Freqently Asked Questions (FAQS)

What programming languages does MCAW use?

We primarily use HTML, Flash, PHP, JAVA, and CSS. Click here for an HTML Glossary.

What about videos and pictures? Do you have any solutions for photo galleries and interactive content?

The big question is: what do you want to do with your photo gallery? Do you want to put up pictures once a year, or once a week? Do you have a photo editor program to resize the pictures for the web? Do you have descriptions to add to the pictures? These are all important questions.

There are many photo gallery solutions across the Internet. Some are perfect for small galleries, some are better for large galleries. The photo gallery program you pick should be easy to work with, including easy to upload to, and easy to edit. Here are some examples on pages that we have created:

Videos can be a great way to get in front of your customer in a very personal way. The main issue with videos is bandwidth, but many web surfers have high speed access, so this is less and less the case. A video solution for "speaking to the customer" is well within reach.

How do I get my site listed in search engines like Yahoo! and Google?

Entire companies have been formed solely to solve this concern. Search engine placement is at the top of every web owner's " to-do" list. In some industries where online business is well established (i.e. real estate, banking, printing, etc.), the search engine business is highly competitive. In other industries, typically where web site exposure is newer (i.e. new products, new services, etc.), placement at the top of search engines may be more easily obtainable.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the business of getting your web site as highly "ranked"/positioned as possible in the major search engines so that your site can be found on the Net. There are many available tools for this job that include free, pay per click (PPC), monthly charges for SEO campaign management, banner exchanges (free, but there are costs for setup) and others.

When we build a new web site, we first focus on "organic" search engine placement based on quality content. Second, we consult with you on your goals. Do you want to be the first listing on Google for certain search terms, or is it okay if your company comes up as the second result on Google? Third, what is your ongoing commitment to these goals? Do you have a budget for PPC? Do you want to manage the campaign yourself? Whatever your web placement goals are, we can help you achieve them.

Here is a web site with SEO information. If you're interested in how to improve your search engine ranking/page rank, we suggest that you subscribe to their newsletter. One of the best sources for SEO knowledge is Brucy Clay. This web site presents the art and science of search engine placement in a simple to understand, step-by-step process. Pictured at right is the SEO Relationship Chart that explains how search engines are related.

What if I want to sell goods online?

There are many ways to sell goods online. Most involve a monthly fee and/or percentage paid to the hosting company who has set up the shopping cart. Sometimes both. Other shopping carts are free/open source, and require a setup fee.

eBay has been widely successful because they put an easy-to-use shopping cart program (software) in front of people who could sell anything from "brick and mortar inventory" to things around the house. The biggest reason for their success, however, is that they drive lots of traffic to lots of people. Stores are great. People shopping at stores is better. eBay gets paid when you "list" an item, and again when you sell it.

A common scenario looks like this (with sample charges):

• A host provides you with their proprietary easy-to-manage store for $29.95 a month with a default template.
• To accept credit cards, you must pay a gateway processor, setup $99, monthly $30/month, sale percentage 2-5% (many times this depends on YOUR credit).

The lower-cost scenario that we often recommend is:

• OS Commerce (open source/free software) store, and have the store customized to your design (we have hundreds to choose from).
• Set up a PayPal account (free), sales percentage 2-3%.

Does MCAW host the web sites, or do you use a different company?

Hosting a web site has become very inexpensive in the last few years because storage (hard drive space) is less expensive and the market is highly competitive. Hosting ranges from $6-15/month, depending on your hosting needs. Web domains (.net, .org, .com, etc.) are $5.99/year. Click here to get new domains or web hosting. We can help you meet a variety of needs, including these tools: newsletter, simple databases and forms, SEO submission and monitoring tool, hundreds of e-mail address @yourdomain.com, chat, graphic archives, blog, web statistics, photo galleries and more.