The Internet is rapidly becoming a valuable tool in reaching a vast number of people, both nationally and internationally.  Every day, hundreds of businesses are establishing a presence on the Internet. Whether it is to simply describe the services or products they offer, or to conduct transactions on-line, companies are benefiting from this low cost form of advertising.

Your web site can be as large or as small as you desire.  Web sites usually consist of graphics, pictures, text, and information gathering forms which users can fill out and send to the owner of the site.  Web sites reside on a computer (web server) which is connected to the Internet.  When a user enters your web site address, they are actually accessing the files on the web server, displaying the contents on their computer.  The do this usint a browser, a program used to display web sites.  Some browsers are: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, NCSA Mosaic, and AOL's browser, just to name a few.  These browsers access web sites on the Internet when connected to an Internet Service Provider.

A well designed web site is both informative and pleasing to the eye; informative to help the public understand the subject matter and pleasing to the eye to keep them coming back.  Having a section which is updated on a regular basis, such as a news letter or a facts page or a unique links page is also a way to ensure return visits.

Your web site can be thought of as a book.  The first web page people see, (home page), is like the cover of a book.  It is a sample of what to expect in the remainder of your site.  The remainder of your site consists of subsequent pages, each of which describes a different subject, similar to chapters in a book.  The number of additional pages depends on how much information you wish to present the viewer.  The following is an example typical commercial web site:  The home page and an additional page for products or services offered, history of the business or company, how to contact the business or company, a links page which would take visitors to other web sites of interest, a special interest page, and an on-line form which would allow the user to send information to you.

How is a web site designed?   The individual or business must first decide what they want included on the site.  A free consultation will enable us to estimate the number of pages your concept will take and how many pages are appropriate.  The number and type of graphics and/or pictures must also be addressed.  Pictures, documents and other media can be scanned into a digital version which, in turn, can be incorporated into your web site.  Custom graphics can also be created, such as the recreation of your logo.  Guardian Web Design can assist you in with the items mentioned in this paragraph. As web designers, we spend a great deal of time on the Internet and have seen thousands of web sites. This experience leads to quality judgment with respect to web site content.

Once your web site has been designed, it needs to be hosted on a web server.  This computer contains the files which constitute your web site. The computer is directly connected to the Internet, allowing users worldwide to view your site.  The amount of disk space needed on the web server is a function of the size and complexity of your web site. This file, which contains mostly text, would take up very little space (12K, or 12 thousand bytes) on a server.  Most web servers are capable of holding many gigabytes of data (billions of bytes)

Graphics usually take up more disk space that text files.  They can sometimes occupy more than 1MB (one million bytes) of space, although most demand around 35K (35 thousand bytes).  Experienced web designers will help to "compress" the images to a more manageable size. The smaller the image, the faster it will load on the users' computer.  Web hosting is a rental agreement. The customer rents a certain block of disk space on a web server.

Another consideration after the web site has been designed and hosted is web site maintenance.  Periodically, updates need to be made to keep a site current.  Links to other sites is a good example. A commonly occurring problem with web sites which link to other sites is when links become obsolete.  This occurs when a site no longer exists, loses its web host, or moves to a new web host.  When a visitor to your site clicks on a "dead link", they receive an error which can lead to frustration.  Web site maintenance includes periodic verification of links. If a link returns an error, the link is either repaired immediately, refering the viewwer to the correct site The link may be removed and research must be done to determine whether or not the site is still in existence. If your site has regular updates such things as: New product listings, a web newsletter, or.....whatever you have developed as an updatable area, you may opt for a maintenance package which includes a certain time allotment for web design (usually at a discounted rate).

What is a domain name? A domain name may be likened to a personal automobile license plate. When you see a web address, it typically looks as follows: companyname.com...  "companyname" is the heart of the domain name and it is chosen to represent your site.  "com" is the extension and , in this case, is short for commercial site.  Other extensions include net (network), edu (educational), org (organization), gov (government), mil (military), and a two letter extension for each country (us for the United States, uk for United Kingdom, it for Italy, ca for Canada, mx for Mexico, and so for each country on the world.

The domain name is selected by the owner of the site.  It is important to ensure that the name you choose is not already taken. InterNIC, who maintains a majority of the domain names, has a search mechanism to determine domain name availability.  Domain names are unique, once you reserve a name, it is yours and yours alone (provided you pay your dues on an annual basis).

Domain names are not free. They must be requested from InterNIC.  InterNIC registers your domain name over a large network.  This is the network that allows every browser to access your web site.  Charges for a domain name just went down in April 1998 to an initial charge of $70 USD which covers your first two years. Each subsequent year costs $35 USD.  Without registration, your domain name would not function on the Internet.  Most web hosting services will register your domain name for you.

A domain name is NOT required to have a web site. You can have your site reside under the domain number of another owner. In that scenario, your web site address may look like: http://www.theirdomain.com/yourcompany. This is not necessarily a negative, it just makes your address longer and you may cut down the number of visits to your site. This decrease in web visits would typically occur with high profile companies. For example, if someone wanted to know more about IBM but did not know IBM's web site address, they may intuitively try www.ibm.com. If this were not IBM's address, the user would receive an error. However, thanks to the proliferation of search engines, this is becoming less of a consideration. A search engine allows a user to enter a keyword or keywords relevant to what they are looking for. The result of a search is a list of web sites relating to the search criteria. This list is hyperlinked to the corresponding web sites.

The services mentioned above (web design, web hosting, scanning, graphic design, web site maintenance, and domain name registration) are services offered by Guardian Web Design. If you would like more information about our services, please contact us.  A free estimate will be provided upon request.

We hope that this information helps you to understand what web sites are and how they are created.

Guardian Web Design
looks forward to serving your web site needs.