1.) What are the benefits of a website?

Increased Exposure
Your business is now able to be visited by customers from all over the world. Though you may only have a small restaurant in a small town, your menu is now available to all who may be passing through your town. Your unique hair styles presented by your salon, your discount pricing on dvd recorders, your book on weight loss, your new wedding chapel and catering business... All of these items are perfect for the internet. If people are searching for your product or service, you need a website.

Increased Sales
Your business is normally driven by sales, some source of revenue coming in from your product or service. We'll use our business as an example. We have been in the printing business since 1987, and though we did a few jobs from distant sources, most of our work came from the customers that passed by our shop, saw our ad in the telephone directory or simply word of mouth. Most of these customers lived in a 20 mile radius from us. Once we launched our website and got listed in the search engines, we now have a customer base that has reached across the United States, into Canada, Mexico, England, Brazil, Africa, etc. We count at least 85% of our business from outside of our 20 mile radius now. So as you can see, if you have a product that can be sold and shipped, consulted, emailed, electronically delivered and etc, a website can certainly increase your bottom line. You're in business to make Money - and to make it, you can't waste it. A website is the world's most effective use of Money to purchase Media to Market to the Masses. The Internet is a very affordable Media and it functions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no labor costs to watch it. The Internet has the most inexpensive and widespread marketing capabilities ever seen - period! And a website offers your services to the Masses. Statistics show that the Internet is an excellent way to market your business and sell your products and services. More and more customers are logging on and making purchases, buying services and researching choices and information through the Internet. 

Improved Customer Service
Remember the days when you needed to find a company's phone # and you scoured the phone book, searching and searching. Or you had to call and wait for a customer service agent to give you your balance or take your check over the phone. How hard was it to track the status of an order you had placed via mail order. A website gives you the ability to make your customer a happy customer by providing him with the means to contact you, check order status, find all of your important contact names and #'s, send you email and also let's you communicate with them via electronic forms, pdf catalogs, and so much more. Interactive online chats, instant messaging, online fax. The possibilities are great.

Global Reach
Your website creates a global environment for your business. Using FEDEX, DHL, UPS and other carriers plus a merchant account to accept credit cards or third party payment processor such as PayPal, you now can effectively sell your product or service to just about anyone in the world.

Up to Date Info
Don't you wish you would have put your address on those 20,000 brochures you mailed out last week. And the price on the newspaper ad was not quite right. A website allows you to send out timely information and update it quickly. Need to change a price online. Done. Need to upload a new picture of a popular product. Done. Need to add or change an employees contact info. Done. Imagine you sell products whose prices fluctuate. With a website, you can change these prices every time they go up or down, so your marketing materials are always accurate. 

Effective Leveraging
So you're a small company. So are we. But an effective website design and implementation allows the small company to compete with the big guys. This means a small business can present as large or creative an image on the Internet as a bigger company .

24 hour Operation
So you close at 5:00. No problem. Your website can continue working long into the night while you're in bed. Your company doesn't have to shut down it's customer service. Interactive faq pages, sophisticated search functions and and more can be put in place to give your customers vital information and when that's not enough they can send you email, or custom cell phone messages to reach your staff so that on the next business day, business is up and running. Your customers will feel more connected. For every second of every day, your website is working for you! 

Cost Effective
Websites are a cost effective addition to your normal range of business operations. In no way do we suggest not printing standard business products, such as flyers and mailouts, using standard advertising mediums such as newspaper and magazines. Websites can be a truly effective supplement to your business and when used with traditional advertising and marketing tools, can greatly enhance your companies image and bottom line.

2.) What do you need for a website? 

Domain Name:Though you can host your site on a template system and share their domain, such as, http://members.aol.com/your business. it is considered much more professional to have your own address such as www.yourbusiness.com

Email Address: You need at least one email address to conduct online business. With your standard domain name should come at least 1 email address, such as you@yourbusiness.com. This is considered more professional than yourbusiness@yahoo.com or similar, though there are many businesses that use the free email addresses.

ISP: To access the internet you will need to have an ISP or internet service provider. Companies such as Earthlink, AOL, SBC Global, Road Runner, Comcast and others provide dial-up, DSL, ISDN and Cable Modem Access. Internet connectivity will allow you to view your website, send email, update your site, instant message customers and more.

