Why should I have a web site?

Great question and one that's asked again and again.
First of all, as is said on our first page "...a web site is constantly working for your organization 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". This is totally true.

More importantly, a web site can give SO much more information than most other advertising media at a fraction of their cost

While radio advertising, newspaper ads, etc. can be experienced by a vast amount of people, the price of these advertising techniques is FAR greater than a web site is going to be AND they are only going to be out there working for you for a few seconds or days. A web site is ALWAYS out there working for you.

If you REALLY want to do great business, a combination of all of these efforts is recommended.

How much will my web site cost?

Each project is different. Avalon WSD can charge hourly or by a "per project price". The way it usually works is that the project starts with a per project price, then additional work falls under the hourly rate.

With web design rates anywhere between $20.00 to $75.00 per hour (dice.com- 9/2001), Avalon is on the low end of that scale.

A way for potential customers to keep that in perspective is this:

A US WEST DEX telephone book advert that is 2" X 2" with a tiny picture in it is going to cost $419.00 per month, $5028.00 per year. This ad will be in black/yellow & red and doesn't say much at all about your product (9/2001 price quote).

On the other hand, a web site can be presented in full color with as much information as you like. Also, you can add multiple ways of contacting your company (your mail address, your email address, your phone numbers, your fax number, etc.) and it most likely won't cost anywhere near the amount of a phone book ad.

Why did Avalon Web Site Design re-design their site?

As with any web site, it's a good idea to revamp, retool, and rethink your layout and online strategy every once in a while. The last version of the site was more "business-like" but there's no reason a site can't be fun as well.

What is Avalon Web Site Design's mailing address ?

Mail all correspondence/payments to:
Avalon Web Site Design
4728 128th Pl. SE
Everett, Wa. 98208

How long has Avalon WSD been in business?

Officially, Avalon Web Site Design has been in business since June of 2000. However, AWSD has been building sites since 96. In 2000 AWSD obtained a business license and jumped into the web design mosh pit.

Do I set up hosting and a domain name or does Avalon do it?

This can go either way. If you'd rather set it up yourself, great! Avalon WSD will just upload the files to the host of your choice.
Avalon Web Site Design now offers inexpensive Web Hosting and so that basically means it's one stop shopping for you.

Can I do my own site updates?

The answer to this depends upon your knowledge of HTML and on how complex your site is.
You are certainly "allowed" to update your pages, but if you are not familiar with HTML, you could do some damage. Also, if your site design is fairly complex, it's very easy to scramble the layout of the site by entering or deleting a crucial piece of code. Finally, using an HTML editing program can also cause serious problems if you're not familiar with the site's structure.

The BEST thing to do (if you want to do your own updates) is to inform Avalon of your intentions while your site is being built. That way, Avalon can drop instructions, or "clues" within the code giving you direction on what is safe to edit and what is not. Avalon WSD will also be glad to do the updates for you. The updates fall under the normal, per hour rate of $35.00.

Why should I go to Avalon Web Site Design when (INSERT RELATIVE OR FRIEND'S NAME HERE) can build me a site?

Obviously, there's a bit of humor inserted into the question, but with all of the people making web pages these days, it's a valid question. Avalon WSD has actual working experience with web site design. A variety of methods are used to create and test sites to prevent "surprises" from popping up. By surprises, we're talking about such things as how a site can look different between types of web browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.). Uncle Billy may design a site that looks great in an old version of Netscape, but when it's viewed in a new version of Internet Explorer, it looks completely different.
By the way, if Uncle Billy really messes up, Avalon WSD can come in and do repair work too!

You'd be surprised at how bad a site can look in different browsers if it's not handled by the experienced designer.

For example:

Can Avalon Web Site Design guarantee my search engine position?

Unfortunately, this is something AWSD (or anybody else)cannot do. We can do everything that is humanly possible to achieve this goal, but because there are so many millions (literally) of sites out there, it is very tough to get to the top of the heap. While we do submit the site automatically to nearly 40 search engines, we also manually submit your site to 6 of the top search engines. We will follow up with these to make sure that your site has indeed been listed.

There are services out there claiming that say they can guarantee you higher placement, but they can be very expensive and have no affiliation with Avalon Web Site Design. However, if you decide to go that route, we can act as liaison between the company and your business.

One thing we can tell you is that one of our sites, Pinecountrycabin.com
was averaging 250 visitors a week for months before the cabin was sold to another party. The web site was largely responsible for the cabin being booked throughout the year.

What about search engine placement?

Good Question! It should be noted that Avalon WSD only submits to FREE search engines (unless you request otherwise) and with free submissions, your site is not guaranteed a listing. Often times, this means that Avalon WSD will have to resubmit the link for listing. We will do that for free if your listing doesn't show up.

