What Is A Website

A web site is your opportunity to be seen on the World Wide Web. It is a physical space on a computer (web server) that is connected to the internet. Your web site is where you store your web pages that make up the content of information about your business or organization. Through the domain name (URL), such as www.yourname.com, anyone can access your site and learn about you. Whether your site is strictly information based, or complete with online ordering features for your product, visitors will have access to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have a business, you can use the internet to approach consumers you might not be able to reach through conventional advertising and media vehicles. The World Wide Web is your link to worldwide exposure.

Why do I need a web site?

E-Mail

Internet e-mail is an excellent means of communication with tremendous cost savings. With your company's online image at stake, you should make sure your e-mail address includes your company name (yourname@yourbusiness.com ). Names, such as brian@hotmail.com, appear unprofessional and may damage sales. The domain name, and with that your e-mail address, is very much the storefront of business today.

Web Pages

Cost managers are usually shocked by the amount of material that can be distributed over the Internet to millions of people at minimal cost. Not to mention the fact that the content can be dynamically altered and redistributed without incurring additional fees. Compare that to the latest release of your most recent four-color brochure or catalog!

Sales Staff

On-line order processing and tracking, Efficient transfer of information between different offices within a company, such as shipping and production updates, Up-to-the-minute information for customers on product availability or order status, Sales databases available to reps in the field, Client databases to track correspondence and order histories

E-Commerce

E-Commerce is rapidly growing as a way to conduct business effectively and efficiently by minimizing delay through geographic distances and time restrictions. Internet commerce is expected to reach a volume of $800 billion by 2003, and soon every business will be affected by it.

What's in a domain name?

A domain name is your address on the World Wide Web. With your company's online image at stake, you should make sure your domain name includes your company name (www.yourbusiness.com ). Then, your e-mail address will also be specific to your company. Names, such as brian@yahoo.com, appear unprofessional and may damage sales. Your potential clients may assume that your company isn't established if it doesn't have its own domain name. The domain name is very much the storefront of business today. There are tens of thousands of domain names registered every day with over 4 million already reserved. Reserve your name before it becomes the property of someone else.

What is the InterNIC?

The InterNIC was a division of Network Solutions, and used to be the sole global registrar for all domain names ending in .com, .org, .net, and .edu. Now there are more than a few companies that can register your new domain names. Now all domain name registrars use what is called "The Shared Registry" to determin which domain names are registered, and who they are registered with. If you choose a domain name that ends in one of these Top Level Domains (TLDs), it has to be registered with the InterNIC. The most common TLDs for businesses, organizations or personal sites are .net, .com and .org. All other TLDs, including foreign ones, have to be registered at their respective NIC. The registration process can take between 24 and 72 hours. Once the registration process is completed, you officially own your domain name and can use it for accessing your web site.

Courtesy of Missouri Web Service