Why should you have a website?

What can a web site do for me?
There are many good reasons for having a web site:

• It is likely that many of your current and potential clients are computer-literate and have access to a computer. Not only that, but people also use the internet indirectly. For instance, someone who is not computer literate may ask a family member or friend to find info for them.
• Your competitors may already be online, tapping into a client base that you are missing out on.
• Having a web site shows that your business is alive and keeping up with the times.
• Adding your new web site's address to your current advertising allows your potential customers to get additional information about your business while at the same time allowing you to put less information into your potentially expensive advertising. You can mention your website to your customers and publish it in your newspaper and telephone directory ads. These are low cost, high return-on-investment ways for people to find your website. You can also have your web address printed on business cards and stationery.

How can a website help make or save money?
Like a brochure or a display ad, a website can bring new customers to your business. It's another way for people to find you.

A website can save time and money. Instead of 100 people calling and asking, "Can you send me information on your firm?" a number of them will help themselves to your information on the web. It can also help free up some of your staff's time by answering repetitive questions your customers have like "What are your hours?" and "How do I get to your office?".

Think of your website as the introduction before the introduction. Potential customers can find out information about you. You can design your website so they can also find out what makes you different and better than your competitors.

I'm just a local business serving local customers. What sense does the World Wide Web make for me?
A website can be designed to reach local audiences as well as national and international audiences. A local business website could serve your local customers. If you are a dentist, a current client can come to your site and find information about root canals (what the process is). He can find out about the pain relief options you offer. Later that same customer can refer his sister-in-law who's looking for a new dentist. The sister-in-law can come to your site read about your services and call for an appointment.

If you own a restaurant, your customers can see what's on the menu. They can see your delivery area then place an order through your website for pick up or delivery.

There are a growing number of people who reach for the web before they reach for the yellow pages.

Is a website an online brochure?
Yes and No, it can be a sort of online brochure, but a website is so much more. There are several big differences:

• A website is interactive; customers choose the information they want on your website. One customer comes to find directions to your business, another is looking at your prices, another customer is looking for your hours and phone number, another is happy to find a business that does what you do.
• A website can be changed and made available to all your customers and prospects much more quickly and cheaply than a brochure or any printed promotional material. A website is available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
• It's much cheaper than other media if you have to advertise to large numbers of people.

Do I need a computer to have a website?
Not at all. Everything can be handled with Lionzhead Web Hosting & Design. You can hire us to do your website.

What new skills will my company need once we have a website?
It depends. You can put up a simple site where potential customers find out about your business. They can call or visit you. This simple web presence will have absolutely no impact on your company's skill set and can still be quite successful.

At the next level, you may let your customers contact you via email.This means someone on your staff should read and respond to your email everyday. People who use email expect fast customer service. Or your clients can fill out an online application for your services. You'll have to retrieve and process these.

At another level, a staff member will need to pick up your online orders and process them. Or perhaps your staff members will need to learn how to update your site. As you can see, it depends on how involved you want your company to be. And you'll need to keep your eye on what your competition is providing and what your customers expect.

What factors should I consider before designing my site?
Your specific goals for your web site should be planned out well in advance prior to the actual site design begins. You may want to consider a few of these questions:

• What is the purpose of this site?
• What audience are you trying to reach/target?
• What should your customers get from your website?
• What and how many pages are going to be in this site?
• What is the easiest way to present this information?
• Are you trying to simply inform people, or do you want website viewers to purchase products, make reservations, or take other immediate actions?
• Should a customer be able to get all of your information/products from your site, or would you prefer that they call or visit you in person?
• Do you intend to use your site for e-commerce?

How long will it take to build a web site for me?
Generally, a basic web site would take about 1-2 weeks to publish. However, this will vary depending on your particular needs.

Will people be able to find my pages easily?
In most cases we can make your web site address the same as your company name so that people can type 'www.yourcompany.com' and bring your page right up. We can also register your site with all the major search engines so users can enter the name of your business, or keywords and they will come up with your web address.

How are your services better than your competition's?
Lionzhead is a small business, which allows us to put a stronger focus on customer service than larger companies can usually provide. Everything will be explained to you in terms you can understand. Our consultants and designers are patient and will take the time to help you with your needs. We'll do everything we can to accommodate you. Further, our competitive pricing and attention to detail is very difficult to match. We do not just offer web design OR web hosting but the entire package so all your company needs to deal with is one consultant, not several.

How much input can I have?
You will have input throughout the entire design process. It's your web site. Even after the site is up, if you need something enhanced, just let us know.

What graphics are you able to build?
We can take your logos, flyers, etc. and convert them to a format that will be very eye-catching on the web. If you don't have any type of logo built yet, Lionzhead can design it for you!

What customizing can you do?
Because of the resources we have access to, the sky's the limit as far as design creativity goes. Whether it is something from scratch, or a picture you have given us, the end result will be an on-screen product you'd be proud to show your potential customers.

Is there a minimum amount of work that I can have done?
There are no minimums or limits to the size or complexity of your web site.

What does "hosting a site" mean?
Hosting refers to where your web site is stored. Everything you see on the internet is saved on a computer somewhere. Hosting companies offer high powered computers for this purpose.