Often Asked Questions About Website Design And Ranking.

1.) If your Website is brand new, you must realize that Google or any other search engine must first visit your Website to obtain preliminary information. They will do this on THEIR schedule. When search engines have some basic information about your Web site, they store it and until, on THEIR schedule, they update their data base.

Once your Website is in their data base, they will revisit your site to obtain more information, again store it and again update their data base. This is part of the ranking process and happens only upon updates to their data bases.

Your worst case scenario is simple. First, the search engines DO NOT guarantee to include your Website in their data base. They might not think it worthy or consider it a borderline site. If it should be the latter, they most likely will include your site but place it at the bottom of the data base and keep it there.

On the POSITIVE side of this coin, every Website designed by us is included on all the search engines and better yet, can be found on page 1, usually right at the top of that search page.

2.) If your Website is and has been included in the search engine(s) data base(s) and has been stuck on say page 50 (for example) then there is a simple answer to that question.

Your Website from the technical standpoint, was not properly designed. There is NO OTHER reason.

Once a Website has remained "stuck on page 50", for some time, considerable work is required to get the search engines to take another look but, it can be done. Overall, it is much easier to have your Website constructed properly to begin with! MUCH EASIER!

3.) One of the first questions that you must ask yourself is, "are customers looking for my product or service on the search engines"? If they are...

If your Website has been designed and constructed properly and is BRAND NEW, you can not expect to find it on page 1 or 2 of a search right away. The ranking process takes time. It does NOT happen overnight. That is why you need Website design experience on your side. On the average, based on our 25+ years of Website design and development experience, you should know what's what within 90 days from your Website going live.

With special search engine tools, our senior Website designer monitors your sites progress every step of the way. He makes changes as necessary and is the reason why all of our clients are top ranked on search engines.

4.) Besides being customer friendly, today, a Website must be search engine friendly. Even though the sites we design are EASY to navigate, a readable Site Map is sometimes used by customers. There are also search engines that use the information contained in this Site Map for their indexing purposes.

As for Your Website design being search engine friendly, it is a MUST for todays technology. Therefore, 2 (two) site maps are required. One that can be read by customers and one special site map for the search engines. When the engines that use this special site map see it, they know that you are serious about not only your Website design technology but by having provided this aid to them, will treat your site on a higher level.

5.) When You Collect And Handle Credit Card Information.

Having what is called a "secure Website" is necessary if you are going to conduct on line busness and collect - process credit card information from customers. With out it, you make your customers wide open to IDENTITY THEFT.

The first part of this is your Shopping Cart which holds all the information about your products and provides the forms for your customer to place an order. This cart is placed on a special separate server from where your Website is.

The second part of being secure on line is called your SSL CERTIFICATE. It is a separate encrypted instrument, guaranteed by a third party CERTIFYING who you are and that the transaction is encrypted.

You DON'T necessarily need your own SSL Cert. unless you plan on handling the entire transaction. You can elect to have a service provider handle the credit card information. One of the most popular providers is PAY-PAL.

6.) Sending BULK Email can get you in a lot of trouble. While it may seem like everyone does it, you should understand that most of what you see comes from outside the U.S. and where there are no laws governing this practice.

Fortunately, BULK email can be done and well within the laws here in the U.S. And, it is a very important tool towards keeping your name in front of customers.

Part of your overall Website design can incorporate a means for customers to "Opt In" to your own mailing list. Many firms already have a customer data base which can be used.

One of the biggest problems with sending bulk emails to even existing customers is a verifiable means of doing so. i.e. A mailing program that really works and which does allow the customers email service provider to forward your mail to that customer from an automated process. We have the technology that works. It even works if say 500 or more pieces of your mail were to hit one single email service providers server at the same time!

Keeping your company name in front of customers on a regular basis is most important!

7.) The name or "URL" of your Webside is HIGHLY important. The best way to explain this is by the following example:

Let's say that you are in the business of selling zippers. For your Website name however, you choose "donkv.com" and simply because that is your name, middle initial and last name initial.

Now let's say that vanity played no part in the selection of your Website name and you chose, northwest_zippers.com.

With your vanity name, there is absolutely nothing relevant to what your business is and search engines will instantly pick up on this. On the other hand, northwest_zippers.com lets the search engines instantly know something about your firm. And, it helps in the search engine ranking process!

8.) The subject of "Pay Per Click" comes up by Website owners for only one reason. But, if their Websites were top ranked on the search engines, the subject would not come up.

Pay Per Click is usually a last desperate measure by Website owners to get hits from a Website that is not top ranked. By signing up for this program, all those that we know of, basically shot themselves in the foot and spent a lot of money receiving worthless hits.

We have been designing, building and marketing commercial business Websites for over 25 years. We know what it takes for your Website to get the hits you want. So, don't go down the Pay Per Click path. YOU DON'T HAVE TO!

9.) There is a lot of competition on the Internet for top of the pile search engine ranking. With 1000's of Websites being added to the Internet each day, that competition grows greater and greater.

Search engines get "the pick of the litter" when it comes to which Websites get placed on the top of their index. It is all done on the point system. For every one of the some 100 technical aspects of a Website yours meets, your site gets a point. Conversely, for every one of those technical aspects your site does not meet, you lose a point.

Also important to the search engines and to your position in the ranking, is how well the site is kept up. In other words, if scheduled changes and or additions are being made to your Website, the more favorably they will look upon you.

FAILURE to keep your Website fresh and active CAN result in a major loss of ranking position. We have seen sites go from page 1 ranking to page 25 and simply because their owner was asleep at the wheel. As your Website design team, we can't let that happen.

Your top ranked website on the search engines is the least expensive advertising campaign you will ever undertake. DON'T BECOME COMPLACIENT WITH THE SUCCESS WE CREATE FOR YOU.

10.) Computer technology is constantly changing and improving. Obviously this also includes search engine technologies. Keeping up with all the changes is a full time job.

As a business owner who has entrusted their Website presense to us, you need not concern yourseft with all the technology changes taking place. You need to be doing what you know best, running your business.

We'll take care of the technology for you and keep you in the loop.