A01. Why do you not include an e-mail address with every package?

We include webmail, with your domain name, with our 5 page Brochure Packages. We have found that for our smaller packages this type of e-mail just becomes a burden for our client. 

Most folks just getting on the web with a website are not experienced with managing multiple e-mail accounts. Often they stay on top of their own personal account but may not look at their business account for weeks at a time. This can lead to some very unhappy visitors to your site. many visitors feel you would be better to not offer an e-mail address, than to ignore the e-mails you get. Think how unhappy you would be if you took the time to write an e-mail to a vendor and got no response.

It is very important to stay on top of e-mail you receive from your website. If you want an e-mail address then it is best to use an address you check frequently. To help protect this address from SPAM harvesters we can use encryption and/or graphic representations.

If for some reason you need an e-mail account at your domain we can supply a webmail account at your domain for an extra yearly fee.  Please contact us for more information.

A02. Must I have an e-mail address on my site?

The simple answer is YES, this is the Internet. 

But, having an e-mail address is optional, not everyone wants to handle having an e-mail account. If you don't want the hassle of monitoring and responding to e-mail it is still acceptable to only have the phone and mail as contact points.

Because it is so important to stay on top of e-mail you receive from your website. If you want an e-mail address then it is best to use an address you check frequently. To help protect this address from harvesters who want to send you SPAM, we can use encryption and/or graphic representations, when we put it on your website.

Please keep in mind while the e-mail is the mode of communication for the Internet, if you think you will not be able to check your e-mail regularly than you should just skip this feature. Many visitors feel you would be better to not offer an e-mail address, than to ignore the e-mails you get. Think how unhappy you would be if you took the time to write an e-mail to a vendor and got no response.

If you need more help with the question of having an e-mail address please contact us.

A03. What happens if I don't keep up with my e-mail?

You could lose customers and credibility. Think about yourself. If you call a business and leave a message you expect a prompt response. The same is true about e-mails. Folks that e-mail you expect a prompt response, one to two days maximum. If that is too difficult or burdensome, then consider just not providing an e-mail address, and let them just call you for now.

A04. What is an autoresponder?

An autoresponder is a wonderful e-mail feature. When you receive an e-mail an e-mail is automatically sent back to the sender. This auto response can tell the sender that you have received the e-mail and if a response is required you will do that in a few days. You have complete control over the content of the e-mail. 

This gives you the ability to tell those who have contacted you, that you have received their e-mail and what your policy about e-mail is. That policy may be that you will respond within 3 days, or something like that. No one likes to send an e-mail and hear nothing back so the autoresponder gives your visitor the confidence that you will get back to them.

There is a down side to autoresponders if you e-mail form someone who also has an autoresponder you may send hundreds of e-mails back and forth. To avoid this make sure your are set to only send 1 response. 

If you need more help with this feature please contact us.

A05. Why do you encrypt my e-mail addresses?

We encrypt your e-mail address to help keep spammers from harvesting your e-mail address right off your website.  We also use graphics to represent all or part of your address. These harvesting robots can not read what is on an image yet, so this continues to work for now.

Some websites solve this issue by only offering form mail. You may have seen this. You fill out a form on a webpage. You must mail from their page and you never see the address. We feel while this can be more secure it is also more of an inconvenience for your visitors. We use the encryption/graphic representation on our own website and it has kept our e-mail address out of the spammers hands up to now.

We continually stay up to date on the best methods of avoiding SPAM and Spam harvesters. We also test different methods on our different sites so we will know right away if some method has been defeated. If we find that a method we are using has been defeated we will tell you and we will attempt to find a better way to protect your address. 

If you think spammers have your address contact us right away so that we can change the address on your website page. While this will be charged as an Update, it is better than you ignoring your e-mail because you are getting mostly SPAM.

A06. What other things you can I do to keep from getting Spam?

First of all be careful who you give your e-mail address to. If you write it down or it appears on your business card that is usually fine but if you sign-up on line for anything using your e-mail address you are most likely going to increase the amount of SPAM you receive. 

Save your website's e-mail address for what it is designed for, that of getting communication from your visitors. Instead use a disposable address for all the other kinds of things you sign up for. Even if it is for your business sign up with this disposable address and if the company turn out to be honest you can change your e-mail to the one you use most.

You can get a free e-mail address from yahoo, Google or Juno, which you can use as a disposable address. If it starts getting SPAM you can close it and move on to a new address. 

Even with these best effort you may still get SPAM. You may find this hard to believe but spammers will just make up e-mail address. Have you ever gotten an e-mail address to some weird form of your e-mail name? That is a SPAMMER using a tried and true trick. If they can get you to open the e-mail they have a chance of confirming you have a real valid address. Often they will place invisible images in the e-mail and when you open it (unless you have set your e-mail to not show images) you will have validated your e-mail address.

To keep these Spammers from guessing your real address. We recommend you use a uniques address rather than info@... or contactme@... Spammers assume you are using these common address and will start sending you junk mail addressed to those addresses.  Come up with something more creative. Need ideas then contact us .

Our goal is to prevent SPAM, if your address starts getting SPAM we are happy to help you in solving this issue. We want to keep your mail box user friendly.

A07. Where can I find out more about keeping out SPAM?

Here are some links to some excellent websites and articles about how to Win in the SPAM War.

Graceful E-Mail Obfuscation by Roel Van Gils.

Anti-spam techniques (e-mail), From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Also, the safest place you can go to check if your name is still available is -
http://www.internic.net/whois.html