1. In what ways does the Web help businesses?

• Brand recognition - customers are loyal to brands they recognize
• Direct sales - minimize or eliminate the middleman; reduce sales overhead
• Educate audiences about your product
• Advertising revenues - turns a popular site into a lucrative one
• Fosters community/loyalty - engage the customer and they'll be back for more
• Better communication with customers and feedback regarding products & service

2. What info will the customer(you) need to provide?

• What do you have that will draw people to your site - products, services, information?
• Do you want to maintain a customer database or need database development?
• Do you need an online sales application (shopping cart,etc.)?
• How do you plan to promote your site?
• What types of visitor inducements will you offer?
• How big is your advertising budget?
• Very important: What sites have you visited that you felt would best suit your tastes and product?

3. What makes a "successful" web site?

• Content, Content, Content
• Small, compact graphic images with the fewest colors needed; non-busy background; no flashy animations that hog bandwidth but serve no purpose
• Judicious use of scripting or Java applets - handling database retrieval is good use of server-side scripting (CGI/ASP), and form validation is good use of client-side processing (Javascript, Java applets)
• Logical, easily read navigation
• Allowing visitor to find exactly what they want easily
• Features that work: no dead-end links or broken scripts/applets
• Up-to-date information that's not yesterday's news
• Multiple browser(IE,NS,Mosaic,Lynx,Opera,etc.) support; multiple platform(W9x/NT,Unix,Mac,BeOS,etc.) support
• Garner a sense of belonging to the visitor/customer: use thankyou pages & e-mail responders^* for inquiries and orders; encourage them to explore and leave comments or fill out surveys
• Use a reliable, fast web hosting service that guarantees QoS(quality of service)
  * E-mail is a powerful tool to obtain customer loyalty:
     - Answer the person, not the e-mail!
     - Use autoresponders for concise quick replies, but also answer with personal response
     - Use 2-part order confirmation: first with order# and second with shipping tracking#
     - Process orders by e-mail and use e-mail to build customer bases; notify customers of changes via e-mail

4. What questions should I ask a Web Hosting Service?

• Do they have high-speed (T3 or greater), redundant connections to the Internet?
• Are their web servers powerful enough to handle heavy traffic? They should never reach more than 70% capacity for web traffic.
• Do they offer database support? Application servers for e-commerce?
• Do they have a guaranteed QofS (Quality of Service)?
• Do they have redundant power sources, routine data backups, "hot" standby servers in case of server crash, RAID support?
• What is their limit on data transfer per month?
• Do they have the following services?:
     - Autoresponders
     - Shopping cart programs
     - Secure online transactions (SSL)
     - Credit card verification
     - Unlimited FTP, e-mail forwarding, CGI access
     - Real Audio support, chat
     - At least 5 e-mail boxes
• Will they support future technology such as new e-commerce solutions, wider bandwidth, latest server technology, new security protocols?

5. What is a typical Web Host setup?

• $50 to $100 for initial setup fees
• $70 for Internic registration (www.yourbusiness.com) for 2 years
• $20 - $50 for monthly hosting fee
• 1-2 GB/month data transfer (equivalent to 20,000 hits/month of 100KB page)
• Access to CGI/Perl scripts such as form mailing, counters, trending, custom mailing lists, etc.
• Servers usually Apache/Unix (web server/OS) setup; some services offer IIS/Windows NT with Frontpage extensions
• Multiple POP-3 mail boxes (usually 5-10)
• E-mail forwarding
• Shopping carts (customized in-house or "off-the-shelf")
• Web site statistics
• Multimedia support (Real Audio, Netshow)
• SSL, S-MIME, IPsec (secure transaction protocols)
• Some form of electronic payment (e.g., Cybercash)
• Credit card verification (if available)

6. What drives web surfers away from my site?

• Slow loading, weighty graphics and animations; busy design; poor design
• Illogical navigation - complicated, non-uniform; lack of search capability
• Desired content buried deep in site and hard to retrieve
• Complicated input forms that asked for too much information
• Fear of cookies
• Lack of secure transaction/request form
• Music (MIDI-type) unless site is audio-based
• Lack of means of feedback or communication
• Page errors (scripting; server based); broken links
• Busy site