We use a San Antonio metro
phone line and a San Antonio Internet provider. A computer consulting firm in
Corpus Christi designed our thirteen web pages. On average, these pages receive
500 hits per month. Seldom does a business day pass that we do not receive several
Internet inquiries.
Currently, business transactions
take place via the telephone since the Internet is not secure for the transmission
of charge card information. This lack of security is being addressed by several
computer program firms and the credit card companies. In the case of a company
that offers a product or service which is needed anywhere in the world, the
Internet provides an inexpensive medium by which a company's web site can reach
literally millions of customers.
Consumers are relying more
and more each day on their computers to conduct daily activities. They can buy
products, make travel reservations, place stock market orders, and conduct bank
transactions. Internet users are both men and women, all different ages, all
different backgrounds.
Submit Web Pages To Various
Search Engines:
It is important to submit
your company's web pages to all of the Internet search engines. These companies
index and list your pages based on key words taken from the web text. Now, a
person who is online can search and locate your firm's web site and e-mail address
by the type of product or service that you offer. Some of the search engines
on the Internet are: Yahoo, Excite, Alta Vista and Web Crawler.
Advertise Your Web Site
and E-Mail Address
Companies should print
their web site and e-mail address in their written advertisements and company
brochures. This way, a prospective customer may click on your catalog or home
page on the Internet and place an order. This world wide exposure is available
at an extremely reasonable cost.
In browsing the Internet,
you will find web pages owned and operated by firms that sell ad space to other
businesses in their local area such as auto dealers, restaurants, and tourist
attractions. Thus, a company which is not itself online on the Internet can
still advertise on the world wide web.
I hope the following answers
will help explain the process of company web pages on the Internet:
Q: How is finding information from a printed catalog different from finding information from a web page?
Ans.: To find information
from a printed catalog, one usually looks at the Table of Contents and then
turns manually to that section which he or she wants to read. With web pages,
ours were designed using separate pages for different sections. This enables
the Internet user to simply "click on" that section of the catalog
that is of interest. This makes the web page concept very user friendly.
Q: How does one "turn" catalog pages in the Internet?
Ans.: You turn catalog
pages by clicking on the index page at the bottom of each web page or by clicking
on the foward or back boxes on the screen.
Q: What seems to keep catalog viewers interested in "turning" more pages?
Ans.: An Internet user
doesn't have to read all 13 web pages to find the information that they want
to see. Note: Our 13 web pages = 48 pages of catalog text. Many web pages use
illustrations and fill in the boxes format to keep users going down the page.
Q: How is a printed catalog different from a catalog in web pages?
Ans.: The printed catalog is the pattern that appears on your web page. Illustrations can be added easily, but the catalog can look the same.
Caution: if you clutter
your web page with graphics and illustrations,it will often take longer than
a computer user wants to wait in order to see your web page. This is particularly
true if the Internet user is using a slow computer to bring up your page.
Q: If someone did not know your URL address, in what kind of searches would your company's name come up?
Ans.: First, get online to the Internet, click on a search engine, say, Yahoo.
Enter a key word that would
best describe the product that we list in our web pages.Say "auto parts"
for example. Yahoo will bring up a list of web pages that have that or a similar
key word in their text. The search engine can even bring up our web pages when
someone on the Internet enters the part number of an item in our catalog.
Q: If someone wanted to submit a web page to a search engine, what kinds of considerations would go into deciding which key words to give?
Ans.: If your catalog offers
swimming pool supplies for example, then consider using the words: pool supplies,
chlorine, water activities, lifeguard equipment. Who Where? is a search engine
which you submit your company name, the owners names, location and email
address to and it will find your web pages on the Internet.
Q: If someone in Seguin wanted to place an ad in the Internet, how would they go about it?Where would they start?
Ans.: If you are in Seguin,
I would start by joining the Seguin Internet Club.Then, locate a member who
is online on the Internet. Surf the Internet looking up web sites that
offer similar goods or services as you. This browsing process will present many
different ideas/concepts for your own web pages.
Often, the firm that designed
the web site that you are veiwing will have its name and email address
on the page. Thus, you can contact them to design your pages. Simply tell them
what you want and they will create it for you and submit it to the various search
engines. All at a fee.
Mark and Dixie Smith
Web Address: http://www.blake.com/oemcarbs/
E-Mail Address: oemcarbs@connecti.com
To contribute to this column or to offer ideas for the column or the Seguin
Internet Club, contact:
Gloria Rivera 303-4764 riverag@connecti.com
Jerry Weers 303-0818 weersjt@texas.net
Alton Hierholzer 303-9260 altonh@connecti.com
The next scheduled meeting of the Seguin Internet Club is Saturday July 13, at 10 am. at the Seguin-Guadalupe County Public Library.
Web Address: http://lonestar.texas.net/~weersjt/club/home.html