What is involved to get my company online?
So you're ready to take that step. We hope that by giving you all the options and steps involved that you will be able to make an educated choice of what exactly you need and have the budget for. Please remember that we are here to help you succeed & provide you with solutions that will work for you and your customers. If at anytime you are unsure about a step or would like more info, please email us.

How do I get started?
We've had many experiences in dealing with small & large companies, home-based businesses and individuals in helping them choose their best internet presence solutions by seeing what they want, what their budgets allow, and what will work for each company. Contact us to help you decide what kind of internet presence will be most effective.

Do I need my own domain name?
These days just by looking around you, you will most likely see someone's email/web site address whether on a TV show or ad, magazine ad, billboard… In most cases the address is a www.companyname.com address. This not only makes your company be associated with your email/web site address easier, but also looks a lot more professional and easier to remember. Imagine seeing a web site address like: www.yourinternetaccesscompanyname.com/~yourcompanyname/index.html and then trying to remember it when you try to look it up, it would be a lot easier if the web site address was: www.yourcompanyname.com.

Another important benefit is that your domain name is your own property, this means that if your business moves to a different internet service provider your web site & email address will always remain the same - no need to contact everyone to let them know your new email address, no need to change all your business cards and other printed material, no lost email.

The only two disadvantages of a .com domain name are 1. in certain situations the .com name isn't available anymore because someone else already has it registered, and 2. the costs for registering and using your domain name are sometimes quite costly. A fee of $35 will be charged for a .com/.net/.org domain name per year. Please note that once your .com domain name is registered you are the owner of that domain name. If the 1st reason is a problem, there are some alternative domain names that we can offer, instead of a .com name you can have: .net, .org... (Some are only available to certain types of companies that are eligible). And if the 2nd reason is a problem, there are two options available - (A) if your business is located anywhere in Canada you can qualify for a .ca domain name (or your province initials.ca - i.e. .on.ca) (B) also sub-domains available to you. If your budget doesn't allow for a .com domain name, sub-domains are your best alternative. Your sub-domain web address would be: www.HAVE1.COM/yourcompanyname/ and your email address would be: yourcompanyname@HAVE1.COM. As you can see there are many options available to you depending on your budget. We hope that we haven't lost you yet… the fun is only beginning!

To check if the .com/.org/.net/.ca domain name you wish to have is still available please choose at least 3 different choices for your domain name, staying under 32 characters. We will research your three choices and get back to you with what is still available. This is a service, which we provide free of charge. Please email us your three choices to research.

What should your web site include?
Before you start gathering information for your web site, it is important to check out other web sites and see what other people are doing (even your competition). Your site may include: any of your existing company literature such as: brochures, flyers, booklets, ads... all can easily be adapted for the web. We can scan in any photos/illustrations which you would like on your site such as: company logo, map, products… but please remember that if you have too many large photos on one page, it will take a fair bit of time to load in when people access that page. Of course, let's not forget your contact information! It is always better to include more information than less. We suggest having at least an email link or phone number on every page of your site. Phone numbers, addresses & fax numbers are important to be found easily and quickly.

Remember, because the internet can be easily and quickly changed, you can always try a different approach as to what information you have on your site. If one thing doesn't seem to be working… change it and try a different approach.

When choosing information for your site it is important to know that your site should be:

• fun to look at
• easy to find your way around (navigation)
• quickly being able to find important information
• informative, yet simple & direct to the point
• quickly to come up and load
• interactive (involve the viewer)

We can help you achieve all of the above with our skills and experiences. If you're not sure what your web site should include we can help you decide what is important and what will work for you.

Web site promotion
After your web site is online, it doesn't stop there. How will people know where to find you? This is one of the most important steps to guarantee how successful your web site will be. Search engines on the net are like the yellow page directories for telephone numbers, they will find web sites that contain the information which you are searching for. How do I get listed on these search engines? Before you even attempt to have your web site listed you will need to write out at least 40+ keywords that describe your site, your business, your products & services, your location and all your important information. These keywords will then be incorporated into your web site so that search engines know what your site is about. It also helps to write out a 2 - 3 sentence paragraph describing what your company is all about and what people can find by going to your web site.

Another very important point is to know who your targeted audience is. Would they be Local or World-Wide? Seniors or Younger people? There are many ways to promote your web site depending on your target audience. Let HAVE1.COM help spread the word about your site.

We hope that the above information is of value to our viewers, please contact us if your have any questions or would like a quote for your company's online presence.

Please note that all of the above articles are Copyrighted information. If you would like to reprint any of the articles, please contact us.