This site has been defunct since 2005.
It remains here as a reminder of the “cutting edge” in 2003.
Internet Presence Consulting
Why do you want to have an Internet presence? I dunno. Carefully consider your answers to the following questions before you approach a development company:
- What do you expect your Internet presence to achieve?
- At whom is your website aimed?
- What does your website provide that the target audience need?
- Can non-web aspects of your Internet presence enhance your target audience's contact with you?
- Never sign off on a web site until you've seen it on the same class of network connection as your target audience uses.
- How will your site be promoted?
Armed with your answers to these questions, you can avoid one of the most common pitfalls — that of having a pretty website that achieves nothing. Web development companies are invariably expert at presentation, but cannot know what you need.
Since the Internet came to business prominence internationally around 1995, web development companies have made fortunes presenting their clients with a variation on the theme of adaptation of an existing corporate image to an attractive web presence that is entirely devoid of substantive content. It is perfectly OK to want a web site that simply says what you do and how to contact you, but you should know that this is all that you need and, thereby, avoid paying huge sums of money for fluff that nobody will ever read.
Although the Internet is becoming increasingly web-centric, remember that the Internet is more than just the web. As just two examples, ftp is better suited to supplying large files, and mailing-lists can be used to great effect for peer-support and discussion.
Quick Case Studies
In the past, we have implemented:
- The multiple award-winning LeavingCert.net which came to be Ireland's premier educational website; it was subsequently sold to Intel.
- The call-management, user accounting, billing, and online payment systems for the 5th largest IP telephony site in the world.
- Back-ends for a number of prominent Irish online shopping sites.
- The highly-accessible online sales and support site for the world's premier ECDL manual.
