What is the difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet - or is there a difference?

The World Wide Web is a only small subset of the vast computer "network of networks" which is the Internet. Many private research, educational, financial, and commercial networks are part of the greater Internet, as is the e-mail system and Usenet.

You can access some of the other networks on the Internet via gateways, but not all --- you can't access the many large private corporate, government, financial and military networks for example.

Why do I need a Web site - I’m in the telephone directory?

The telephone directory with your listing are only delivered to people in your local area. With a Web site, anyone anywhere can find you. They don't need to live in your area. It's just as easy for someone who lives in Timbuktu to find your business as it is for someone who lives next door to you.

A Web site also makes it easier for people who don't know anything about your business to find you.

And let's face it. A full-page telephone directory ad is EXPENSIVE. A Web site gives you as much space as you need to tell everyone about your business, and what makes your business outstanding. Online, your business can look like a multinational, even if you're running it from a desk in your living room.

I’m only a very small business - I don’t have export products - why have a Web site?

Whether you want to sell online or not, a Web site is an excellent, cost-efficient way to provide information about your business. It's accessible to anyone, at any time. Other reasons you might consider a Web site:

  • a site cuts down on your phone time with tyre-kickers. After they've visited your Web site, only people genuinely interested in your product or service will call you;
  • it gives your business credibility;
  • it introduces your business to other businesses and suppliers;
  • it's a 24x7 marketing tool.

What is a domain name?

It's part of the Internet address hierarchy. "YourCompanyName.com" is your domain name: your Internet address in the dot com (Commercial) hierarchy.

Why do I need a domain name?

Chiefly because it makes it easier for people to find your business online if your business has its own domain name.

Additionally, with your own domain name you get a permanent e-mail address (like bill@yourcompany.com.au), which you can safely promote everywhere. Without your own domain name, if you decide to change to another ISP, say from bill@aol.com.au to bill@bigpond.net.au, you'll need to change all your stationary etc. By using your .com e-mail address, you never have to change it, regardless of which ISP you use.

When I get my domain name, do I stop using my ISP?

No. No more than you'd stop paying your phone bill and pull the phone out of the wall when you get a new phone number. You still need network access. Your Internet Services Provider gives you access to the Internet network, just as Telstra or Optus give you access to the telephone network.

What is an ISP?

An Internet Services Provider. See above.

How many pages should my site have?

As many as you wish.

Can I start with a small site then add to it later?

Yes. Once you become more familiar with what your customers need and are looking for, you can expand accordingly.

How much information should my site include?

What do you want current and potential customers, suppliers, and the public in general to know about your business? Include whatever you think is relevant. Check out the sites of businesses similar to yours, and see what information they provide.

Why can’t I use the web site space supplied by my ISP?

You can, if ISP provides business accounts, and if you're a business customer of your ISP. If you're a business customer, you'll be able to have a secure site, and you can conduct business on your site, and will be able to have your own domain name.

Large ISPs generally offer business and corporate accounts, smaller ISPs don’t.

Why do I need to pay for commercial site hosting?

Because you get better service and a better deal from a specialist company. The hosting services from the companies we use have high speed connections, are secure and offer 24x7 expert technical advice.

My site went up last week, how come I haven’t got any hits or enquiries yet?

Have you advertised your site or promoted it in any way? Don't keep it a secret. Tell everyone.

It can take months for Internet search engines to index your site and start sending you traffic. Include your web site address on all your stationary, business cards, promotional materials, talk about it - the more you promote, the more traffic you will get.

How can I check who has been coming to my site?

Access your site traffic logs. We set up a statistics tracker on every web site we create, which will show you who came to your site, what they looked at, what browser they used - a whole range of information - which we can provide to you as a report, or which you can check yourself.

What is a search engine?

A computer program which searches indexes of Internet addresses using key words.

What does a search engine do with my site information?
It indexes the information provided in your site's coding, and depending on the search engine, indexes some or all of the site text.

How do I promote my Web site?

That's a huge topic. There are dozens of ways to promote your site.

Site promotion is best checked out online; many Internet sites are devoted to online marketing and promotion. Go to a search engine and enter "Web site promotion marketing".

If I resubmit my Web site to the search engines every month, will that improve my ranking?

No. It could be disastrous. You may get your URLs banned. Many search engines take a dim view of anyone submitting URLs repeatedly. Once your site is listed, it's listed. When search engines change criteria, or you change a page on your site, we can resubmit accordingly.

Is there anything on my Web site that might stop it from being listed on the search engines?

That depends on the search engine. Some search engines have strict rules about what they'll index. Check out the Help file of the search engine you're interested in.

Beware the dreaded frames
You need to be aware that search engines can't index “framed” sites, because they can't index the framed pages, only the main page. (You can recognise a framed site because the main part of the screen scrolls while say the top and/or side of the screen doesn’t.) This can seriously affect your site’s ranking. We don’t recommend framed sites.

How can I get a good ranking on Yahoo! and LookSmart?

Depending on your site, you may need to pay if you want a reasonable ranking. You can spend a lot of time and make a study of search engine indexing and ranking and tinker with your site to improve your ranking, but it tends to be a full time job with no guarantee of results. Paying is easier. (However, it still doesn't guarantee you a top listing.)

If you just want more traffic to your site, check out the dozens of ways to promote your site. Search engines are only one way to drive traffic to your site.