How fast technology changes! Twenty years ago the Internet was an infant struggling for recognition and acceptance - in today’s world it’s difficult to imagine how we survived without it. The Internet has forever changed the way businesses operate, made personal communication instantaneous, and truly opened up world markets.
A website that provides entertainment typically isn’t sales driven, meaning it is meant to amuse and entertain without being directly linked to a product or service. An example of such a website would include a movie review website, or a joke-of-the-day site. Personal websites, such as one you put up yourself with your life story or family history on it could be categorized as either entertainment or informational in nature.
Whether you are in the process of setting up a simple personal website that outlines your family history, or a more complex website that offers hundreds or even thousands of products, web design is a critical component of style, presentation and effective marketing.
The cost to have your website professionally designed grows exponentially with each feature you want to have added, but the time and money are probably a wise investment, particularly when your entire business depends on effective marketing and sales tools. A few thousand dollars spent now designing a proper website can show a return on investment many times over if your customers can reach you, buy what they need, and have a pleasant experience on your site.
The coolest product or the most interesting topic can be torpedoed by a bad website - if your site is difficult to navigate for example, your customers can’t get to where they need to go to place an order, and will get frustrated and go elsewhere for that product or service. If the message on your personal website is boring or uninteresting, no one will read it - so what good is the time and effort you’ve spent designing it? Websites are about communication - either business or personal.
The most widely used and effective form of encryption is SSL - or Secure Socket Layer - which simply means that the data transfer between your website, as well as any data entered by your customers, such as credit card information, is encrypted or encoded when transferred between the customer’s browser and your server. This technology isn’t foolproof in terms of invincibility, but it does assure your customers that their information cannot be seen or decoded by a hacker while the data is in transit.
Many times website owners approach a professional designer and ask: what would it cost to set up a simple, 10-page website? This question usually brings back a flood of questions from the designer - what exactly are you looking for? Do you need a custom logo designed for your company? How about a merchant gateway? Inventory options? Are you planning on using videos on your site? What about integrating flash components into your overall presentation?
Encryption and security are significant considerations for your website - with identity theft and credit card fraud on the rise, it’s increasingly important to ensure that your customers are as safe as possible from internet hackers and thieves. E-commerce is possible because commercial websites can process credit card and other forms of electronics safely and securely, thus ensuring customer financial information is kept confidential.
A merchant gateway acts as an interface between your website and your bank - it allows customers to place orders using a credit card, or sometimes an e-check, or Paypal, or some similar method of transferring money electronically - the customer gets the product or service ordered, you get the money transferred into your bank account. A gateway essentially functions in the same manner as a credit card processing machine in a brick-and-mortar store.
In today’s world, businesses in particular are viewed as being behind the times if they don’t have a website - but having a poor website is almost as bad as having no website at all. Interesting graphics, flash features, videos, easy navigation - all these items are usually components of a well-designed web site. Unfortunately, most business owners lack the technical and graphic skills to properly design a functional and effective website that will promote their business and produce sales.