Simply put, the Internet is a worldwide interconnection of several computers such that exchange of data and information between the various computers is possible. The computers involved are usually connected through phone lines aerial satellite systems.
The World Wide Web as it is sometimes referred to, has become popular for it’s effective use by corporations and individuals as a communication and marketing tool.
A Website is a digital, visual environment created using a computer. It contains the information (pictures and text and sometimes audio or video) you wish to convey to other people over the Internet.
Once an Internet Website is designed, it can then be made available on the World Wide Web. The information can then be accessed worldwide by anyone who knows the Unique Internet Address for the particular website and has access to the internet. Making your information available to the World Wide Web is what is termed as providing you with a Web Presence.
Anyone who seeks to make information in the form of text, image (picture), sound and video available to other people anywhere in the world can use a website to do so. The different uses of a website which can be considered are many.
For a married couple who need to make their pictures available to their relatives and friends living elsewhere, a photo album website with added special effects can be created and made available on the world wide web.
With a website, businesses can easily display their services and products to a variety of people worldwide whereas personalities and stars can tell others about their lifestyle and also be able to know what people have to say about them.
A Domain Name or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), otherwise called Website Address is a unique ‘name’ given to every website on the Internet. This name is unique for each website and it is assigned by an international body to avoid duplication and for that matter, confusion.
To be able to have a website or put content unto the internet, one needs a Domain Name to begin with. It is usually of the format; www.khayatiinfotech.net or www.yourdomain.com other domains may end with .org – for organizations, .gov – for governmental institutions and various others.
One can register a domain name for a minimum period of 1 year and can be registered for as long as one wants. However your domain name can be given to someone else if you default in paying for extensions of the period.
Without hosting, you will not see any information when you type the registered domain name into a web browser.
Basically Web Site Development involves following processes to make information in the form of text, images (still pictures), audio and video available on the internet so that this information is accessible worldwide over the internet;
DEVELOPING SITE STRUCTURE : Planning and Deciding on how many pages the site will have, the page titles they will have, the colors and designs to be used, etc.
INTERFACE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Translation of the decided site structure into web pages by a web site designer.
TECHNICAL ENGINEERING: Web programmers writing special programs and adding them to the web pages to create special effects or to make web pages behave in a special way.
PUBLISHING/MARKETING/LAUNCH: Involves placing the web pages on a server, thus publishing, Marketing your site, and finally launching the site.
After the domain name has been registered, one needs acquire computer disk space to place the information (in the form of a web site) on so as to make it accessible worldwide, 24 hours a day or over a local network. This process is known as hosting or web hosting. The information, in the form of a web page or site (which are actually special computer files), is hosted on remote high powered computer usually called a server – (the reason for the name, server, being that it serves web pages on request. You request for a web page by typing a domain name into a web browser such as MS Internet Explorer). A process known as domain name pointing is done so that when you type in a particular domain name into a web browser, it displays information from the server on which you are hosting your web site.
Hosting (also known as Web site hosting, Web hosting, and Web hosting) is the business of housing, serving, and maintaining files for one or more Web sites. More important than the computer space that is provided for Web site files is the fast connection to the Internet. Most hosting services offer connections on
T-carrier system lines – which is many times faster than the speed at which the ordinary phone lines carry internet information. Typically, an individual business hosting its own site would require a similar connection and it would be expensive. Using a hosting service lets many companies share the cost of a fast Internet connection for serving files.
A number of hosting companies describe their services as virtual hosting. Virtual hosting usually implies that their services will be transparent and that each Web site will have its own domain name and set of e-mail addresses. In most usages, hosting and virtual hosting are synonyms. Some hosting companies let you have your own virtual server, the appearance that you are controlling a server that is dedicated entirely to your site.
Dedicated hosting is the provision of a dedicated server machine that is dedicated to the traffic to your Web site. Only very busy sites require dedicated hosting. Many companies purchase their own servers and place them on a site that provides fast access to the Internet. This practice is called collocation.
The term ‘maintenance’ refers to maintaining and/or updating an existing web page or link.
Visual communication development is a cycle; no web site or electronic presentation is considered completed. In order to keep your audience engaged, the content must be updated regularly and visually enhanced.
Web Maintenance involves adding new information, archiving out-of-date information and improving the graphics and navigation of your product.
Web Advertising simply is advertising, using the Web or internet. This includes, but not limited to submission of URLs (website addresses) to search engines so people can type keywords into the search engine to automatically pick sites which have information that is relevant to the keyword that was typed. Other ways by which one can advertise on the web are by using banners and Newsletter subscriptions.
E-commerce means doing commercial activities on over the Internet usually by doing transactions from your web site. To do e-commerce on your site, you need the following:
1. A Merchant Account: A special bank account meant for the purpose of doing business online. When you do business on your site, all the money goes to this account and you can retrieve it into your checking or savings account later.
2. A Transaction Gateway Terminal: The Transaction Gateway enables secure, real-time payment processing capability. Our gateway can handle credit card transactions between a web store/shopping cart or a computer with Internet access and a merchant account in real time, taking approximately 5 to 15 seconds. The gateway coordinates the transfer of funds between your bank and a customer’s bank. The web based graphical interface (control panel) manages your gateway and facilitates reconciling accounts, confirming authorizations, transferring funds, and generating reports.
Selling Product and services over the Internet involves four main parties:
– A merchant who is offering products or services for sale through a commerce-enabled website.
– A consumer or credit card holder
– A merchant bank that has contracted with the merchant, to enable the merchant to accept credit cards over the Internet.
– An acquiring processor, the company that processes credit card payments for the merchant bank.
Your website will serve as a virtual customer service representative for your business 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Your current and potential clients and customers can access your business website at any time to get information about your company’s goods and services, location, contact information, management team or any other unique aspects of your business you desire to make available. With an e-commerce site, visitors can purchase goods and services directly from your site even at any time, 24 hours a day. With a company website, the doors to your business are never closed!
A web site helps you get noticed by others.
A web site is the least expensive form of advertising.
A web site reaches a diverse and selective worldwide audience.
A web site builds a solid marketing platform.
Make your products available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Receive instant feedback from your customers.
Internet users are estimated at more than $200 million around the world.
69% of Internet users do online shopping.
Online commercial transactions have generated over $100 billion.*
There are some very realizable benefits that your company can achieve with a presence on the web. Some include the following:
1. A website that can answer common questions about your company will increase the effectiveness of your staff. Rather than spending valuable time on the phone responding to ordinary informational questions, your staff can tend to important day-to-day tasks with fewer interruptions.
2. Your company can relay important information to your client base instantaneously and in a cost-effective manner. Updates to your website can be accessed simultaneously by thousands at the click of a mouse. Posting critical, late-breaking information on your company website is the most cost-effective way of distributing information quickly to a large audience. Updates or new advertising can be made at any time of the day, all at a much lower cost than traditional advertising methods.
3. Increase your client or customer base. The number of internet users has been increasing on compound basis, hence the potential for reaching new clients is tremendous. Usage of the Internet grows daily, and unless you establish a web presence soon, you could be left behind while your competitors become a familiar face to your client base. Even more important may be the fact that the majority of Internet users are well-educated and in higher-income brackets.
With our clients located throughout the country, we have developed an outstanding ability to design and implement Web presence based upon phone conversations and email-based design sessions. We utilize the Internet’s advanced communications capabilities to maintain a close working relationship with each client. There are no barriers between us and our clients.