FAQ

Why Shore Advantage?
Many Reasons!
A powerful combination of Jersey Shore websites: Shore Advantage has recently joined forces with website developers, New Jersey MetroNET, Inc. The heavily trafficked websites of Shore Advantage (www.pointpleasantbeach.com and www.seasideheights.net) has provided a powerful array of websites which are designed to bring traffic to local year-round and seasonal businesses.

The opportunities are now enormous for any small business along the Jersey Shore to expand their online potential through cross-marketing on these sites to maximize their exposure.

Market Exposure: We are the only service available that includes links through our local Town Guide Site(s). This market exposure is instant with your showcased link through the site of choice. These links are viewed by thousands of visitors to our shore daily. You are free to market your services directly to our visitors by adding mailing lists for direct marketing, special promotions, and traditional advertising as well as developing your own WWW campaign. Your site will be viewed without waiting for the search engines to index them or other outsiders to link to you.

Think Global Act Local: Being right here in Ocean County, we can offer services that are personal. Need a photographer? Want us to stop by and develop your site together? Would like to place a face to the screen? No problem. Appointments can be made including nights and weekends!

Technical Support: A local phone call...Yes! You do not have to run up large phone bills to request a change, add additional service, or get an answer to a technical question. Although we prefer e-mailed requests to expedite your issue, you can use our phone line to leave a voice message and/or speak to us personally.

What services do you provide?
We provide you with everything you need to be successful on the internet.  From Domain Name registration to supplying you with your own webspace, site design and site revisions as needed, and even from marketing plans to accepting credit cards using a secure server!  Please see our SERVICES page, which explains what we offer in more detail.

Please note that we are NOT an Internet Service Provider and we do  not offer dial-up access or DSL.

Do I get your own www.mycompany.com name?
Domains: Shore Advantage not only offers hosting of your www.yourbusiness.com domain, but includes the registration, set-up and serves as the technical contact as well. All registration fees are included in the domain package price! This complete set-up allows you to receive one invoice without surprises that can result in costing you more than expected. See our domain packages and begin your www marketing campaign today.

Transferred Domains: Already own your .com name? You can still take advantage of our domain package. We provide transfer's for pointing your domain's DNS to our host's high performing servers. You will now be able to receive all the convenient features and added services that Shore Advantage brings to the WWW including our exclusive Town Guide links, full statistics, cgi-bin and much, much more. 

Domain Advantages: By having your own .com name, your customers will benefit from information being provided to them right in their own homes, 24 hours a day, 7 day's a week. Use the daily increases in web use to your advantage. Add www.yourbusiness.com to your existing brochures, print and other media advertising to let everyone know that you are a professional who is serious about providing up-to-date services. Additionally, your site will be submitted separately to all the top search engines doubling your presence to your market and allowing potential customers to find you easily and quickly. Although no one can guarantee search engine positions, we can promise to use our proven techniques that have provided all of our clients with success. 

Additional Domains: Have a few names you would like to use for your clients to find you? You can take advantage of our low cost domain pointing that will send visitors to one site. Additional domains are a great way to increase exposure and differentiate your services. Prices include registration and technical contact service and are incredibly priced at only $75 per year for each domain! That is less than many companies charge to register your name alone. Compare! 

Do you handle domain registrations?
Registration: Shore Advantage prides itself on providing a true turn key Web service for all clients. We not only submit the registration, but also follow-up our service. By making sure DNS entries are submitted correctly and the registration is up-to-date everything remains simple. Best of all, we have included all fee's into our packages! Our clients are concerned with running their businesses and do not have time to worry about technical issues. Also, their accounting process is made simple by not looking out and trying to decide which bill in their mailbox is legitimate and which is an unethical sales ploy. One low cost billing is sent annually.

Registration Only: Some of our clients only want to make sure their desired name is available for future use. Our complete registration service is available to all at a separate low fee of $30 per year, which is less than many suppliers who make you do all the work. Protect your future interest today!

Can you link to my existing site?
Targeted Hyperlinks: We provide links to many businesses through our town guide sites. If you have an existing site that does not contain competitor advertising, you may be eligible. Send us your site URL (address) and we will review your existing site for pricing and qualification.

