Frequently Asked Questions
Will my website work on mobiles & tablets?
Responsive design is all about making sure your website responds to the device (in particular the screen resolution) that your user is accessing your website from. Throughout the design and build of your new website we will make sure that your website looks great on various types of mobile phones and tablets. With the number of people accessing information and making purchases on their mobile devices increasing each day it is important to make sure that their experience is just as enjoyable on an iPhone 7 as it on a new iMac!
I already have a website that I would like updated, can you help with this?
Yes, of course. We can either help you completely re-design your website or make changes to what you already have in place. If you would like a complete re-design then we will treat it as a new build. If you would like us to make changes to your existing site then much like a new build we will provide you with a full quotation once we have assessed your requirements. We will put together a specification and once agreed will start work.
How much will my new website cost?
This is a difficult question to answer without first knowing your requirements. If you would like an accurate quotation then please complete our new website questionnaire. If you require a new logo, graphics and copywriting then the cost is likely to be higher. If you have all the content readily available then that will save us time and you money.
What is a domain name? Do I need one?
Put simply a domain name is what you type into your address bar when you want to go to a website. For example, www.facebook.com. If you want to have a website you will need a domain name, they aren’t expensive and normally cost between £5 and £20 per year. All our packages come with a standard domain free for the first year and we can manage this for you going forward if required.
How long will it take to design & build my new website?
If you would like an accurate timescale then please complete our new website questionnaire. If you require a new logo, graphics and copywriting then the process will take a little longer than if you have it readily available. The time it takes to produce your website also depends on the urgency in which you require it. If it is an urgent project then please let us know, we can then prioritise it over other work and make sure your deadline is met.
Are there any ongoing costs?
The only additional costs will be renewing your domain name & web hosting, normally on a yearly basis. If we look after your renewals for you then the cost will be paid to us. If another company looks after your domain and web hosting then it is up to you to make sure you are happy with their fees.
What is a domain name? Do I need one?
Put simply a domain name is what you type into your address bar when you want to go to a website. For example, www.facebook.com. If you want to have a website you will need a domain name, they aren’t expensive and normally cost between £5 and £20 per year. All our packages come with a standard domain free for the first year and we can manage this for you going forward if required.
Your domain name might be related to your business or it could be completely abstract, it is entirely up to you. If you don’t already have a domain name and would like some help selecting one then we can help you. Your domain name must be unique, you can’t choose something that somebody else already owns.
It is important to renew your domain name on time to make sure you keep it, otherwise there are companies on the internet that specialise in buying them and trying to sell them back to you for a huge markup. If we look after your domain name for you then it will automatically be renewed for you, we will invoice you after it has been renewed. If you choose not renew your domain name then please let us know so that we dont carry out the renewal.
What is web hosting? Do I need it?
Web hosting can be a confusing subject and many people don’t understand what it is, why they need it, how much it will cost, or how to configure it. That is why it can be a good idea to let us look after it for you!
Web hosting is your little piece of the internet, the place on the web which stores your website, its files, content, images and databases, amongst other things. When someone types your domain name into their address bar they are getting information from your web server which dispalys your website to them.
Web hosting is not usually expensive and we can tailor your hosting package to your requirements. A typical hosting package would cost around £50 per year, this includes our setup costs and ongoing support. If you require specific details about our hosting package please contact us and we will be pleased to help.
How long will it take to design & build my new website?
This is a difficult question to answer without first knowing your requirements. If you would like an accurate timescale then please complete our new website questionnaire. If you require a new logo, graphics and copywriting then the process will take a little longer than if you have it readily available. The time it takes to produce your website also depends on the urgency in which you require it. If it is an urgent project then please let us know, we can then prioritise it over other work and make sure your deadline is met.
Normally we would say from start to finish a website takes around 3-4 weeks, this is not constant work and most of that time will be spent communicating with you to ensure you are happy with your new website throughout the process. Larger websites can take longer and if we have to wait for feedback or content then this will also delay progress. Urgent projects can be completed in a matter of days but this depends on your requirements, it might be that it’s just not physically possible if the project is too large or complicated and the deadline is too tight.
How much will my new website cost?
This is a difficult question to answer without first knowing your requirements. If you would like an accurate quotation then please complete our new website questionnaire. If you require a new logo, graphics and copywriting then the cost is likely to be higher. If you have all the content readily available then that will save us time and you money.
As a rough idea of costs, a small website with around 5 or 6 pages, a contact form, simple logo and graphics would cost in the region of £500 – £750. If we are producing a new logo which requires time from our designer, providing copy, graphics and more complicated functionality then the price is likely to be in the region of £700 – £1300. WordPress, Joomla & Drupal platforms are likely to cost around £1000 or more depending on the amount of customisation required.
Our prices are fixed, meaning no surprise invoices. Once we have discussed your requirements, provided a quotation and produced a full specification that you have agreed, the price on the quotation is the price that will be on your invoice! Remember, our quotations are free, valid for three months and there is no obligation!
Of course, if you do wish to add extra pages, functionality or anything else throughout the design/build process we will happily provide a separate quotation for the additional work.
Are there any ongoing costs?
The only additional costs will be renewing your domain name & web hosting, normally on a yearly basis. If we look after your renewals for you then the cost will be paid to us. If another company looks after your domain and web hosting then it is up to you to make sure you are happy with their fees.
