A domain name is a web address such as cmtc.com that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet). The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the governing body that coordinates links between IP addresses and domain names across the Internet, so you can find Web sites by entering domain names instead of IP addresses into your Web browser. For example, think of an IP address as an address for a house or business, such as the White House. The address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is comparable to an IP address, and the name you know it as, the White House, is comparable to a domain name.

Registering your domain doesn’t automatically make your website appear when visitors enter your domain into a web browser. You have to upload your website to your web hosting provider’s web server which hosts the website and assigns an IP address to your domain. Web hosting is a monthly service you require to have your site accessible on the Internet. A web hosting provider will securely save your website’s pages, images, sounds, and databases. FTP details from a hosting provider are required to upload your website to the internet. We will upload your website for you to the host of your choice.

CMTC customers receive the following:
• Free hosting setup
• 24×7 FTP access to upload web content
• Best-of-breed routers, firewalls, and servers in a word-class data center
• Daily backups
• 24×7 email, telephone, and online tech support

Site maintenance is a fee paid @ $65/hr in order to keep your site updated with new content that you provide. Most good web sites have new content updated regularly. Fresh content is what will keep your visitors coming back. This is an optional service that we provide for our customers.

All our websites are created with search engines in mind and the website design is compliant with search engine guidelines. It is a good idea for your website to be re-evaluated over a period of time as search engines do alter their rules and algorithms. You will want to be certain that your website is kept up to date and in compliance with new rules in order to continue placing high in search engine rankings.

Requiring a database will depend on the amount of information you wish to display and capture on your website. If you have many products and services, then you benefit from a database incorporated into your website design. A database has numerous applications including maintaining content for more than 10 pages, storing contacts and form values for future reference, and making the site multi-lingual. If your website requires a database, we will discuss the utilization of an online database with you in more detail.

Yes, we use Flash as and when required. As a best practice, we use Flash for smaller banners, advertisements or demonstrations and incorporate the Flashanimation into a web page which includes written text in HTML. Search engines use the written text to index your information.

Stock images are images created by an artist which may be reused by other artists in their own work. Use of these images is subject to the licensing which may or may not require the payment of fees. Photo and image elements used on a website are usually obtained from large stock photo / stock image galleries. High quality images for web design purposes often involve royalties. We include 10 stock images with any website package.

Yes. Online forms (orders, inquiries, general messages, etc.) once submitted can be sent to any number of email addresses. Customized automatic responses can be created so the customer knows you have received their request. Our Analytics service tracks this type of communication.

Since 1994, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has provided the guidelines by which websites and web pages should be structured and created. The rules they outline are based on best practices and while websites don't have to comply to be viewed correctly in Internet Explorer and other popular browsers, there are a number of compelling reasons to ensure that your designer follows W3C guidelines:

• Compliance help ensure accessibility for the disabled. • Compliance helps ensure that your website is accessible from a number of devices; from different browsers to the growing number of surfers using PDAs and cellular phones. • Compliance will also help ensure that regardless of the browser, resolution, device, etc. that your website will look and function in the same or at least a very similar fashion.

W3C compliance reduces the amount of code on your web pages so that content (where your keywords are) takes a higher priority. Compliance makes your site easier to spider and allows you greater control over which portions of your content search engines give more weight.

A program that automatically fetches Web pages, a spider is used to feed pages to search engines. It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Most spiders used by search engines are responsible for downloading web pages and storing them in a temporary database. While a spider is downloading pages, it is called spidering.

Because the threats are so many, so varied, and so sophisticated, companies like Authorize.Net, one of the world’s largest electronic payment gateways, spend millions of dollars and tens of thousands of man-hours every year to build and maintain secure systems to protect data in storage and transmission.

Authorize.Net uses a set of integrated fraud tools as standard features of every customer account, such as Address Verification Service (AVS) and Card Code Verification (CVV/CVC2/CID) that provide merchants with general protection from fraud. However, to proactively fight and prevent fraud, merchants need to employ more advanced fraud detection tools in their own systems that are designed to single out fraudulent transactions. Authorize.Net’s Fraud Detection Suite is composed of several filters and tools that work together to evaluate transactions for indications of fraud. Their combined logic provides a powerful and highly effective defense against many fraudulent transactions.

However, as powerful as the tech tools are, the biggest campaign against fraud needs to be waged on the education front. Most major payment gateway companies offer technical tools, high levels of encryption and transaction monitoring, and most small merchants tend to leave it at that. However, in order to protect themselves and their customers, they need to take some measures of their own.

Here are 13 things an ecommerce merchant can do to lower their fraud exposure:
• Never send sensitive information via email.
•Leave discreet voicemail messages. Do not leave detailed messages involving sensitive information.
•Make copies carefully. Always remove and retain originals when making copies of sensitive documents.
•Do not cut and paste potentially sensitive information from any proprietary or confidential business application into emails or otherwise distribute sensitive information insecurely to customers.
•Only share customer data with internal personnel on a need-to-know basis.
•Do not discuss sensitive information where it can be overheard.
•Check the Internet regularly for phony copies of your website. If you find a “spoof site,” contact the website’s provider immediately.
• Implement industry standard computer systems security and keep virus detection, firewall, and other prevention solutions updated.
•Only download software and files from sources you trust. Files from the Internet might include spyware or viruses that can compromise your security.
• Only use, or interface with, proprietary or confidential business applications on networks or the Internet in the manner in which they were designed.
•Keep your external USPS mailbox empty. Never leave outgoing or incoming USPS mail in boxes overnight.
•Keep operating-system patches up to date.
•And, number 13? Never, never, never give a password, a credit card number or any sensitive information to anyone on the phone, especially a cordless or cell phone.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. The PCI DSS is administered and managed by the PCI SSC (www.pcisecuritystandards.org), an independent body that was created by the major payment card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover).

No. SSL certificates do not secure a Web server from malicious attacks or intrusions. Although high assurance SSL certificates provide the first tier of customer security including a secure connection between the customer's browser and the web server and validation that you are a legitimate, legally accountable organization, there are other steps to achieve PCI Compliance

The payment brands may, at their discretion, fine an acquiring bank $5,000 to $100,000 per month for PCI compliance violations. The banks will most likely pass this fine on downstream till it eventually hits you. Furthermore, the bank will also most likely either terminate your relationship or increase transaction fees. Penalties are not openly discussed nor widely publicized, but they can catastrophic to a small business. It is important to be familiar with your merchant account agreement, which should outline your exposure.