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Frequently Asked Questions

Q) What is Web hosting?
A)
Hosting is basically you renting space on a computer that is able to serve up a web site to visitors. Most people do not have the proper internet connection, operating system, or machine type to handle hosting a web site so they rent space on a machine specifically built to handle the task. For small or medium businesses, hosting fees typically range from $20 to $50 per month.

My site is hosted by Enterhost and has been for 10 years. They're very reliable and have excellent support. If you're looking for reliable and affordable web hosting, check them out. Visit their site at: http://www.enterhost.com. Also when you place an order, if you include "mattvegas" in the comments field, you can save some money. (For details, visit http://www.enterhost.com/aboutus/discount.cfm)

Q) How much does a Web site cost?
A)
As with many services, it really depends on what exactly is done. Most small businesses should expect to spend between $2000 and $6000 a year on their web site. Larger companies generally require a larger investment. The specific costs depend on your industry, tastes, how much of the work you can do, and how competitive your industry is.

Q) What is included in a Web site design?
A)
There are many web companies and individuals to choose from for your next web project so the answer to this depends on whom you are talking to. Technically the design of a website includes the graphics, coding, and placement of the content onto the website.

Q) Why am I not listed high in the search engines?
A)
If you are not coming up in the search engines when you think you should be, there are 2 possible reasons:

#1 Your site is not built in a way to optimize how the search engines index you. Maybe you have too many pictures, not enough text, or poor design.

#2 Your competitors are doing a better job than you at attracting visitors.

If you are in a competitive industry it may require a SEO professional or a seasoned Webmaster to get you ranked high. Remember that search engine optimization can be relatively inexpensive. There are numerous tools and tutorials out there to help you optimize your website for better positioning. However the work is very time consuming and can sometimes be very complex. So there are certainly advantages to hiring a web professional with SEO experience.

There are a lot of ways to increase traffic to your site and improve your positioning and an SEO professional will be familiar with a broad range of techniques for increasing traffic and improving your position.

One of the first things you'll want to get is an analysis of your site and of your competitor's sites. Get a thorough audit of your site's search engine friendliness. This includes looking at things like your navigation layout, navigation paths, aligning your copy and keywords to your page titles, meta-data and links, as well as rewriting your URLs so that they're indexed better in search engine directories.

And of course, we cannot forget analytics. There are free tools to analyze search performance. And ongoing analysis of your traffic, user trends, search referrals and conversions will help you grow your e-business and develop long-term sustainable traffic.

Got a question?
Shoot me an email with your questions or comments and it might just end up here on my FAQ page. Email them to mattvegas@comcast.net.