There are over 200 million users on the internet (with millions more coming online each day). With the constant decreasing of prices on the Personal Computer market, more and more people are signing up for internet service everyday. People use the internet for research, entertainment, gaming purposes and of course; BUYING & SELLING. Now, more and more people are starting to see the benefits of shopping and researching businesses online. Depending on your needs, Long Island Websites can set up a marketing strategy that will "Target" who you want to view your site. If you only repair cars locally in New York or Florida, you don't need to have people from Wisconsin viewing your page. You want and need local people finding your site.
 

The fact of the matter is that the internet is the most inexpensive way to advertise. Besides the fact that your company now has instant credibility, you also have a "Showcase" for all of your products and services. The internet can be a valuable marketing tool for your company. Think about the days when fax machines were just coming into the business community. Many businessmen were dismissing the idea that a fax machine could help them be more productive, sell more products or even take the place of regular mail. We cringe when we think of what ever happened to those companies. Sometimes it is not how much business you can gain from the internet, it's how many customers do you stand to lose because they saw the same product or service displayed on a competitors site. Let us give you an example:

A potential new customer comes into your establishment and has many questions about your product. You take the time (time is money) and sit down to consult them. They are still undecided on the product or service. If you had a website you could tell them to check further into it, they can see the product or service you provide for themselves in the comfort of their own home and make a decision on whether to buy it or not. They may even check out your competitors to see if the product or service is less expensive or a different variety and quality. You may lose a new customer to a competitor just because they had better exposure and more convenience. Consider the cost of advertising in local TV-Print-Media. If a ad campaign that you have instituted does not do well, it could cost your company more money just to re-submit the ad in other forms of advertising. The amount that you can spend is staggering. On the internet you can create a site that will show your products or service the way you want to, with no limitations. The only limitation you have is your imagination. There is no limit to the amount of updating you can do to your site. The internet is "Real-Time", and will display your updates as soon as you upload your files to your server.
 

Now we get into the "nuts & bolts" of a website. A domain name is the "Address" at which you're located on the internet. Most domain names are www.yourcompany.com but some names end with different extensions. For example you may see a .org extension, this means that a site is an organization. A .com is the most widely used extension because it means a commercial site. A .gov extension is reserved for government applications, and so on. Now that most companies are securing their own domain names, different extensions to the domain name are being utilized more and more. Examples of these would be .net, .edu, .tv, .cc and so on.

To find an address in the internet, all a person would have to do is type that address into a web-browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL). They would be instantly taken to the appropriate site. These addresses are regulated by Internic. In order to get your own name it would have to be registered by this governing body of the internet. There is no limit to how many domain names you can own. Some people build homepages through a free service which would give their address a look like this: www.aol.members.com/joesmith/myweb/index.html. This address can be confusing for your customers. Domain names in general are the heart and soul of your website. A good domain name could mean the difference between attracting new customers or not.
 

Basically there are 2 different types of search engines. First there are "Spider" search engines such as Excite, Alta Vista, Lycos, Infoseek, HotBot, etc. These search engines will spider a site (search through the entire site) and look for the keywords to complete a search. This means that a site must be structured correctly for a person to find you when they are searching for a specific item or service. The other type of search engine is a "Category" type such as Yahoo, Looksmart, NBCi. These search engines will place you in a category but will also check for individual pages that match content of a search. Again, your page will need to be properly set-up so that potential customers can find you.

Search engines are strange animals, we at Long Island Websites recommend either NBCi or Yahoo. These particular search engines seem to bring the best searches. There are so many new engines coming online everyday, just keep trying new ones until you find one that you like the best. How many times have you done a search for "Electronics" and get results pouring in about the weather in China? Long Island Websites understands the frustration this can bring, we also understand how these search engines can be made to work for you.
 

Simple answer. As many as you may want or need. There is no limit to the amount of pages that can be put on the internet. The only thing to remember is that if you have a budget, it may be a good idea to consolidate your pages to maximize the exposure you desire.
 

You can either maintain your site by yourself or have Long Island Websites do it all for you. Some people enjoy the challenge of administering their own site. You can take care of your site yourself, but you will need to get training. Long Island Websites offers this type of training. We have several different plans to help you keep your site looking "Fresh". For more information, Contact Us Now
 

This is very difficult to judge. You would definitely need to consult us and see how your pages should be structured in order to get the maximum amount of exposure that fits into your budget. For more information, Contact Us Now
 

Long Island Websites needs to evaluate a few things before you begin to build your site. Some examples of what we may need are as follows: Information on your company Who is your primary customer What your company intends to gain with the internet exposure What is the timeframe for the intended unveiling The budget you are working with All of these questions and more will be answered in the initial free consultation between you and Long Island Websites. We can make arrangements to come to your office at no charge and identify what your needs are and how you can achieve your goals.