Website Design

Do You Really Need a Professional Website Designer?

There are many ways to create a website for your business. Dozens of software packages promise "no experience required." You may have friends or relatives with personal homepages who would be glad to help you put together a site. So why hire a professional?

Unless you're an established company like IBM or Wal-Mart, your visitors will judge you by your website's appearance and functionality. Think about it: If you walked into a local supermarket and found the shopping carts broken, the floors dirty, the products disorganized and difficult to find—would you shop there? Or would you go somewhere else? Remember, every store on the Web is in the same location: The customer's computer screen. Leaving one store and finding another is as simple as a few clicks.

Would you ask the teenager next door what to wear for a job interview? Should your company use printed business cards, or handwritten slips of paper? Would you give your credit card information to someone selling merchandise out of the trunk of their car?

If you take your business seriously, you want others to take it seriously, too.

Why Choose Us?

You know your business in and out. However, you may not know how to communicate your knowledge in an online world. That's where we come in.

CompuNet Services has the expertise to leverage your business online. Building a successful website is more than programming HTML or designing fancy graphics. It's knowing the subtleties of website usability. It's knowing how to combine the practical (proven technologies) with the intuitive (creativity and innovation). It's knowing how to give you an online presence with maximum potential.

It couldn't be a better time to go online! Website technologies have matured; it's much easier deciding which tools will work best for you. And while new and exciting methods are constantly emerging, we never rely on them until they have been proven consistent and reliable.

People Technologies

A successful website is a blend of art and science. Despite dramatic advances in computer technology, the ability to create artistic meaning is still solidly in the human domain. Here are some of the services the talented artists at CompuNet Services can provide you:

	•	WEBSITE PLANNING
		Designing your website's overall "look and feel". This includes navigation systems, font choices, color combinations, graphic style, and so on. These elements combine to set your site's tone and personality—a cohesive and attractive interface that makes visitors feel comfortable.
	•	GRAPHICS
		No matter what information you have to share, graphics—pictures, designs, and decorative text—are an essential part of your website. They get (and keep) your visitors' attention; entertain them; and help them navigate their way through your pages.
	•	COPY EDITING AND PROOFING
		It's amazing how many websites have elaborate graphics and advanced interactivity—and are full of errors in grammar, punctuation, and style. That's unacceptable, particularly for a business site. CompuNet Services maintains full-time writers and editors—something that few website design services offer.

Internet Technologies

Internet technologies work behind the scenes to bring the magic of the Web to millions of homes and businesses. They allow people to interact with websites on a personal level. Here are some of the basic technology services CompuNet Services can provide you:

	•	HTML CODING
		HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the basic language behind almost every page on the Web. It determines the style and formatting of text; where graphics should appear; and where links should take you when you click them.
	•	GRAPHICS
		Animated images, buttons, menus, and other graphics are powerful tools when used well, and CompuNet Services can put these tools to work for you. It's important, however, that all your graphics—static or animated—download quickly. Slow-loading graphics drive visitors away. Our graphic experts optimize all graphics for fast transmission.
	•	FORMS PROCESSING
		Online forms let you gather data from your visitors. This data is either e-mailed to you or saved as a hidden file on your Web server. Whether it's a simple page for visitor feedback or an extensive sales inquiry, online forms are an easy way to add interactivity to your site.
	•	MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE-BASED WEBSITES
		Many of our clients want professionally-designed websites that they can maintain themselves. For these clients, we recommend Microsoft FrontPage. It's easy to learn, easy to use, and powerful enough to handle most website-editing tasks. CompuNet Services designers are FrontPage experts. On request, they will gladly build you a FrontPage-based site that's organized for easy maintenance. To learn more about Microsoft FrontPage, visit http://microsoft.com/frontpage.

See examples of our graphics and other work in our Showcase section. You can also read our FAQ for more about all our Web-related services.

Beyond the Basics

Although a lot can be done with simple HTML and some tasteful graphics, additional technologies can make your website "sing." Here are some of CompuNet Services advanced services.

	•	MULTIMEDIA
		Multimedia adds excitement to your website and sets it apart from the average sites. Online video is a great way to showcase your products, and can even demonstrate their use. Streaming audio also has many applications, especially if your business is entertainment-related.
	•	JAVASCRIPT
		JavaScript is an standard way of adding advanced functionality to Web pages. JavaScript programs can be simple, like opening and closing windows—or complex, like powering full-featured e-commerce "shopping carts."
	•	DHTML & CSS
		DHTML (Dynamic HTML) is an extension to HTML that allows Web page elements to be manipulated before and after the page has loaded. (The drop-down menus at the top of this page use DHTML.) CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a DHTML feature which allows enhanced page formatting. When DHTML and CSS were created, many browsers were in use that didn't support these powerful tools, so they could not be widely applied. Now, with modern browsers on virtually every Net-user's computer, it's a perfect time to add DHTML/CSS's advanced functionality to your website.
	•	PERL CGI PROGRAMMING
		CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is the bridge that integrates advanced applications—like databases and online shopping carts—with a website. While CGI programs can be written in many computer languages, iCompuNet Services uses the industry-standard Perl language. Its open-ended structure allows easy updates and modifications to existing programs.

Extra Services

Our mission at CompuNet Services is to provide everything you need to get your Web-based business off the ground—including these valuable extra services:

	•	COPY WRITING
		Websites are tools for communication. You may have great ideas for an online business, but expressing those ideas to your customers is an art unto itself. Our staff writers are not just good communicators, they're website-copy specialists.
	•	LOGO DESIGN
		Is your business new—or are you looking for a new image? CompuNet Services graphic artists can work with you to create a logo that's professional-looking, individual, and memorable.

And that's not all! Visit our domains section to "make a name for yourself" on the Web, and our promotion section to get your site the attention it deserves. If you have questions about anything—whether you see it here or not—let us know.

Website Design

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