Many of our clients ask us to maintain their website for them, normally this means doing some of the following:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
- Content writing
- Adding products
- Adding new pages
- Adding new functionality
- Fixing bugs
- Creating and managing email accounts
- Creating and managing advertising campaigns
We would normally agree an hourly price with you for ongoing site maintenance. We only charge for the work we do and there is no minimum spend (although we charge for a minimum of 30 minutes). You will then be invoiced on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the number of hours to be invoiced. For example if you have less than two hours work in a month we will roll it over to the next month, if the next month you don’t require any work then we will roll it over for a third month. The invoice will then be sent out on month 3 (at the end of the quarter).
If you require website maintenance on a more permanent basis we can agree a retainer amount where we will offer you a discount for a set number of hours per month, for a set number of months. If a retainer is required then we ask that you set up a standing order for the agreed amount to be paid on the last day of the month.
In all cases where we provide maintenance we will keep a work log which will be sent with your invoice, this log will outline exactly what tasks were completed for that period.
Can I change my design while my website is being built?
Yes, of course! While we would hope that our initial conversations and specification would mean there wouldn’t be too many large fundamental changes, we would expect feedback and changes to be made throughout the design process, and even when the build starts to happen! We want to work closely with you to make sure that you are happy with your new website and that it reflects you as an individual or company.
If the changes you would like alter the specification too much then it is in both our interests to provide a revised quotation before proceeding, that way we can make sure you are aware of the cost implications of making the changes before the work is carried out.
Will I be able to make content changes on my new website?
That is entirely up to you, it is something we need to know upfront so that we can make an informed decision on the way to build your website. Some of our clients want to be able to make changes to their website themselves. In this case we would install a CMS such as WordPress, this means you would have an admin area with a login where you can login at any time and update your website. This is particularly useful if you are managing a shop or writing a blog. Other clients would prefer to leave content changes to us. We do charge for ongoing maintenance and updates. This is discussed in more detail above in the section ‘Are there any ongoing costs’.
Will you be able to maintain my new website after it has been launched?
We would be more than happy to assist you in making changes and improvements to your website once it has been launched.
The kind of tasks we might assist with might include:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
- Content writing
- Adding products
- Adding new pages
- Adding new functionality
- Fixing bugs
- Hosting and domain renewals
- Creating and managing email accounts
- Creating and managing advertising campaigns
We would normally agree an hourly price with you for ongoing site maintenance. We only charge for the work we do and there is no minimum spend (although we charge for a minimum of 30 minutes). You will then be invoiced on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the number of hours to be invoiced. For example if you have less than two hours work in a month we will roll it over to the next month, if the next month you don’t require any work then we will roll it over for a third month. The invoice will then be sent out on month 3 (at the end of the quarter).
If you require website maintenance on a more permanent basis we can agree a retainer amount where we will offer you a discount for a set number of hours per month, for a set number of months. If a retainer is required then we ask that you set up a standing order for the agreed amount to be paid on the last day of the month.
In all cases where we provide maintenance we will keep a work log which will be sent with your invoice, this log will outline exactly what tasks were completed for that period.
I’ve heard about SEO, what is it? Is it included in the price?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is about refining your website in order to make it rank highly on Google and appear in those sought after top spots on page one.
We include basic SEO in all our builds, things like site structure, speed and other common practices. We will also write original, relevant content if we are asked to provide the copy for your new website. If you are supplying the content for your website then we will make recommendations to help optimise it for SEO.
As standard, with our website builds we will include a Google Webmaster Tools account setup, this allows us to see your website as Google sees it and identify any issues that might affect ranking. We can also set up Google Analytics for you which is Google’s statistics package, allowing you to assess the traffic to your website and the source of that traffic.
Will my website work on mobiles & tablets?
Responsive design is all about making sure your website responds to the device (in particular the screen resolution) that your user is accessing your website from. Throughout the design and build of your new website we will make sure that your website looks great on various types of mobile phones and tablets. With the number of people accessing information and making purchases on their mobile devices increasing each day it is important to make sure that their experience is just as enjoyable on an iPhone 3 as it on a new iMac!
Can you set up advertising campaigns & manage them once my new website has been launched?
Yes. We have a lot of experience in managing online advertising campaigns. Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns such as Google Adwords will get you to the top of Google straight away, but it will cost you. You need to ensure that you spend your money wisely and get the best results for your money. Researching keywords, writing and testing advert variations, targeting particular audiences and various other techniques will all help you get the right customer in front of your site.
We would be more than happy to set these campaigns up for you. If you already have advertising campaigns in place and would like some advice or guidance on how to optimise them to improve conversions then we are able to assist with that too. We have an in-house expert on paid search who specialises in Google, Bing and Facebook paid advertising!
I already have a website that I would like updated, can you help with this?
Yes, of course. We can either help you completely re-design your website or make changes to what you already have in place. If you would like a complete re-design then we will treat it as a new build. If you would like us to make changes to your existing site then much like a new build we will provide you with a full quotation once we have assessed your requirements. We will put together a specification and once agreed will start work.
If you would just like some general, on-going maintenance then we would normally agree an hourly price with you. We only charge for the work we do and there is no minimum spend (although we charge for a minimum of 30 minutes). You will then be invoiced on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the number of hours to be invoiced. For example if you have less than two hours work in a month we will roll it over to the next month, if the next month you don’t require any work then we will roll it over for a third month. The invoice will then be sent out on month 3 (at the end of the quarter).
If you require website maintenance on a more permanent basis we can agree a retainer amount where we will offer you a discount for a set number of hours per month, for a set number of months. If a retainer is required then we ask that you set up a standing order for the agreed amount to be paid on the last day of the month.
In all cases where we provide maintenance we will keep a work log which will be sent with your invoice, this log will outline exactly what tasks were completed for that period.
