Frequently Asked Questions

1. What type services does Aardvark Communications provide?
2. Can Aardvark handle regular updates?
3. Can Aardvark provide reporting tools for my site?
4. Does Aardvark provide consulting services?
5. Who is behind Aardvark Communications?
6. How do I get a hold of Aardvark Communications?
7. What does Aardvark need from me to get started?
8. Once my site is launched, then what?
9. Our business isn't located in Southern Ontario. Can we hire your services from a distance?
10. How do I start?
11. How will people find our site?
12. How can we get visitors to come back to our site?
13. Any other advice before we start?

1. What services does Aardvark provide?

Aardvark provides a wide range of web services including site design, site hosting and ongoing maintenance. All our services are geared to small and medium-sized businesses. Complete services.

2. Can Aardvark handle regular updates?

Yes. Aardvark can update your site on a regular basis such as posting a monthly special, publishing a PDF document, news releases, product announcements, etc. This service can be a one time occurance or a routine function. Its up to you.

3. Can Aardvark provide reporting tools for my site?

Yes. Any site that is hosted by Aardvark Communications has the option of subscribing to our reporting tools. This report can be as simple as a hits counter on your site or as detailed as individual web page traffic, your visitors' country of orgin, how long a visitor stayed, from what site did they link to your site, and what type of browser & operating system they use. Plus much more. (see sample)

4. Does Aardvark provide consulting services?

Yes. Aardvark Communications has been around since 1996, thats a long time in this industry. If your organization is looking to establish or re-fresh its web pressense then a plan of action is required. We can help you create this plan by meeting with you, understanding your needs and creating a plan of action. Set up a consultation now.

5. Who is behind Aardvark Communications?

The webmaster & president since the inception of Aardvark Communications in 1996 is Fabrizio Napoleone (BA Business, BA Communications, CCTC). Fab is a certfied web developer with extensive training and experience of various business models and their corresponding online presence. If you require services that are outside of our range of expertise, Aardvark has built strategic partnerships with professional associates who can deliver. In this type of case, Aardvark acts as a general contractor, making sure all the components of your web project come together on budget and on time.

6. How do I get a hold of Aardvark Communications?

Simple. Click here.

7. What does Aardvark need from me to get started?

A get-to-know you meeting with your potential webmaster is always a good place to start. At that meeting you should present any past marketing materials you have used over the years; printed brochures, catalogues, sales tools, flyers, etc. You should have some idea of the type of site you want and exactly what you want it to accomplish for you. This is a great place to start! Set up a meeting now.

8. Once my site is launched, then what?

Search Engines: Once your site is launched we will register your site's URL with search engines. Basic hosting plans calls for submission to the 12 most widely used search engines twice per year. A more agressive approach can include submission to 70+ search engines on a more regular basis. We can create a submission plan based on what you need.

Forms & Email: After your site is launched make sure to ask for feedback from your visitors and then moniter your feedback forms. These people will tell you what they liked and disliked about your site.

Offline: Most internet users are still firmly rooted in the off-line world, therefore an effective use of traditional off-line promotion is an important consideration for your overall web site promotional strategy. An effective off-line promotion plan can be as simple as adding your URL to your current advertisements, business cards, and stationary or as powerful as an integrated campaign that uses the interactivity of the Web to support and enhance your off-line promotion.

We will work with your advertising agency or in-house marketing staff to ensure that the on-line and off-line elements of your promotions are working together to promote your business. Don't have any ad agency? No problem; we have associate status with a top-line marketing firm.

9. Can we hire your services from a distance?

Absolutetly. That's the beauty of the internet! We make extensive use of the web to keep in touch with our clients. In fact, many are from the USA (and take advantage of the exchange rate) and we have never met them in person, and yet they couldn't be happier with our services. References are available.

10. How do I start?

The process is really quite simple and will require a minimal amount of time on your part. As mentioned earlier, it is important to have a good idea of what your goals are for your web site. Perhaps you wish to create new leads, take orders directly over the Internet, or simply provide viewers with extensive information on your products and services.

Its always helpful to do some research and see what others with similar sites are doing. This can give you ideas that you may wish to incorporate into your own site. Once you have a fairly concrete idea what you want to do with your site, the only major decision is how to structure it. That is, how to organize it; what information will go on which page. These questions can be discussed during the consultation process. Once you have made this decision, you can work out the details such as:

1 - approximate number of pages. 2 - number of graphics (e.g., photos, logos, diagrams, maps, etc.). 3 - volume of content (or text information). 4 - type of features (e.g., scrolling messages, fill-out response forms, animations, frames, chat room, sounds clips, password protected directories, etc.).

Once we have this information, we can provide to you a proposal containing a detailed description of the project, and the total cost. If you approve the proposal, your site is only a few weeks away.

11. How will people find our site?

As part of every website project, we submit your URL address to a minimum of 12 Internet "search engines" and Web directory services. You may have heard of some of these: Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, Webcrawler, Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, Hotbot, etc.

If someone is searching for information on a particular topic on the web, they will start with one of these search services and enter one or more keywords, which generates a list of sites they can explore. With the right combination of keywords, your site will be on this list. It is important to keep in mind, however, that it does take some time to start generating significant traffic for any new site. Generally, we find that in the first four to six months many of the "hits" at your site will be people who found your address on business cards, letterhead, promotional materials, etc., and then visit your site for more information. After the first few months, a much higher proportion of hits will come from viewers who actually found your site on the Internet through the search engines.

12. How can we get visitors to come back to our site?

Great Question! This is the most overlooked resource for traffic on the web. The best way to get people to revisit your site is to make it dynamic. Have some section on your site change on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly). A monthly special, clearance items, chat room, recent projects, news releases are just some methods to keep visitor coming back.

Q13. Any other advice before we start?

Don't over-estimate your site's potential in the first few months, but don't under-estimate it's value over the first few years. Your potential market will expand from the geographic area you currently serve to virtually anyone in the world with Internet access.

The demographics are very favourable: Internet usage is expanding in all sectors of society, but most users tend to be young to middle-aged, better educated than average, and more affluent with more disposable income than average. And running your site will not be difficult. You will merely need to check your e-mail on a regular basis, and perhaps make occasional updates.

A Web site is much more flexible than printed information. If you need to change something, it takes just a few minutes to go in and make the necessary changes, which are immediately available for all to see. Develop a plan for your site, as it evolves over time - you will find it to be an invaluable tool for easy and inexpensive information distribution.

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