In the past, search engines and directories listed for free, however, it is now a new ball game and the companies realize that there is money to be made here. Here's a breakdown of what it cost to have a guaranteed, PAID listing for some of the more useful search engines or directories:

• Looksmart $230.00

• GOTO $50.00

• Google $25.00

• Yahoo! $300.00

• AltaVista $40.00

• Ask Jeeves/Teoma $30.00

*Source: Searchenginewatch.com

One important thing to remember:
Just because you're trying to do business on the internet rather than an actual "brick and morder" store, it WILL cost you money to do business. Granted, doing business on the web is cheaper, but if you want to bring business to your site, it WILL cost you money. That's just the nature of business.

To have the attitude of "Ok, now that I have a web site, people will come to it in droves and buy my product (or read the content)!" is just not good business sense. To get the kind of traffic of the "big boys" you will have to invest in getting that traffic to your site.

What can I do to increase the visibility of my web site?

Here's a piece of good advice: DO NOT rely on search engine placement only for your business to be successful. You will get far greater results by doing these simple things:

1. Make sure your web address is on EVERY piece of promotional material that your business uses. This includes business cards, stationary, advertisements, etc.

2. Add a signature line that contains your web site address to all of your email correspondence. It's subtle, but effective!

3. Add "web coupons" to your site offering discounts to people that come to you from the web site.

4. If there is another site that you would like to link to you, let us know and we can try to set that up if the other site is willing. For example, for an employment web site, it might be great to have hotjobs.com link to you.

5. If friends or family have web sites, ask them to link to yours.

6. VERY IMPORTANT: UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE! If the content on your site never changes, there's no reason for people to come back to it. The "been there done that" attitude sets in. It's always a good idea to have something new for your readers. After all, content is king.
   

My Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers free web space, should I use it?

For a business site, the answer to this question would have to be 'no'. Here are some reasons why:

Let's say you had a site hosted on Earthlink's free server space. Your web address (URL) would be something along the lines of

"http://www.earthlink.net/~joedirt/mulletsareus"

1. This is a very long web address that will be hard for your customers to remember. It's also hard to communicate this address to those not familiar with the terms "slash", "tilda", etc. The length also makes it difficult to fit the address on a business card.

2. Having your ISP's name in your web address (and email address) removes credibility from your business. It says "how successful can they be if they have their site hosted free?"

3. VERY IMPORTANT- Search engines will not list these sites. When you do a search, you rarely see these kinds of addresses. When you do, they're usually personal web pages and not business pages.

If you purchase a domain name and Earthlink, or another commercial ISP, hosts that domain name, they will not host the site for free. They only host personal home pages for free and not businesses.

So if you're going to be in business, do it right! Get your own hosting space and your own domain name. For a business investment, it's a pretty small price to pay ($100 or less depending on your business and hosting company) for a lot of legitimacy.

What do I do if I want to switch my present site hosting to Avalon WSD Hosting?

This can get really complicated. If this doesn't answer your question, contact Avalon WSD.

Here's what we do:

1) Sign up and pay for a hosting plan http://avalonwebsitedesign.com/payment.htm and let Avalon WSD know what the domain name will be. This allows Avalon WSD to kind of get the prep work done.

2) Before you contact your original host, let Avalon WSD download your site files. Give AWSD your FTP info (password and login too) so that a copy of your files can be obtained.

*Don't tell your host that you are moving until after we've got your files.

3) Once AWSD has your files, contact your present host and tell them you want to change hosting companies. They will ask you for the DNS servers for Avalon. Email and AWSD will give you that info.

HERE'S WHERE PROBLEMS CAN ARISE!

If you or your hosting company helped you purchase the original domain name, you should be ok.

IF THEY DID NOT...

If you or your host didn't originally purchase your domain name, but someone else did (and you acquired it), we'll have to involve whoever originally purchased it. What happens is, the registrar (whoever sold you the name originally- Godaddy, Network Solutions, etc.) has to contact the person that originally bought the name in order to make changes.

This can be VERY difficult. If the person who bought the domain name years ago is no longer at the email address they used to purchase the name, then you need to verify who you are to the people that originally sold you (or them) the domain name. It's all so that someone can't just say "Please change MicroSoft.com to this webhost". It's all in the name of security and it IS a headache.

It involves faxing your license and letterhead to the registrar (the people that sold you the domain name) among other things. It can take DAYS.

If this is how it works out, AVALON WSD WILL CHARGE YOU TO SORT THIS OUT. This can take a LOT of phonecalls and communication to the registrar and to you to sort out. It can take a few days to get it sorted out and if Avalon WSD is handling it for you, then they should be paid.

It is for these reasons that Avalon encourages you to let Avalon get your new domain names for you.

For Avalon WSD to change it (if Avalon registered it) is no problem. If we didn't, then it's a problem.

4) After that, the switch should take place within 24-48 hours. Leave your site active on your old server until the switch of servers is made. That way, there's no (or very minimal) downtime for your site.

Have a question for Avalon Web Site Design? Submit it!

Avalon Web Site Design
support@avalonwebsitedesign.com
425-501-9084 / 4728 128th PL SE Everett, WA 98208