Q1.   What do I have to do or supply to have my website created?

A1.
You will be responsible with supplying any content you wish to display on your website, be it text and/or images. You will not need to organise it, or lay it out or format it in any way, unless you have some clear idea of what you want. Please make sure that the text is in a readable format like MS Word, MS Excel, MS Notepad etc; I am more than happy to handle the rest. After supplying me with this information you will be contacted on occasion to confirm or make changes to any work in progress, to ensure it meets your specification.

Q2.   How much does it cost?

A2.
The cost of a website varies, depending upon the type of site you require. A very simple site will cost approximately £300, a standard site £600, and a more complex E-commerce site/Database Driven site in the region of £1000+. Each site will be treated on your individual requirements, but these figures should give you a rough idea of costs. With a brief outline of your requirements a ballpark figure can be provided.

Q3.   What do I get for my money?

A3.
I will work closely with you to produce a design which reflects your specifications and will appeal to your clients/customers/intended users. I will personally design and code your bespoke site until it is at a state you are satisfied with. I believe that I offer my clients excellent value for money. I am happy to offer free help and advice through every stage of development and continued support once your web site is live. My main focus is to deliver a high quality website with its own unique feel.

Q4.   How will people find my web site?

A4.
Your web site will be built properly following the current best practice and will be registered with the free to register search engines. I use many of the latest SEO (search engine optimisation) techniques including keywords in the page title, page text and in special tags within the HTML code. I cannot always guarantee first page placement on engines such as Google, as it is often necessary to use paid listings or the services of specialist SEO companies to guarantee first page placement.

Q5.   How long will it take before my website is live online?

A5.
This is always depdendent on the size of the project in hand, but I aim to complete your project in approximately one month after we have received all the content. Larger and more complex database driven websites will take longer. Smaller sites have the benefit of taking a lot less time to design and code to a stage of completion.

Q6.   What is hosting?

A6.
Hosting is the space on the internet where your website is stored. I find what I consider to be the best hosting solutions for my customers, and earn no commissions on any hosting packages you may take with other companies. You are also more than welcome to take your site and setup your own hosting.

Q7.   What is domain name registration?

A7.
Every website has a 'www.mywebsite.com' style domain name. Domains can come as cheap as £1.99 (.co.uk) but your first choice may not always be available (if someone else owns it), so please be prepared for this. The address needs to purchased in order for your website to operate. I am happy to set up domain names for you and include the cost in the price of your package. It is important to choose the best domain name(s) to represent you or your business and it can also help with SEO (search engine optimisation). I am happy to provide help and advice to make sure you make the best available selection.

Q8.   I do not know how to write the text for my website?

A8.
Often the hardest side of building your web site is providing engaging text that sums up your philosophy whilst remaining engaging and concise. You should research your competition or similar style sites. I am happy to help provide any assistance that I can when it comes to formatting your content.

Q9.   What about maintaining my web site once it is live?

A9.
Once your web site is live it is likely some level of maintainace will be required from updating contact details to adding new case studies or a completely new look & feel. For smaller changes I charge a fixed hourly rate which can be broken down for very minor updates. If the changes are more extensive I will provide a quote and timescales. Minor updates are carried out within 1-3 days. If you wish to regularly update areas of the your web site a CMS (content management system) may be more appropriate, please see Question 10. Any site that I code will be done to set web compliant standards so that any other skilled web developer can pick up from where I left off at any point in the future, and I am also more than happy to update sites that other companies have made as long as they meet these standards.

Q10.  Can I update my own web site?

A10.
Yes. CMS (content management systems) are designed so that they require no specialist skills in order to update your web site. You can change, copy images and upload documents and textual content through a password protected 'admin' section I will have written into your site. The CMS works via a very user friendly web based system which is accessible from any location - all you need is access to the Internet to instantly update your web site.

Q11.  Do you offer any type of discounts?

A11.
I am more than willing to offer discounts for schools and non-profit organisations. In some cases (for smaller sites) I am also willing to do the work for a fraction of the normal price if you wouldn't mind me placing a small text link back to my site at the bottom of yours (this is not invasive).