Axis Web Design

Does my business need a web site?

There are many factors to consider in answering this question. As a web design company you may find our answer to be biased, so instead we will try only to ask you some questions that may help you answer this question for yourself.

Is a web site economically sensible for you or your company?
Are you finding yourself or your employees spending a large amount of time devoted to customer service?
Would your clients and/or customers need to have your information available to them 24-7?
Are your clients and/or customers ecologically conscientious? Would they prefer digital or paper access to your information?
Are you targeting a local, national or a global market?
Where will your company be five years from now?

These question will help get you on the right track to answering that question "Do I need a web site?". It is important to us that you know what you want and we are here to help, even if that means helping you decide that you do not need a web site. We do not want to sell you what you do not want, it is simply not a smart business practice. We believe that if we help a customer get what they want they will come back for more.

: :

I would like a web site. Where do I begin?

To minimize the involvement and cost of the web designer, supply as much information as possible. The following are suggestions to start with:

Decide what you want on the web. Set your goals - What do you want to accomplish?
Organize your ideas into Main Topics Decide what you want your web site to look like:
- Colors?
- Layout ideas?
- Do you have a site you admire? Then please send the URL address.
Fill out a FREE Estimate form to start bringing your ideas to life.

: :

What can I do to cut the costs to myself?

Two words: Be Prepared.
Have files with the text you want on the page, have a good idea of what the graphics ought to look like, and know what feel you are looking for. The less the designer has to retrace his steps because of a changed idea on your part, the less the price will rise. Likewise, the less time the designer has to spend on mindless typing and retyping of what should be prepared material on your part, the less fat will appear on the bill. The average designer charges by the hour, it does not matter if that hour is filled with drudgery or inspired creativity, so minimize the cost by minimizing the drudgery.

: :

How do I tell if I am hiring a quality designer?

One of the best ways to judge a designer is by his or her own site. Look around it and check for things such as broken links, obvious errors, and speed of loading. Does the site feel well done, does it look professional? A slightly less obvious thing to check for is to make sure the designer actually created his or her own site. Finally, a good designer should be accessible by email and willing to discuss terms, rates, and any details that you are interested in. Replies should not take more than two days, and not more than a single day if he is working on your site.

: :

Can I be my own web designer?

Yes. There are a variety of excellent resources if you want to take the time to learn. One helpful online resource is . Book wise, you would want an industrial strength teach-it-all book. For good site design, skip the quick books. The best of the crop are really books such as Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2 that have the vast majority of what you will need included for easy reference. You will find a well bookmarked copy of either this book or a similar one on the shelves of most professionals. Personally, Caitlin swears by O'Reilly books and has quite a collection of them so far.

: :

Why should I hire a web designer?

To save time. Hiring a web site designer will help you save precious time so that you can concentrate on your business, your vocation, or your organization. Even the best web site software takes time to learn. Many are expensive. Some limit creativity and are not compatible with each other. A web site designer can implement proven skills to create your web site quickly and efficiently.

: :

Once Axis Web Design has created a web site for me, how will people be able to find my web site?

     If you build it, they will come. If they can find it. Creating a web site is an entirely different process from directing internet traffic to come to it, akin to the difference between building a ball park and marketing that ball park with a clever campaign of jingles containing the laughter of happy children.

     Further down we explain more about what is involved in getting hits, but for those in a hurry here are the services we provide for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE:

     We will submit your site to many popular search engines such as Netscape Search, AOL Search, Google, Lycos, Altavista, HotBot, DirectHit and many more. We will include in your site as many keywords as you wish. Most internet users typically head straight for a search engine to find what they want, so it is essential that your site be submitted to be included in the search engine's indexes. Often even with submission it will take a month or more to show up in a popular search engine. We will add a link to your site from our site and link from your site to ours. This helps us both since the more links you have pointing to your site, the more "important" your ranking on google and other sites. Finally, we research your market and add your site to popular web directories that apply.

     Getting traffic to come to your site is much easier if you have an established customer base. Then you can send out a paper mailing etc to your loyal customers who will happily visit your web site. Establishing a new customer base online is an incredibly involved process which is turning into a multi-million dollar industry as every "internet marketing" company under the sun will try to sell you their expensive, often ineffectual, and non-guaranteed services.

     As stated above, most internet users go to a popular search engine such as google.com and type in a few keywords to search for what they are interested in. You have keywords on your site (we will add as many as you want) and assuming your site has been indexed by the search engine, the keywords are a match, and there aren't 500 other sites with the same keywords who have paid to advertise, your site will be among the top listings returned. Most search engines have a "bidding war", ranking sites by who will pay the most per hit. Thus it is almost impossible to be among the top listings returned and costs huge amounts of money paid to specialized firms to keep the top spot.

     Since we submit you for free, we cannot guarantee placement or inclusion to any or all of these search engines. While if you choose good (unique) keywords and if you have a lot of other sites linking to you your placement will improve over time, to guarantee top placement you almost certainly have to buy advertisement on the search engines. Even then no one offers guarantees. If we had to recommend anything for pay, we like google.com, they are an excellent search engine that offers low-cost advertising. For free, try to get as many other sites as possible to link to your page. Web marketing is a separate ball game from web design and is frankly a gamble no matter who claims they will get you the results. We are designers, not marketers, and while we will start you off on the right foot and will be happy to assist in any way we can, if you wish to begin an in-depth marketing campaign you will need to take all the money you saved by hiring us & retain a marketing firm. Be sure to check their references.

:: :: :: ::
:: ::