At a minimum, you should have an Internet Merchant Account, a shopping cart and a secure web server. The merchant account allows you to accept credit cards. The shopping cart, of course, allows for online transactions. And the secure web server protects the information that is transferred over the internet. Our designers can help you with these and other e-commerce options. To find more information about setting up an Internet Merchant Account, go to:

www.soltrus.com (CANADA)
www.verisign.com (US)

To ensure that search engines can find your site, you'll need to understand a concept called "Web Optimization". Web optimization is a series of steps undertaken at development (or after the fact). To learn more about web optimization download our presentation here.

Our consultant will sit down with you and understand your needs, we will analyze your problem and provide you with the best solution.

There are numerous ways to deal with content editing. Most often, our client will choose to purchase a support plan which allows them a set number of support hours for content changes. Alternatively, we can develop custom content administration sites which can allow you full control of your content. This option can cost significantly more.

There are also products that can be purchased from companies like Macromedia (Contribute), which allow us to help you to edit and publish your own content rather affordably. Call us and we'll discuss all your options.

No company stays the same for long and no website should either. Smart websites are designed from the start with expansion in mind. It is much better to start with an intelligently designed smaller site which can be expanded gradually, then allocate any additional money in your budget over time for adequate site expansion. We understand the changing nature of technology and we design all our sites to be scalable; as you grow, your web site will grow with you.

It is important to consider several things when designing a website. Customers tend to gravitate towards sites that consistently provide the following information.

• Comprehensive information about the company
• Product and service sections that sell products online or at least provide as much technical information as to make an informed decision to purchase
• Information that stimulates the interests of the target market
• Online "customer support" 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week
• News and related information that constantly updates
• A method of gathering visitor feedback
• Login information for employees and client
• Employment opportunities that regularly update
• Links to affiliates which promote good business-to-business relationships