities. The National Median for a small web site is shown as $13,500, medium $33,500 and large $66,250. Date: July 2 1997"
According to a report from Forrester Research, also from 1997, "...financial services firms are spending the following amounts for launching and maintaining different types of web site:
$5 million -- for a basic transactional site
$17 million -- a more sales oriented site aimed at attracting more customers
$23 million -- for a site that advises customers and helps manage their finances.
The range of prices for custom web site has not changed much since 1997. Fortunately you do not have to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to have an attractive, professional web presence. See our prices page.
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4. How long does it take to get a web site running on the Internet?
Again it depends. You can build and post a personal web page in about an hour if you know what you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing it takes about a day. A serious business web site calls for a more detailed requirements analysis and often more complex coding. A typical Nootech web site takes 1 to four weeks to design and code and anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks to have it posted on the Internet. The most important factor in this process is you. The faster and more specifically you can tell us what you want, the faster the process goes. If you know exactly what you want your site to look like, and do not require complex database or graphical design, you can be on the Internet in a week to 10 days.
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5. Can't I build my own web site?
Yes, of course you can. In fact that was the original idea behind the creation of the World Wide Web. It was designed as a system where anybody could share information, ideas and opinions. The question that arises for most business owners is whether you want to spend your time building web pages, or builiding your business. Properly managing a business demands a lot of time and attention. Most buseiness owners realize that time taken to learn how to design, build, deploy and maintain a web site is time they cannot afford to take away from their business. Also many people do not have an interest in acquiring the technical skills necessary to manage their own site.
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6. What is the best way to get people to visit my site?
Listing with search engines and particularly Yahoo! is presently the most effective method of increasing traffic on your web site. Here is some data from CyberAtlas that shows why.
"In a recent survey surfers were asked what method led them to most of the Web sites they visited. Here are the results:
71% used search engines
9.8% asked friends and relatives
8.5% used newspapers and magazines
8.4% used links from other web sites
8.1% arrived from browsing or surfing around
3.6% used TV
3.3% used printed Internet directories
Date: July 1997
Source: CommerceNet/Nielsen Media"
Additional data shows that Yahoo! is not only the most used search engine, it is the number one Internet site in the world, with millions of visitors per day. This is still true today. Placement on a site such as Yahoo is an advertising cost just like any other. Basic placements begins at around $300 and escalate to astronomical levels quickly depending on how much and what type of exposure is desired. Again, a good requirements analysis and clear understanding of your business model is necessary in order to effectively allocate marketing dollars. Some search engine registration is free but does require monthly monitoring and tinkering.
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7. What is a URL?
The short answer is that it is a form of address on the Internet. The long answer is that it is one of several forms of addresses used on the Internet. Just as your home's location might be stated in different ways, you can state the location of a web page in different ways. You might refer to the location of your home by using longitude and latitude, awkward but accurate. Or you might describe it by referring to the red apartment building on the street with the big tree on the corner. More often you refer to the location of your home using the address because it is easier to understand and remember. Similarly, everything on the Internet has an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Like longitude and latitude they are in number form. They look like this: 148.202.121.27. In order to make it a little easier to understand, each IP address also has a Domain Name assigned to it. Ours is nootech These may also be referred to as "Virtual Domains". Finally, since there are different kinds of activities on the Internet just as there are different kinds of buildings on a street, there is a Uniform Resource Locator (Hence URL) which indicates whether you are looking for an FTP site, or a gopher site, or, a web site. Web sites are designated with "http". Thus you see web address in the form "http://www.nootech.com". All web browsers have a space for you to enter the URL. They refer to them differently though. You may see "Location", "Address", "Document Address" or even "URL".
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8. "So what do I really get for $50.00 a month? Can you give me an example?" Yes, the Nootech web site you are looking at is designed to be an example. This site and all of the things you see on it, plus some other things such as photographs could be designed and deployed as a Fast Start Small Business Package.
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9. "What is HTML?"
HTML stand for Hypertext Markup Language. As the name implies, it is a standard for marking up text so that a web browser will be able to display it. It is the basis for all World Wide Web content. If you right click on a web page and click on the View Source option, you will see the HTML for that web page. HTML alone only allow display of the text supplied with it. Modern web pages include other types of code, such as Javascript, along with the HTML. Javascript allows for dynamic content to be included on web pages. It is considered dynamic because it interacts with the user and/or a database to provide customized content.
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(Please forgive us, our lawyer made us do this.)
