Full Article about Aussie Websites
| Getting your Website on the Internet... Note: Long Article, Scroll Down to read, Notes Added |
| Putting
your Business on the Internet
It not as simple as "Whack up a Website" & watch the dollars roll in Note: Your Website is Important Signage! An enormous amount of Business is done via the Internet! If you are serious about getting a return for your on-line investment, you'll approach the establishment of an "Internet Branch" of your business with just as much enthusiasm and effort as you'd put into establishing another "real-world" outlet for your organisation. >>> |
New to
the Internet..? Don't know a Domain from a Server..?
This is aimed at someone with little knowledge of the Internet. The more you use the Internet - the more valuable a business tool it becomes… However, for OTHER PEOPLE to find out information about YOU, then you will need to have "Your Own Website" for them to look at. These web pages are your "electronic ads"... working for you 24 hrs a day every day of the year... providing useful details about your products and services you have. |
| Domain Names Web sites that are accessible under your own domain name i.e. www.yourdomainname.com - are generally a better measure of credibility on the Internet... and are certainly much more useful in branding than something like ~ www.myinternetseviceprovider.com.au/~mybusiness.html Having your own domain name means that people will always be able to stay in touch with you... >>> |
For example, without a domain, if you change your ISP, (Internet Service Provider) you will lose contact with some customers because your email address changes. With your own domain name, it doesn't matter which ISP you use, because you continue to check mail@yourdomainname.com - nothing gets lost! To get your own domain name is usually a two step process... |
| Step 1. Domain Name Registration The first step is to register your desired domain name, which gives you the right to use that name on the Internet. When choosing a possible domain name, as always, there are a range of things you need to consider. The most important ones are: Your legal right to use the name? Don't jump into a legal minefield by registering something that's 'trademarked' to someone else! Is the desired name consistent with the company/product branding you want? Is it easy to remember - short, catchy, descriptive names will all help customers respond more easily to your offline advertising. Don't rush off and register the first domain name that comes to mind - a domain name is more important than most web marketers realize >>> |
There are a couple of registration alternatives depending on what domain name you want. Dot Com Dot Au - Australian Domain Names Dot Com, Dot Org, Dot Net, Dot Info - Global Domain Names Once your desired domain name is registered, you have the right to use that name on the Internet. To have YourOwnName.com (or ".org or .com.au" etc) involves paying Domain registration fees These fees average around $60 - $165 every two years for Australian domains, down to around $25 - $30 a year for global domain names (.com, .org, .info etc) depending on the registrar used and the number of years you register for. |
| Step 2. Domain Name Delegation Delegation is the technical process which means that you can actually use your name. The second step is to delegate the domain name to the Domain Name System (DNS) so that you can actually make use of it! You don't have to do this straight away after registering your domain. A lot of people just "protect" their domain name by registering it, and then delegate it when they are ready to use the name. So, when you are ready to use your name, you need to make arrangements with an ISP to put (Delegate) your domain name details into the Domain Name System (DNS) >>>
|
(The DNS is the worldwide system which tells people on the
Internet exactly where your domain "lives", so they can access your web
pages, or send you email). The ISP you contact may not necessarily be the same one you use for internet access purposes. You will need to shop around and look for ISP's who provide a cost effective web hosting service suitable to your business needs. There will be a fee for the "delegation", which should be fairly minimal. This fee may be included in the "setup" charges for the rental of your web server, or charged separately. Once the domain name is delegated, the "full registration" process is finished. You are able to use your domain name for email, and for web pages. |
| Domain Name Parking This is a fee paid to "park" your domain with an ISP - i.e. if you want to "store" it until you are ready to use it. Some ISP's charge nothing for this service, while others charge $100+ a year. You should expect to pay a median amount to park a domain name with an ISP and that should include some sort of email forwarding service as well. >>> |
Web
Servers
- Where is Your Information Stored For your business information to be seen on the Internet, it must live on a web server - a computer that "serves" up web pages to people to look at through a web browser. Note: The Server should have a Secure and Very High Speed Internet Feed & preferably be located in Australia. |
| Web
Server Rental Once you are ready to use your domain name, you'll set up a web server to promote your business. You need to find an ISP to host your web pages for you. Web Server rental prices vary quite significantly. You can get totally "free" services which may show ads on or behind your pages. These can often be slow to serve pages, and low on features. Paid services go from $10 a month to $Thousands a year, depending on the type and size of server you really need. >>> |
The "average" small business should expect to pay no more than $600-$700 a year to rent a web server that is appropriate to their needs. For a business web site that involves some serious database work, or programming, or secure e-commerce capability, then you can expect the rental to be more. In some cases, a figure of $250+ a month is realistic for a full featured server that can handle lots of intensive work. |
