WHAT IS THE INTERNET AND WHAT CAN IT DO FOR YOU?

HOW CAN I GET CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET?

To experience the Internet, you will need a computer with a mouse and modem, which will allow the computer to communicate through your telephone line. Another option is to get connected without tying up your phone line by as connecting with a Cable Modem (check with Comcast Cable or another provider). If you do connect through a phone line, you also need to choose an Internet provider, such as America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy, Erol’s, or Infinet. Each of these services have different computer requirements for memory, modem speed, and computer processor speed. The more RAM (short term memory), the faster the modem, and the faster the processor you have, the faster your computer will communicate on the Internet.

Most Internet services charge anywhere from $23 to $30 as a basic monthly fee, and some services have additional charges for usage hours not included in the basic monthly fee. Once you choose a service, they will send you some Internet software. Some of these companies, such as America Online and Compuserve will send you free trial packages of software to allow you a few hours of free trial usage time.

You will want to decide which type of Internet service you are interested in, as different providers offer different services at various prices. Most Internet providers offer e-mail, Internet access, and Web site hosting. Free email is also available through sites such as www.yahoo.com or www.hotmail.com.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Once you have established a connection to the World Wide Web through an Internet provider, you will want to explore it to see what it has to offer. The Web is made up of "links" to other Web sites. In addition to typing in a specific address, you will be able to "point and click" using your mouse. The links allow you to do this. You can be linked from one Web site to another by clicking on underlined text or a specific graphics area, which will connect you to another Web site.

The best place to start exploring the Web is a "search engine". A search engine will allow you to search for a topic and find related sites. Two popular search engines and their addresses are: Google (www.google.com) and Yahoo (www. yahoo.com). Many pages on the Web are filled with graphics that may take some time to "load" into your computer, depending on the speed of your modem. In 1993, there were only 130 Web sites; now there are thousands of sites and millions of people who use the Web.

 HOW DO I CREATE A WEB SITE?

If you are interested in creating a Web site, you will want to make sure you have an Internet provider and a Web hosting company, such as the The Art Dept., Inc. (www.artdeptinc.com) which offers this service. The monthly charge for hosting a small Web site is generally between $30 and $50. Some sites, such as America Online (www.aol.com), or Geocities (www.geocities.com) will host personal websites (called "homepages") for free, but they are limited in size.

If you are interested in creating a Web site, there are Web publishing software packages available priced under $250, and there are companies who will program a Web site for you. Web sites are programmed based on HTML codes, which can be done in Notepad, a standard Accessory in Windows, or using a Web publishing software. Web site publishing companies charge, on average, between $1,000 and $5,000 for the basic setup of your site. Changes to your site usually incur additional charges.

You will want to be sure that you include information on your Web site that will interest visitors. You may want to stay away from including a lot of graphics, as visitors will become frustrated if your Web site takes a long time to load. You also need to make sure you update your site frequently. People will visit your site more often if they know it will be updated.

Once you have created your Web site, the files will be stored on your computer and you will send them through File Transfer Protocol to your Web hosting service, which keeps copies of the files on their computer server. When someone types your Web address or clicks on it in a link, their computer connects to your Internet server, which reads your Web page files from the server.

David B. Robinson, CPA serves as a general consultant to provides ideas on how to use e-commerce to expand your business. We recommend the folks at the Art Dept., Inc. for the technical programming and also to consult in the initial design as it takes shape. Call (804) 378-5096 to find out how to build your company through the use of the World Wide Web!

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

The "Internet" is a name for the worldwide network of computers connected through computer hardware, cables, and telephone lines. Using the Internet, computers are able to communicate by electronic mail, File Transfer Protocol, and the World Wide Web. Electronic mail (e-mail) is exactly what it sounds like—you write a letter on your computer, and using a modem and an e-mail software and service send it to the recipient’s computer. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) provides a way to send a file from your computer to another computer. The "World Wide Web" (also known as the WWW and the Web) is a specific name for a part of the Internet in which computers communicate by a common language, "HyperText Transmission Protocol" (HTTP), created in 1989. The programming language used to create Web documents is called "HyperText Markup Language" (HTML). Only documents using HTML codes are recognizable and readable by computers on the World Wide Web. The WWW is made up of Web sites and links between those sites. Companies, governmental agencies, academic institutions, and individuals all over the world have Web sites, which have a specific address and are made up of individual pages of information about the organization or individual, including advertisements. Hence, the WWW is also called the "Information Superhighway."

The Internet has created a new industry of Internet service providers and Web site publishing services. The inside of this brochure explains the World Wide Web in more detail and how you can be a part of it, as an individual or a company desiring to use the Web as an advertising medium.