Sponsorship: Sponsoring our town guide sites can bring you the exposure that you deserve. We have reserved a limited number of openings for the right business combination. You may apply at anytime and costs/explanations will be determined on a per business level.

When Can I Expect Results?
Up Today, Viewed Today!: Of course you can count on visitor's viewing your site within minutes of completion by use of your local town guide link provided! No one else can offer this service. We have been so successful we now guarantee results the very first day!

Search Rankings: Your site will be built using the same methods as our Town Guide sites that have numerous #1 positions globally. Although no one can guarantee where/if listing will appear, it is typical for our sites to be indexed on some directories in a few days. Many search engines list pages each six weeks and it depends on the timing of completion. We will do everything to make sure your page is submitted with proper design in a timely manner. We add all of our designed sites into our search engine maintenance schedule to ensure it's positions are maximized.

Some of our clients rankings include:

AOL RESULTS AS OF 5-15-01
VIP YACHTS- #1 globally for the search term "Dinner Cruises" for nine months straight. #4 for the term "NY Harbor", and more!
SEABLASTER- #1 globally for the term "speedboat rides" #3 globally for "speedboats."
KENS LANDING- #1 globally for the term "Party Fishing Boats."
THE SEAGULL MOTEL- #2 globally for the term "Seaside NJ."
PECKS PRIMITIVES-#2 globally for the term "Trunk Restoration" #11 globally for the term "Antique Shops."

The above terms show a more global listing. Add our town areas to the search and see even more listings. We are everywhere!

OUR TOWN GUIDES ARE ALSO ALL OVER THE TOP TEN DRIVING EVEN MORE VISITORS TO YOUR SITE!

Put our listings to work for you today. There is no better service for reaching the NJ Shore target market!

"I receive over 30 phone calls every day! It's unbelievable the amount of customers I get from the Web. Locals, PA, NY, NJ, Maryland, and even California, Texas and Singapore!  I knew a lot of people were using the web but I never, ever expected these results!" 

Marc Palazollo-Alex's Bait & Tackle

Will my site be in the search engines?
Let's face it, having a site that is hard to find is just about worthless. Shore Advantage utilizes an in-house strategy that is customized to meet the requirements of all the major search engines. It is true that positioning can not be guaranteed, but getting a properly built page can be! We build our proven techniques into all pages and have had enormous success. Did you find our sites by search? Our Town Guide sites are easily found on AOL, Yahoo, Netscape, Excite, Lycos, Google, MSN and many, many more. Try a town search and see for yourself!

Search Engines: Today, there are many different search engines using a variety of methods to index web pages. We continue to remain focused in this ever changing environment and use trial pages to find what set of parameters works best for each. 

Human directories: A human directory is one where editors physically review a site and subsequently decide to either add or delete a site from viewing on their search. These directories are fast becoming more common to the WWW. Because of this, we have spent a great deal of time developing professional relationships with many of the editors for the top directories for quick inclusion.

Spiders: A spider is a program that many search engines use to determine placement of a page on their index. The spider's job is to "crawl" through the main document and all other directory documents looking for keywords, descriptions, and text. If a page is developed incorrectly, or with to many of certain words or phrases, it will be dropped from the listing. Most spiders are set to crawl through documents at different intervals during the year. Your document must be maintained or positions will slip and/or be deleted.

Links: Links to other documents around the web is one of the best ways to have your site viewed. That is why at our service, we maintain two of our own top sites for shore information and have hundreds of links to our site. Current listings as of August 2000 include NJ Monthly Magazine (also see us in their print Web directory in this year's issues), NJ.com, Travel.com, and many more. We received an editor's choice top ranking on NBCI.com. Our name has been advertised weekly in the Asbury Park Press fishing section, NJ boating and fishing, as well as hundreds more. We put our top positions to work for you the minute your page is completed. You are also encouraged to find other documents to link to you. Banner's, hyperlinks, web rings, and most every other type of advertising is permitted as long as you do not mislead or re-direct your customers to other local designers. It's your site and we would like to see you promote it as effectively as you can.

