Riding The Wave

A day doesn’t go by where we see or hear the statement, "Visit our Web site on the Internet!" The Internet has become a key communications medium. Web developers and Web service businesses are creating new concepts and technologies that push Web technology far beyond the original intent of linking research documents over a network. E-commerce (electronic commerce) and Web server push technology (automatic Web content delivery) can have a major impact on the way companies conduct business with clients.

There is a rush to put one’s business on the Web and "catch the wave" of Web surfers. However, with everyone else creating a presence on the Web, one can quickly become just a single worker among thousands of other termites in a colony. So what are the steps in establishing a Web site that will attract current and potential clients and customers?

Digital publishing on the Web. All aspects of creating appealing, attractive and informative materials for print publications and electronic media (i.e., radio, television) apply to digital documents found on Web sites. Along with standard publishing concepts comes an additional set of concepts unique to Web technology. In many situations, Web development involves a mix of publishing and software development.

As with any new technology, there is often a unique set of terms. Here are some Internet-related terms:

• Internet: A worldwide network of computer networks connected together in such a way that one can easily transfer information between computer networks regardless of the type of individual network.

• IP Address: The street address" of a computer system or related hardware connected to a network.

• Domain Name or Host Name: An understandable alternative to the more cryptic IP address. Which is easier to identify and remember — 198.30.209 or www.pctonline.com?

• Internet Service Provider: A company providing a connection to the Internet.

• World Wide Web: A global collection of linked documents using the Internet as the connection scheme. All components of the Web follow certain rules for formatting, browsing and transferring Web documents to allow for access and viewing on a wide variety of computer systems.

• Intranet: Computer information systems using the same technology as the World Wide Web except that intranets are local (or internal) to an organization while the Web is public.

• Web Server: A computer system connected to a network, possibly the Internet, with the software to store and display Web documents.

• Web Site: A collection of documents on a Web server.

• Web Page: One document on a Web site. A "home page" is the first Web page or starting point to a Web site.

• Web Browser: Software used to view Web pages on a Web site and navigate to different Web pages.

• Webmaster: One who manages a Web site. Usually the Webmaster is responsible for organizing and managing the Web pages contained in a Web site.

• Web Server Administrator: One who manages the hardware, operating system and software of a Web server.

Should you publish on the Web? Because the Web is another communications medium, one should ask the same questions as any other medium. Why should you establish a Web presence? The answer "because everybody else is publishing on the Web" is not the best answer. Using the Web as an electronic billboard to advertise a company will draw little attention. There must a purpose to establishing a Web presence that benefits the company and its customers.

Because many Web visitors spend money to connect to the Web, they expect value when they visit a Web site. Publishing only a digital version of an advertisement does not provide much value to the Web visitor. Making catalogs and fact sheets into digital documents for publishing on the Web can provide an additional means of distributing useful information while potentially holding down costs usually associated with the distribution of other media versions.

When should you go online? With all the hype occurring on the importance of establishing a presence on the Web, there is a sense of urgency to "get on the Web now!" Before one Web page is coded, time should be spent in establishing the goals, objectives, guidelines and procedures for a site. Fortunately, the dynamic nature of the Web allows for rapid updating of the Web site. Unlike print materials, one can establish an introductory Web site and add features and services later.

All Web pages are based on a fairly standard set of formatting rules for the display of documents. Web pages that follow Hyper-Text Markup Language ( HTML) standards allow users to view most Web documents regardless of the computer platform.

Once Web pages are developed, Web files need to be published and transferred to a Web server. The Web server delivers pages through the Web when requested by Web browsers.

For most small to medium-size pest control companies, a Web publishing and marketing company is the most effective route to do this. Your company provides the content and the Web publisher provides the expertise and resources in publishing a Web site on their Web servers. Several companies also provide domain name registration to provide your Web site with a unique Web address.

Getting connected. Once the Web site is developed and published on a Web server, one needs to connect into the Internet. Several options exist for connecting into the Internet ranging from very fast (and costly) T1/T3 direct connections to moderate- and low-speed modems. Most Web publishing services provide the connection into the Internet through their Web servers.

Regardless of the means used to establish a presence on the Web, one must plan on continued Web management whether it is through the services of a Web publisher or your own server.