| Web Site Design - Design, programming and maintenance issues of presenting your information on the Internet, and who is going to: - Do the initial site construction, and then who will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance, updating and further development of the material. - overall site design/layout - user navigation - graphics - design, quantity, effectiveness and file size - development of interactive features to provide "edutainment" or add value to a visit - limiting access to restricted areas (if required) - database management (which may be useful in some cases) - proper indexing of pages for search engines - site promotion, etc. etc. Initially, this can be an expensive part of getting your business onto the Internet... and that's because it's the most crucial part. >>>
|
The average small business will invest between $500 and $1000 to get a web developer to create a site that: - provides essential information users expect about your business - has your unique "look and feel" - is easy for your users to work through - encourages your visitors to want to deal with you - makes it easy for them to deal with you - works for you - attempts to achieve your objectives - is search engine friendly Obviously, if you need fancy programming to create interactive elements, or database interaction, or e-commerce capabilities, then you're looking at a lot more. For example, SSL certificates (to carry out secure e-commerce transactions) can cost up to $700 a year. Remote gateways to banks to collect "real-time" credit card information can also be costly to implement. Throw in a "shopping cart" program (these seem vary considerably in price from $1000 to $50,000+) and your costs can begin to sky rocket. |
| Web Site Promotion Note: this part is Very Relevant, Accurate, Important... & Cheap..! Once your site is going, you've got to get people there. The cheapest way to do that is the one people most often forget about, and it's also the simplest! Make sure that you include your URL (address) in absolutely everything you send out from your business - your email, letterheads, "with compliments" slips, invoices, statements, business cards, advertising materials, brochures, sign-writing, etc - everything! Note: I highly recommend that you do this...!) The next step is to "register" your site with search engines. Over time, these will account for about 80 percent of your traffic. Many of these are free, although quite a few are now moving to "pay-per-click" or "pay-for-listing" business models. With pay-per-click engines, you "bid" on certain key words, and pay that amount every time someone clicks through to your site... You can also pay a minimum $20+ USD a month even if no-one clicks through. >>> |
The bigger
"pay-per-listing" engines - Looksmart and Yahoo - are now charging
100's of Dollars on an annual basis to review your site for possible
inclusion in their directories. Hundreds of other sites will include a link to your site for nothing, or you can choose to pay from $5 upwards to list your site details with them. The key here is to be selective about the sites you approach. Make sure they have the target audience you are after! There are also paid submission services you can use to get your site listed on search engines. The costs of these vary considerably. A once only $5 can get you listed with 300 search engines. Or you can make monthly investments of $50 USD for regular submissions of your site. Again, it's up to you to consider the pros and cons of these schemes, and what can fit into your budget. Note: This is commonly called 'SEO' (Site Engine Optimisation) Industry guru's rate some of these 'optimisations' as questionable. |
| Web Site
Maintenance An often forgotten component... Regular updating of your site... And probably forgotten due to other demands on your time... But it IS important to keep the information on your site current in the first place, and then update and refresh the information to encourage repeat visits to your site. Firstly, it's bad when people discover information that is so-o-o-o obviously out of date... they certainly won't feel good about dealing with you! Note: this 2nd part is Very Relevant & Accurate Secondly, Apart from giving people a reason to come back to your site at a later date, updating the information also encourages search engines to revisit... and reindex... It's been suggested that this alone helps improve your placement in some search engines. >>>
|
Summary Please remember that the figures shown below are in Australian dollars and are based on Australian conditions. To summarise the costs for each component for an "average" small business to get onto the Internet: Domain Registration: maximum $70 pa # (see below) Server Rental: maximum $700 pa # Site Design: average $750 once only # Promotion: allow $200 pa in your budget $$$ Updating: allow from $250 pa if you can't do it yourself # and don't forget your Internet costs - i.e. the regular monthly fee for you to access the Internet from your work/home computer. That can easily add another $300+ every year you need to budget for. All up, in the first year, the "average" small business could pay between $1500 to $2270 to get their business (and themselves) connected to the Internet. In the second (and subsequent years) this would reduce to around $1000 - $1500. If you still think that's way to expensive, then check out a much cheaper yet still effective solution! # END... Quoted Article |
# Note: The Solution suggested is a fairly typical $999 'basic package' - Design doesn't include Domain, Web Server, Promotion etc... just Design
# Note: I recommend & arrange for you Quality Australian Domains & Australian Servers at VERY MUCH LOWER COSTS than above! Click HOW?
$$$ Note: Web Site Promotion, Once your site is going, you've got to get people there.
The cheapest way to do that is the one people most often forget about, it's Effective and it's also the Simplest!
Make sure that you include your URL (web-address) in absolutely everything you send out from your business - ie. in your email, letterheads,
'with compliments' slips, invoices, statements, business cards, advertising materials, brochures, sign-writing, etc. - Everything!
WEB
DESIGN - Exetel
ADSL
Lite Agent