Conventional Advertising: It seems like everyone today has a .com name in print and multimedia advertising. Our clients have ads all over! We encourage you to do even more to get traffic to your page without fear of up-charges for to many visitors using bandwidth.

Can I accept credit cards online?
Shore Advantage provides you with a secure server certificate to use at no extra charge! Not selling in high numbers? SAVE BY USING THE SECURE SERVER TO GET CUSTOMER INFORMATION ENCRYPYTED RIGHT TO YOUR E-MAIL! No one but yourself will be able to view the transmission and credit card numbers are not stored in your database. 

You can process the payments by either:
1.) Setting up your own merchant account with an outside vendor. Approximately $500 plus small % of sale
2.) Processing the cards your self through any existing credit card system you may have. Orders are sent to your e-mail through secure server. You hand enter the information into your credit processing equipment at shipping time.

PLEASE NOTE: You are not permitted to request personal credit card information without using a secure certificate. This is an unethical practice and we wish to protect the consumers using your/our sites.

Can I build and maintain my site?
Site Creation: A site is basically a set of files linked to one another usually containing graphics and "scripts" that allow interaction. Your site comes with all the features you demand for ease of use and flexibility for advanced needs including a password protected area that is designed for ease of use.

Beginning Designers: You can build and maintain your site with limited knowledge of HTML! Your site comes with a "Site Manager" that is an area for making/editing your page. No software needed, just log in to your protected area!  Please see our server page here for details!

Experienced Designers: Finally there is a system that will not only make it easy to upload files without FTP, but gives you pre-configured scripts such as a mailing list, form mail, and much more! No more hassles trying to configure and upload scripts. Best of all, you do it all right through any browser's screen. From the slightly knowledgeable to advanced designers alike, everyone loves this new easy to use service! Front Page extensions included!

What about technical Support?
Support: Everything we could think of has been done to eliminate any need for support contact but occasionally certain client needs do come up. We are available not only via e-mail but by phone as well. Keeping customers site's working properly is our top priority and you will receive a prompt reply to your questions as well as our pledge to maintain over 99% uptime.

Help Center: Your password is the gateway to your very own help center that not only explains what everything is and does, but provides instruction and troubleshooting help. Our customers love to have this information available to them in their own custom center on a 24/7 basis. 

Contact Support: Need even further assistance? E-mail us at support@shoreadvantage.com or call us at (973) 769-4275. We will do everything we can to assist you and your needs

What will this cost?
We're sure you'll find our rates to be VERY reasonable!  We are a small business ourselves, and we know what it means to stay on a budget and control costs.  Because we do business primarily with small businesses, our philosophy has been very simply to keep our rates as low as we possibly can, in order to make the web experience affordable and successful.  Because of our high volume of clients, we are able to keep rates low.  Please visit our Rates page for specific pricing.

What do I need to start?
Select Package: Decide on the right hosting. See our rates and decide what is the correct valued package for your business.

Theme! The first step in designing your site is the selection of a theme. Being graphic in nature, the WWW offers you the opportunity to present your business as desired. Choose from thousands of graphics including adventure, beach and seashore, active, fishing, nightlife, scholastic, animals, fire/water/sun and other natural elements, etc. the choices are virtually limitless. Just tell us what it is you would like to see and have us do the rest!

Keywords: We will need to know what terms along with your name you believe people will use to search for you. These can be single words or multiple terms. Although we will put in other "Keywords" as well, your desired search words will be at the heart of the document.

Other Items: Although we have designed sites when only given a simple business card or expressed idea, we prefer to get a better picture of your operation. In order for us to become better aquatinted with your business, please provide us with any brochures, literature, rates, product variations, etc. We will include all the items relevant to giving your WWW a successful marketing strategy. 

Internet Access: To view the construction of your site at an unlisted address you will need access. Since you are here on the WWW now, you will be able to view the construction at the site address given. If you will be without access at time of completion, we can hard copy your site and send it via fax/snail mail. Having access will allow you to see any changes you decide on and will allow you to view as your visitors do.

E-mail: We do not require you to use the e-mail we provide you but strongly suggest it. If you prefer to use your existing account you can have mail forwarded by a simple control. Use this to send e-mail to up to ten accounts. Now, you can all have an e-mail address at yourname.com sites.