Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between Web site design and Web site development?

Web site design is what you see in your browser. It's all the components that make your site visually appealing to sight visitors. Web site development applies to all the things you don't necessarily see in your Web site. It includes datadriven sites and a variety of other technologies that make your site more dynamic.

Q: What's the most important thing I can do for my Web site?

The first, most important thing you can do — before you even get to the design or redesign phase — is to determine who your target audience is and what do you want people to learn about you when they get to your site. Take the time to carefully plan this before you design. It'll save you a lot of time and money if you know who your want to reach and how to get site visitors to take the next step in becoming customers.

Q: How do I get my site listed in search engines?

The short answer to this question, assuming you will want to do this yourself at first, is to submit your site to the top search engines and directories. But before you do that — in fact well before you even build a site — determine your keyword phrases. These phrases must be included in title and header tags as well as your copy and links in your site. (Your Web professional can help you with this when building your site.) Once you have your keywords defined and in place, go to the top search engines and follow their submission guidelines. Most have text links at the bottom of the page. There's much more involved in submitting to search engines. Check out our search engine submission tips for more info.

Q: What exactly are keywords?

Keywords are descriptive words and phrases that describe your primary business and that people will use to search for your business using a search engine. For example if you are PR consultant, the phrase "PR consultant" is one of your keyword phrases. However, that phrase is highly competitive and your site could be lost among the thousands of other PR consulting sites. Therefore, it's best to further define what you do by adding another keyword or keyword phrase. In the example of a retail PR consultant, add the keyword "retail" to the phrase, creating a new keyword phrase of "retail PR consultant". Additionally, adding your marketing area will help as well, resulting in "retail PR consultant, massachusetts", for example. For more on keywords, what they are and how to create them for your business, you can try out a great tool called Word Tracker.