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Get Started Menu
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Getting Started In this training segment, we'll discuss the basic materials needed to construct a professional quality website for business application. We'll provide a basic inventory of the things you'll need to get started and explain why these materials are necessary. For best results, review this segment even if you already have a Website. The following is a list of materials you will need to start: 1) A computer You must have a computer in order to build and publish a site on the Internet. But, what type of computer? We advise you to use a Windows PC to build and publish your site. Even if you use a Windows computer, there are still incompatibility issues between browsers to consider. We'll discuss this issue in the browser segment below. Windows PC with operating system XP,Vista,W7 The next thing you need is a connection to the Internet. In order to connect to the web, your system must be connected to an Internet service, also known as an Internet Service Provider or ISP. Do not try to use one of those free services to connect to the Internet. The level of service they provide is limited and not appropriate for business sites such as yours. The majority of ISPs provide what is called common-line access that use the graphical user interface known as TCP/IP. There are three types of ISPs to choose from. These are:
A true ISP company usually specializes in providing Internet access and associated services such as Web hosting and design. You can use a local ISP or a larger national service to gain access to the Internet. Make sure that the ISP is stable, in business for at least two years, provides technical support and required software extensions. We'll talk more about extensions in the hosting segment of this course. The on-line services are companies such as America Online and the Microsoft Network. These companies are like private online clubs. They provide access to their universe of chat rooms, news, etc.,. These companies are limited in that if you want to access their materials, you must join the club. I don't like to use on-line services for hosting business Web sites because you can get trapped within the company's universe. Experience has shown that you usually get a better deal using a true ISP. The phone and cable companies have also jumped into Internet access and hosting game. There advantage is that they use the much faster cable approach to Internet access. These cable and DSL hook-ups run at lightning speed compared with traditional 56K modem line access. The problem is cost. With a cable company, access can cost three times that of a dial-up. However, dial-up access is premative by tody's standards and would not work will for business. Here is how the price for DSL or cable access is generated. In most areas of the country, a DSL account is about $50 per month. This price is falling as a result of competition, but is still much higher than a standard dial-up account. To use DSL, you must have an Ethernet card which costs around $69.00. You must also have a DSL modem which is free with some companies and around $200 with others. And of course, there's the installation fee. If you can afford it, get cable or DSL Internet access. You'll get far more work done using these fast internet portals. If you are a purchaser of our 2010 program, you can now purchase both a URL and a hosting account directly from us. Our service is inexpensive and comes with free website design. We provide suggested langauge and you pick the design that best fits your need. For more information on our new hosting services, click on the link below. This subject is usually totally ignored by Internet marketing professionals. Picking a domain name or URL is an extremely important act for a business Website. The choice of a domain name is a fundamental marketing concern that can really help to make your site a success. You want your domain name to be related in some way to what your business does or your company name. For marketing purposes, it's actually better to have a domain name that describes or reflects what your company does. For example, note our domain name, ssahelp.com. Our domain name reflects in very basic terms, exactly what our firm does. It's also extremely important that your domain name be as short as possible. It's a big mistake to use long domain names because they are difficult for customers to remember. Long domain names are also hard to incorporate into traditional advertising pieces like display ads. If you must use a long domain name, make it a simple sentence that states a benefit or describes your service. An example might be, yourSSAbenefits.com. This example domain delivers a clear message to a potential customer. That message would cause the customer to want to further investigate your service. The domain name doesn't actually sell your service, it attracts attention to it. Therefore, the domain name is acting in the same way that a headline acts in traditional advertising. It sparks interest by stating a benefit or an important function. Another important domain naming consideration is the suffix. Try to get a domain that ends in ".com." Even though there are many new suffix choices now available like ".biz", these endings are not as ingrained in the publics' mind and therefore are harder for the public to recall. For suggestion for your domain name, contact your training mentor. There are two ways to register a domain name. Either have your ISP do it for you for a fee or register the name yourself. You can register your own domain name by visiting www. Network Solutions.com or Verisign.com These sites will allow you to test a number of domain names to determine if they are already taken. You should write down a number of possible domain names before visiting these sites. An ISP will charge you from thirty-five to one hundred dollars to register your domain name. Because you are creating a business Website, you need an e-mail account associated with your site. POP means Post Office Protocol and is the standard e-mail system used on the Internet. Most true service and phone company providers will offer a POP e-mail account. You need a POP e-mail account because it's much more flexible than a non-POP account. A POP e-mail account allows you to use your domain name in your e-mail address creating as many e-mail addresses as you wish within a single account. For example, your domain name might be TJservices.com. Examples of possible e-mail addresses you can create are: Forms @ TJservices.com or Info @ TJservices.com, Support@ TJservices or Members @ TJservices.com. Each e-mail type tells the customer where to go for a particular type of information or help. Another advantage of a POP e-mail account is that it allows you to choose from a variety of software programs that add additional capabilities to your e-mail account. Online services like AOL use proprietary systems that limit how you can use your e-mail account. For example: Let's say that you have a list of e-mail addresses for attorneys who use your Case Assessment services. With a POP e-mail account and a software program like Eudora, you can use your e-mail to send a single message to all of your attorney members with the single click of the mouse. This capability turns your e-mail into a valuable and efficient marketing tool. In addition to communicating with existing customers, you can also contact an unlimited number of potential customers without paying a dime in postage. A POP e-mail account also allows you to filter messages, route incoming messages to the appropriate folders on your hard-drive, use auto-responders and much more. These valuable marketing capabilities can turn your Website into an operational center for your disability advocacy service. We offers domain name, hosting and e-mail services from a single account. This approach is easier to control and will save you a tremendous amount of money and technical frustration. Now let's briefly talk about hosting your web site. Web hosting is the act of attaching your Website to a service providers computer. This is completely different from dial-up access. This difference often confuses people! Service providers rent space on their servers. You place your Website onto the service providers server (computer) which enables your site to be seen on the Internet. Internet access merely allows your computer to communicate with the Internet and hosting allows your Website to be seen and visited by the rest of the Web. Disability Associates offers inexpensive web hosting. With our hosting service, we'll provide you with suggested language for your site that is specific to an advocacy service. Our website content service is Free to those who use our hosting service. There are many brands of browser software. However, ninety percent of Internet users use Microsoft Explorer or Firefox. These are the only two browsers you should consider when designing your site. What few people realize when creating a Website is that how a site is displayed is controlled by the browser used to view it. Generally, this is no problem when designing with only HTML. However, when you begin adding more complicated code and effects, understanding browsers is critical. We'll discuss browsers in greater detail in the Web design segment. For now, make note of the fact that browsers do display Website materials differently. These differences must be considered when designing a business Website or you run the risk of losing customers. You have now completed the Get Started segment of this course. For best results, we suggest that you now begin the Hosting segment.
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