Frequently Asked Questions
Why is nothing is ever straightforward?
Perhaps you have been advised to get a website but cannot see what use it will be to you or why you should spend good money on something that up to now you have managed perfectly well without. Also there are hundreds of companies out there who can do the work for you, so how do you choose?
Here are some of the questions that we get asked regularly. Click on each question to reveal our response.
Well, that depends on what you need. A small site of around 5 or 6 pages
starts at about £500. More complex sites requiring database connections and e-commerce
facilities will obviously be more expensive than this.
There is usually a fee payable for the domain
name (web address) which may be as low as £15 and then there is
the hosting on top of that.If you want Phase 2 to host the site for
you, the rate is currently £12 per month which can be paid by standing
order.
We will be happy to discuss your requirements in detail and give you an accurate
quotation for what you need.
This depends on the scale of the project. Once you decide to go ahead
we will create a design layout based on your requirements.
There usually follows a period of further consultation to refine the 'look and feel' of the site
When this has been finalised we
can create an 'average' site in around 5 weeks, subject to supply
of all the necessary text and images. If you have any specific deadline,
we will endeavour to meet it.
Yes. When we have created an initial design layout, it is uploaded
to a temporary server location for you to view. You can do this from
the comfort of your own home or office, enabling you to seek the
opinions of your friends and colleagues before we continue with refining
the layout.
The website files will normally stay at this location
during construction so that you can watch the site developing, and
make contributions along the way.
It is usually possible to use a company name in the website address, but
this depends on what it is. Many of the .co.uk domain names have already
been registered, but there is also the option of .com and other newer variants.
It is a simple matter to check, and we will not make a charge for doing
this for you.
Part of the attraction of promoting your business on the web is that
it is much easier to make changes and updates than it would be to
printed brochures. Normally minor changes to text or graphics will
be carried out free of charge for the first year. This gives you
chance to settle down and assess feedback from site visitors. Bigger
changes (eg additional pages) are chargeable on an hourly basis.
Yes. You can have a 'hits' counter on your home page that increments
every time someone accesses it, or if we host your site, you can access visitor statistics via a dedicated control panel.
We can also install a hidden monitor that provides in-depth analysis of your visitors, including which pages they view, how long they stayed, and what search terms they used to find your site.
At
first no-one will know that your site is there unless it is featured in other
advertising, letterheads, business cards etc. But we will optimise it for search
engine recognition and when it is launched we will reigister it with Google.
Search Engine Optimisation is a specialist skill and uses a variety of techniques to improve ratings, and we can provide information about specialist
optimisation companies who can help with this. They will explain your options along with their associated costs. But there is no 'magic wand' that will make you feature in Googles top 10 straight away.
When you open an account with an ISP (internet service provider) quite
often space is made available on their server as part of the deal.
You can use this if you want to, but think carefully if you want
to present a professional image.
Some ISP's are notoriously slow,
others bombard you with unwanted advertising or restrict what you
can do on the site. Keeping your site hosted on a quality server separately from your
ISP means that none of these problems arise, and also that you are
free to change your ISP without affecting your website if someone offers you a better deal. (like
with your gas or telephone)
This involves setting up an on-line catalogue and 'shopping cart' package
together with one or more Merchant accounts for receiving payment.
Currently we can set up stores using Paypal, Worldpay and others.
These can be linked to databases providing stock information and
automatically calculating shipping costs and other cost options for
individual products.
Payment is due in full when the site is launched, however for larger
projects we generally ask for a 20% deposit at the stage where the
'look and feel' of the site has been agreed.
In some cases payment
by installments may be acceptable. Hosting fees are payable in advance
or by monthly standing order. A copy of our full terms and conditions
is available on request.