Gateway IT - one of the leading IT training companies in the South and West of England.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Why
do I need a web site?
The
main benefits of a web site
Domain
names and hosting - what does it mean?
How
do people find my site?
How
does email work on my site?
The Internet is expanding very rapidly with millions of people getting connected every year. The introduction of digital TV will bring the Internet into millions more homes and no business can afford to be left behind in this revolution.
Having a Web Site is essential to a modern business and NetTailor offers a friendly service which will quickly and efficiently help you to to have your own site on the Net at a price which may be far cheaper than you expect.
You can learn what your customer requirements are from feedback forms and improve your business development and profitability as a result.
Importantly - size does not matter on the Internet - all businesses can benefit from well-presented advertising on the Net. However small your business you can afford to advertise to millions of people.
The main benefits of a web site are:
- it attracts business
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- it provides constant
advertising to a huge audience at a fraction of the cost of conventional
advertising
- you can keep your
customers informed about your products and services
- you will receive
immediate feedback from your customers in a reliable way
- you will reduce overheads by freeing up staff from the telephone and sending out less literature
- your customers can find the information they want about you and your products or services on your web site
Domain names and hosting - what does it mean?
A domain name is a name which you buy the right to use - like www.nettailor.co.uk. Your web site can then be called by this name. You can only have a domain name if nobody else has already claimed it. For this reason we would always advise businesses to register their own domain name.
Hosting is the placing of your web site on a space on the Internet. This will sometimes be provided free by your ISP (Internet Service Provider - the company you use to dial up the Internet) but we advise owners of professional sites to use our dedicated, fast and reliable server to ensure your site is rapidly accessible by visitors. You cannot use a domain name such as www.yourbusiness.co.uk on free space. A free space address will look something like www.freesomething.com/yourusername. One of the disadvantages with this type of web site address is that it does not look so businesslike as an address with your own domain name such as www.yourbusiness.co.uk. It is also longer and more difficult to type correctly.
The most obvious way to make sure people find your site is to include your web site address in all your literature and advertising. Mention your web site to all telephone inquirers too - they may be able to see what they are looking for on your site. Directing interested people to your web site gives you a chance to present them with immediate and positive visual information about your products and services.
Another way is by submitting your site to search engines. These are the sites which search the net for you when you type in keywords, for example, Altavista and SearchUK. These sites look at special additions to the programming for your site. There are also directories which list business such as Yahoo! and UKDirectory and we can submit your site for inclusion in these. You can also link your site with others which have a similar interest.
How does email work on my site?
When you register a domain name through us we will also provide you with up to five email addresses. For example, sales@yourbusiness.co.uk or info@your business.co.uk. There is no extra charge to configure them to send an autoresponse to your emails, thanking senders for their enquiries and assuring them of the prompt response which is essential with emails. If you go on holiday and nobody is available to answer your emails we can set up a message to any inquirers whilst you are away. Alternatively we can manage your email for you whilst you are away. You can also have enquiry forms, using enquiry fields especially designed for your business, similar to the one on our 'Contact Us' page. These can arrive as emails directly to your desktop, without the need for visitors to go via their own email program.
If you have an existing email address with your Internet service provider, we can arrange to forward all your emails to that address. We can provide you with a connection if you don't already have one, but we always advise clients to have more than one possible dial-up connection in the event of failure.
We are sure there are other questions which you might like to ask so please e-mail us at faqs@nettailor.co.uk and we will do our best to answer your queries and possibly include them on our page here.