WEB HOST: A web host is the company that actually stores your website and manages your web email accounts. There are many host providers and offer a wide range of prices. Some we recommend are.

COMPUTER: Of course if you have an email address and an ISP you must have a computer. Try to get the most up to date computer you can, with adequate memory, hard drive space, and a good monitor, crt or flatscreen up to 17". Either a Macintosh or PC is great choice for web work. We recommended Apple, HP,

4.) Can I purchase online?
We can design a website for you no matter what part of the world you live in.  There are several ways you can send us your information.  If you already have digitized photos and text files, i.e.. Word documents and gif and or jpg images, you can email them to us.  If not, you can mail or FedEx us the information that you want on your website.

5.) How does Dallas Card Works Web Design create my website?
First, we determine the exact goals of the client's website. If, for instance, you are selling a tangible product then the goal would be a site that has your product listings, pictures, descriptions, prices and shipping information in an on-line catalog. The end goal being a website enabling the consumer to easily view, gather information about and then purchase these products on-line (e-commerce). In addition to these basic goals, there is the more far reaching and highly important goal of determining how this site will fit in with your marketing strategy. All these facts are formulated in a design layout that describes the fundamental business strategy behind the client's website. In essence, we want to ensure that we, as the website design team, fully understand what is required to satisfy our client's ultimate Internet and marketing goals. 

Secondly, our design team works with the client to create a basic visual layout of how the site will appear on the screen. This can be as simple as being drawn out by the client on a plain piece of paper, using a word processor or even by showing us another website that looks like what you want your site to look like. In this step, we might make suggestions about adding any additional functions that are absolutely necessary or that might be useful. This step is our outline for the actual website. 

The third step is to map the flow of the site from the consumers' point of view in order to ensure that potential customers can easily navigate from the entry point through to the main content pages (and all other pages within the site). This is done by providing intuitive and thorough navigational tools. In this last step, we combine all the above information (marketing strategies, e-commerce, and visual layout) and come up with the final and complete website design plan. Our design team registers the client's domain name, activates the client's host account, codes the pages and implements any other functions necessary to make the client's website functional. We fully test all components of the site. Then we submit the site in beta (or test) format for the client to view and approve. If any additions or adaptations are necessary, they are made at this point. The site is re-tested and then re-submitted for the client's final approval. Next, the site is uploaded to our server with a final test of all the site's functions. 

Finally, when we are sure the test is in perfect order and the client is satisfied, the site is submitted to search engines and/or directories and the client is instructed to implement any additional marketing strategies. Viola´! Your website is ready for the world to see! 

6.) Do you redesign existing sites? Yes. We can usually redesign an existing site more quickly, and for less money, than building one from scratch. Send us your existing site's URL (Web address) and a general idea of what you'd like to do, and we'll be glad to give you an estimate.

7.) Your services seem geared towards business.  Do you design websites for individuals, too? Of course! Our competitive and flexible pricing makes professional website design affordable for individuals and organizations. We can build a website for your club; a family reunion, wedding, or other special event; a tribute to a special person—the possibilities are endless. Tell us what you have in mind.

8.) What costs will be involved with establishing a website?
There are three cost elements involved with developing a website and putting it on the Internet. 
1. Website Development, Design and Start-Up Costs: This refers to paying a website design firm to create the site and place the site in search engine registrations worldwide. Costs also include buying a domain name and a small fee for your host server configuration. Included in this fee, at no cost, is advice or help in marketing your website. Your website's final costs vary and are proportional to site size and capabilities. Contact Dallas Card Works Web Design for a free price quote. (We recommend never building a website without a fixed cost quote in hand.) 
2. Domain Hosting: Very affordable monthly fee 
3. Periodic Editing, Update and Edits/Additions: Proportional to amount of monthly work required. 

9.) If I buy a website from you do I own it? Will I get to keep it if I decide to hire somebody else down the road?
Yes, once the website is complete you "own" it.  Our clients are not obligated to host with us (even though most do) and are always free to have anyone they want work on their website.

Contact us today for more information.