Streamlynx Web Presence Services

A. Select a domain name. The process of finding the right domain name can be a bit tricky, as so many names have already been registered. Many organizations choose to register multiple domain names in order to "block in" a subject (such as travel, east coast travel, east coast lodging, etc.) and then point all of the domains to the primary website. If you have not already acquired your domain name(s), Streamlynx consultants can help you with this.

B. Determine the type of site that will best reach your audience. If your organization sells kites, you may want a point of sale site with streaming media of your kites in action. If you have a travel site, you may want a forum, chat rooms and lots of interaction with your visitors. If you have an informational site, you may wish to use web ads to help to offset the costs of running your site Your site can feature any or all of these elements.

C. Determine what content will best represent your offering. A point of sale site will need pictures and descriptions of the products/services that you sell. The more information that you can give to your potential customers, the better chance you have of completing the sale. An informational site should be full of useful information, the more information you can supply, the better the chance that your site will be visited again, or referred to another visitor. At Streamlynx, we have found that the use of lots of pictures and streaming media can truly enhance the effectiveness of your site. However, we don't ignore the fact that the search engines are looking primarily for text, so we encourage a healthy mix of readable text along with plenty of pictures and other rich media (i.e. streaming audio, video and Flash).

D. Plan to keep your site relevant. This is sometimes referred to as making your site "sticky". One of the things that can turn away repeat visitors is seeing your site exactly as it was the last time they visited. By utilizing news flashes, RSS feeds, special offers, forums, chats and other devices, you can keep your visitors interested and keep them coming back. Inviting your visitors to rate your products, services or the content of your site keeps them involved.

E. Stay in touch with your visitors. At Streamlynx we encourage our clients to utilize an email marketing service such as the excellent solution offered by Constant Contact to keep in touch via email announcements, newsletters and surveys.

F. Build a website you can afford to maintain. If you plan to manage the maintenance of your site within your organization, be sure that you have the talent and resources to manage and maintain the site that you create. If you have a budget to hire an outside service to handle your website, make sure you know the "hidden costs" that can occur and hire the most appropriate service firm that you can afford.

G. Choose a reliable hosting provider. When you are preparing to launch your site, you will need to select a reliable hosting provider. While there are many "cheap deals" out there that will provide web hosting services, there are only a few who truly deliver on the promise of service and reliability. At Streamlynx, we have partnered with Verio (an NTT company) to provide the most reliable hosting services for our clients. When you purchase a site development package from Streamlynx you will receive complimentary hosting through Verio*. You may choose to use any hosting provider, however, we recommend a top-rated provider such as Verio for their long-standing track record of reliability and service.

H. Maximize your web presence. By the time you have launched your site, you will have made a signifcant investment in time and money to launch your web presence. To make the most of your investment, we recommend that you hire a reliable service provider, such as the professionals at Streamlynx, to help you to build and maintain your web presence.