Pound for pound an Internet presence offers very cost effective marketing when compared against other forms of advertising activity and in this regard MCL have been designing and maintaining websites for all company sizes for a number of years. We have looked at the particular problems facing small and medium sized businesses, and have produced some particular solutions that ensure these smaller customer websites are both professional and cost effective. We offer completely managed packages as well as some for those who can maintain their own services. We complete the whole procedure where required, (registration of domain, preparation and design and final uploading, hosting and maintenance) so that our customers only need one point of contact. Unnecessary administration charges are reduced and we respond very quickly to our customer requests and modifications.

Six very good reasons why you should use us...

1. We understand design, marketing and computer issues.
There are designers who do not understand how to maximise a website, and many computer literate personnel who can't design at all but will sell you a website design anyway. Neither of these groups usually understand marketing strategy which simply means we understand the best way to design and produce your site for your target market, and then maximise it for search engines.

2. We own and manage our own servers. Many web design companies don't and that means their technical expertise and management of your site may be limited. They will also have to operate through third party providers thus reducing their response time and increasing the likelihood of problems.

3. Our customer service and support are second to none. With our completely managed services if you have a problem you won't be "number 15" in a queue and you don't pay extra for our business class support even self managed packages come with a high level of technical support.

4. We are very cost effective. Over a year our rates for hosting a website are very attractive when support and our full range of services are compared.

5. Our website designs are unique to your company. We don't use template designs and so your site will not resemble anyone else's'. These custom built sites are three times less expensive than those offered by BT for example.

6. You are not tied into lengthy or complicated contracts. All of our offers are renewable year on year with no special 'tie-ins'. (Please refer to our general terms and conditions available on request or on our website for 'special offer' services).

We realise that some of the issues involved in web site design, production and maintenance can be confusing and the following notes aim to assist and assume no prior knowledge, other than computer operation.

The most important single consideration, whether or not you wish to have a website immediately, is to register your name and protect it for future use. Registration charges are for two years, after which they have to be renewed. Different registration authorities make different charges as do organization offering this service, and they may form part of a special offer etc.

There are two main registration bodies with which you should be familiar: Internic, the .com international registration authority and Nominet for the uk, (co.uk). Other suffixes are available (.net, .org etc.) but are not applicable to the majority of companies operating on a normal commercial basis. Whilst it is possible to register a name directly with these organization's, in practice certain technical information required (server details, technical admin contacts etc) usually means registering through a third party who has these facilities, or access to these facilities. Some of these are name registration specialists (i.e., it is their main or only business), some are ISP's, some web design companies and web space facilitators etc. Watch out for ads for domain names giving an annual renewal rate which appear good value but you have to double the amount as regaistrations are only 2years.

You can check out domain names directly on our website and once you register a suitable name and it is confirmed, you will have established a location for your future domain.

You may have noticed in the press and on television that many major internet companies companies (for example AOL, Wanadoo etc), are heavily advertising their services particularly to consumers. The offers come thick and fast and are made as tempting as possible. However, in general these companies do not offer a suitable service for business users with their own domain name.

Because your own company domain is essential and offers many marketing advantages including a more prestigious web presence as well as dedicated company e-mail, you may not be able to use some of the larger providers for this purpose anyway, as they will not offer hosting of your own domain name. Using an AOL e-mail address for business purposes, for example, is not recommended.

BT do offer business services and rely heavily on their telecom's image to grab the lions share of the small business market. However when you compare their charges, designing and hosting a website with them annually is a very expensive option. Because they have so many users their customer ratio is always going to be higher than business specialists such as ourselves and response and support may be slower and less helpful as a result.

It pays therefore to discuss your requirements carefully at the outset, remembering how you may wish to change or grow the site later and what it will cost!

The service provided by MCL for its small/medium business customers, offers your own domain and company website on a server with a choice of connection options. A server is the computer, whose details are registered with UK or USA registration authorities and where your domain is registered, so that Internet pointers allow your site to be located by web browsers (like Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator). MCL offer fully managed customer-friendly support, the ongoing maintenance of the site and other facilities such as visitor logging.

The MCL servers are located directly on the communications backbone in Manchester and are amongst the fastest connections available in the UK. They have full 24-hour maintenance and back up power, supplied in fully air conditioned premises.

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For further information on our services please contact us at:

Tel: 0870 403 0253 / 0870 403 0254 • Fax: 0870 403 0249 • E-mail: info@mclweb.co.uk