Websites - What you need to know...
What we need you to supply us, before we can start...
Before we can do anything we will need any logos you want to use on the website, any colour preferences. Even more helpful would be some examples of websites which you have seen and like, it gives us an idea of the kind of style you are after. We need any content such as text and images. If these are not available we can either use stock photography which we will charge extra for usually around £2 per image for low resolution files, or take photos for you, or provide copy writing services. There will be a delay in getting your project completed on time if we do not have the relevant information from you to complete the project.
You CANNOT send us any imagery for inclusion in your website - you have downloaded straight from the internet, without obtaining copyright permission first.
Costs - it doesn't have to be expensive!
Websites don't always have to be expensive it does depend on what type of website you want and what its end use is, whether you want to use your website as a portfolio to show potential customers or as a means of advertising for new business or selling your products online.
If you have a budget in mind the best thing to do is the start small and then build on your website as your business grows.
Basic Start up Package - Current special offer for business startups - applies to new Businesses trading under a year.
Basic page design (1 design option) with content - 1-3 pages - allows you to have a web presence with contact info- starting prices for as little as £100. Hosting and domain costs separate. Designed for WC3
Basic Website Package - Small Websites
At least two initial design ideas.
Package includes 1-4 pages including Home, About Us, Contact Us (no form).
Basic SEO- submission to Google, Keywords and Meta Tags added, page titles. Starting at £210. Designed for W3C
Plus Website Package
At least two initial design ideas.
Package includes 1-6 pages including Home, About Us, Contact Us (with form) plus up to 3 extra pages.
Basic SEO- submission to Google and popular search engines, Keywords and Meta Tags added, page titles. PLUS Sitemap, addition of external Links, custom error pages, adding your site to suitable directories. Designed for W3C Starting at £400
For larger or e-commerce websites please contact us for an individual quote >
Ongoing reviews
For around £25 per month we can analyse your website and its performance. Including statistics, and review of for example; current keywords, page titles and descriptions. Addition to further relevant directories and external links. For pay per click (Google Adwords) campaigns this will be charged accordingly. Please email us for further information about how we can improve your search engine listings.
Hosting - Domains - Email
Hosting/domain/email (5 email addresses) & email set up support - visits to setup outlook express will be charged per visit. Packages starting at £55 (hosting renewed annually) . Hosting plans are managed and renewals made automatically unless otherwise specified. Meaning you save time, rather than setting the hosting plan up yourself and any technical issues which arise are resolved on your behalf.
Is free web space with your isp a good idea to use?
If you already have an internet service provider and they provide free webspace, there is usually a catch. For example a certain amount of space allocated to your hosting won't be enough for usual business use. Also the url (your website address) and your email address will not look professional in most cases. When you promote your business web site address as www.yourbusiness.com it will make one impression while http://home.earthlink.net/~yourbusiness will make quite another. It is far more professional to purchase a proper domain name and a hosting account with a decent amount of space. Free web space offers no guarantees of stability in the long- or short-term, and stability is the name of the game concerning your presence on the internet.
Some support CGI (Common Gateway Interface), most don't.Which means that script related to forms may not work on your site. Some also will only allow you to post personal sites and nothing related to business. Purchasing a hosting/domain account with DS Design is likely to be much faster than your free hosting provider due to server location and less over-crowding of hosting accounts. The problem with the free servers is that they need to support themselves through advertising - which comes in the form of banner ads (annoying) or pop-ups - REALLY annoying. Plus, you have no control over the content of those ads.... the list goes on and on!
So you want a website, what about the rest of your branding & marketing material?
A website or an email e newsletter campaign should fit in with your corporate ID. For example if you use a certain style on your website, certain colours etc wouldn't it make sense to include a logo, and have your business stationery and any printed material you have all look in the same style so your potential customers know they are in the right place when they are browsing through your site? Besides anything else if you want to be taken seriously then your whole company branding should be a part of your whole marketing plan. If you already have a website or vice versa then theres no point having a website and a brochure if they have exactly the same information on them. You may put your web address on your brochure but if your site is a duplicate of your brochure, isn't that just a waste of time and resources? Some thought does need to be put into the content, to make it interesting for your potential customer.
You have a website...but you aren't going to be found by magic!
If you have a website you aren't going to magically get loads of traffic. Your site does indeed have the potential to be viewed by anyone with a computer and internet access in the world. But it takes time and a lot of ongoing work and reviewing of keywords and research into your competitiors before your site appears infront of the right people. Having your site on the internet with no search engine optimisation is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A good web developer integrates SEO during the website build, but extra ongoing reviews which are advisable if you want to stay ahead of the rest - take time. Be careful with internet marketing, there are loads of companies that will promise to get you to #1 in Google. Sorry it's not going to happen.
You will not get to #1 in google for a competitive search term (keyphrase) unless you have a team of people spending 24 x 7 doing nothing other than getting your site linked to and from good quality other sites for example and working on SEO or spending a lot of money on Google and PPC (Pay per click). Even then Ebay will still probably be top with "SAUSAGE TREE* - WEIRD AND WONDERFUL! RARE SEEDS", assuming you are selling sausage tree seeds of course. Partly because they are a well known brand.
Basically you just need to be realistic! Once you have your site it may take up to two months for it to appear on Google and then to stay ahead of the rest ongoing reviews and further SEO. Again it depends on what you want your site for - if its just a means to show your customers your past work then its not such an issue but if you are hoping to gain new customers via the internet SEO and ongoing reviews are the key to your success.
I need a website but don't have any budget, I will do it or get my nephews friends' cousin to do it for me...
Ok so you may be just starting up in business and want to cut costs and think you can produce your site yourself or get a freind to do it. But do you really know what you are doing...and are you really going to save any money? Firstly would you get your nephews freinds' cousin to work on your car if they didn't know a spanner from a starter engine?
Also its more than likely the appearance of your site won't be up to scratch. You need to look professional when you first start up in order to gain new customers and build up your business. Therefore you trying to save yourself money may actually loose you valuable potential customers and income.
It may also take you longer and you do actually need to know how to build a site the search engines will like. Anyone can build or maintain a site with some basic training so all of the above doesn't rule you out updating your own site, but the overall look and feel and the behind the scenes code needs to be professional if you want to be taken seriously.
I have a business and I want it to be successful but I don't need a website...do I?
You may prefer to contact people in person or by phone but if your customers already use the internet where do you think they will be looking for services like you may be offering? Most people use email nowadays, its more convienent and cheaper. If your potential customers are using the internet they will probably expect you to have a presence on the internet.
So what's so great about the internet?
The internet is cost effective it can in theory cost you less than printed advertisments, such as brochures and flyers which can only be seen by a limited amoutn of people. Your website is always there all year round and can be reached by millions - all you have to do is be found! Also with printing if there is a spelling error, you can be stuck with a 1000 brochures for example, with a website it can be instantly changed. The content of a web site can be updated as often as needed.
Sending email costs the same to send anywhere in the world compared to snail mail. Your website in theory can have animation, movies, sound, just don't go overboard!
Above all the internet is available to all!