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FAQs
[what are hits? What is the difference between hits and visitors to my website] Hits are the number of all the individual requests made to the website. This includes all .html files, image files, scripts and individual frame sets regardless of whether the actual request is successful or not. A web page that contains 3 pictures would register a minimum of 4 hits each time it is visited. As a page may contain lots of small picture or picture components then the figure reported for hits can be very misleading (this page would report 9 hits each time it is viewed). Visits are the number of actual visitors to your website. This is far more meaningful information.
[why do I need to research my customers] At the end of the day it is your customers who will be visiting and using your Web site. What do they like? What are they looking for? Can they find it? And how much will it cost? These are some of the basic questions you should know about your customers. You may be surprised by the answers you get back!
[what is competitor knowledge?] You know about your customers but what about your competitors? Have they got a Web site? What information are they showing on it? Is it registered in search engines? Are they using a Pay per Click service like Google Adwords? Knowing what they are doing and evaluating their approach will help to save time when setting up your promotional strategy.
[why do I need to register with search engines] Research has shown that over 40% of consumers cite search engines as the main way they research purchases online. How can your business succeed if your site isn't registered? It is like having your name in the telephone book and being ex-directory with your telephone number!
[why does my website need to be audited and optimised before anything else] Google has registered billions of web pages! How is someone looking for your products or services going to find your Web site amongst all these? To be effective you have to appear in the first three pages the Search engine results for your products and services. An audit will identify the areas that need addressing in your Web site and the optimisation process will enhance the site to ensure you have the best possible chance of appearing in those top three pages. This is the area of specialism which the team at Business for Business have developed their skill sets.
[what if my website does not comply with the disability discrimination act] Although the Disability Discrimination act has been in force since 1995 it is only now that the issues of accessibility have been raised. All sites developed after 1995 should have been built with compliance in mind. No litigation has been taken out to date in the UK however this is not to say that it will not start. It is the Web site owner who is at risk and they must ensure that their sites comply with the minimum accessibility levels. Contact Business for Business to find out more and arrange a meeting.
[why do I need to market offline as well?] The search engines do not register new sites quickly, some taking up to eight weeks. In the interim you want to get the visitors coming to your site. This is achieved by following the conventional advertising media. As part of our services we at Business for Business help to develop an action plan and assist you in the implementation of your offline advertising.
[what information will a top ten comparison give me?] Document title, Meta Keywords, Meta Description, first sentence of the body text, link popularity, URL, <H1> and <H2> headline texts, same site and outbound link texts, same site and outbound link URLs, <IMG ALT> attributes, HTML comment tags and various other aspects. All of the top ten sites that are returned by the search engine for your chosen key phrase will be compared to your site. The resulting report will indicate what you need to do to your site to put it in the top ten position. If you are the same as them then you should be in the top ten.
[what are keywords] Sometimes, in designing and marketing your site, you need to peer into a crystal ball. Inside that crystal ball, one of the most important things you need to see is what magic words will bring in hordes of people. Your site needs to be found. After all, traffic is the lifeblood of any website - if no one comes, you have no one to educate or entertain, or no business.
[why are meta names important?] Search engines need to know what your site is about, what is it giving information about and what category the site should be listed in to help visitors find your information. The Met names are instructions to the search engines giving them this information. If you do not fill them in the search engine does not know where to put you!
[what is link popularity?] Some search engines including Google check to see how many other sites link to your Web site. The more that do the more likely that your site is important and the type of site a visitor will find the relevant information they are looking for. The quality of the site linking to you is also important so do not join any free for all link programmes, be choosy and pick good sites within your own market.
[what are web statistics and why should I have them] Without feedback how do you know what you are doing is right? No marketing campaign is effective without knowing what the visitor has done when on your site, where they came from? What page they entered the site, which page they left the site. How much time they were on the site.
[should I build my website myself, or should I get someone else to do it] Are you a qualified designer? Are you experienced in the psychology of internet users? Would you put a new tyre on a wheel? In the long run the most successful sites are those which have been professionally designed and developed and professionally promoted.
[where can I find a good web designer] This is the big question. Due diligence and a design brief to present to the designer will help to eliminate many of the pitfalls of the Web development process. Business for Business provide an impartial advice service to companies enabling them to develop their own design brief. We will even sit in at the interview stage and help with translating the techspeak!
[what are frames?] These are a formatting technique used by designers to enable them to build sites quickly. They are an optimiser's nightmare and consensus amongst the optimisation industry is that they should be avoided. They also present a problem for.
[should I use flash?] The Web site that starts with a flash introduction will fail accessibility compliance. Think of the poor viewer who has a 56K modem. You are asking them to stand outside your shop for an extra three minutes before you let them in. I think you will be lucky to see them when the show has finished. Only use flash if you are enhancing a message.
[do I need a privacy policy on my website] If you ask for someone's details then yes you need a privacy policy. It gives the client confidence in the knowledge that their eMail address will not be used for spamming.
[I don't sell anything on my website, why do I need terms and conditions?] to protect you from the viewer who decides to take the information on your site and pass it off as their own. To show that you are serious about business and if anyone was to enter into a contract with you they would be dealing with a professional company.
