Your Web Design Questions Answered

What is a web site?

Having a web site is like your company's electronic brochure. It tells visitors about your company, the services it provides and the products it sells. Your web site is located on a specialist computer that is permantly connected to the Internet, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Why do I need a web site?

It provides customers an easy and immediate way of contacting you, viewing and ordering your products and services. Anyone with a PC or Mac, that is connected to the Internet, can view your site using a web browser. Electronic ordering systems allow customers to send through payment immediately via credit/debit card.

Products/services can easily be amended, added or removed and this would normally mean a new print run of brochures. Instead your website can be changed within a few minutes.

How do people view my web site?

People can access your web site in two ways:

First they can type your web address into their web browser. This almost always starts with 'www', which comes from World Wide Web. Then follows your domain name (see below), for example: www.designsconstruct.com. This is the most direct way. Once your web site and domain name are set up, you should put this web address on all stationery and business cards. It will guarantee people comes directly to your website.

The second way people can get to your web site is through a search engine (see below). This search engine will direct people to your site based on the products and services that they are looking for.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a unique name that you choose for your business web site. When people type this name into their web browser, with the 'www', they will be sent to your website. For example the domain name for Norwich Shoes could be norwich-shoes.co.uk and the web address will then be www.norwich-shoes.co.uk. Domain names can have different endings or extensions. The following are available:
.co.uk	Generally used for UK businesses
.me.uk	Personal websites
.org.uk	Used for not-for-profit organisations
.com	International companies
.net	Used as global name when .com is not available
.org	International, not-for-profit organisations
.info	Informative websites
.eu	European businesses
.biz	Alternative to .com
.mobi	Designed to be accesses using mobile phones and mobile devices
.name	International for individuals
You should try and keep your domain name as simple as possible, while still remaining unique. Sometimes it can be quite hard to find names available, hence the range of extensions available. Hypens are allowed, but no other puncuation is allowed. Once a domain name has been ordered, it cannot be changed. The only way to change it is to order another name. So please choose carefully.

What is a Search Engine?

A search engine is like the electronic equivalent of the Yellow Pages. With the traditional Yellow Pages you would find the product type and then look at the list of businesses.

With a search engine you can type in product names, keywords, dates or names. Then when you click the search button a list of websites will be shown. People can then click on this list of web sites to view each one. Popular search engines are Google, Yahoo!, Ask and Altavista and each work in a very similar way.

We register your website with all the popular search engines, with relevant keywords. So for example a Plumber with a web site, will have keywords such as: repair, plumbing, leak and fix.

Search engine registration is included for free with our web site packages.

What information do I need to supply to create a web site?

First we need to know everything about your business and what products or services you offer. This will help us define the layout and the number of pages we think is required. Then we will need any pictures and logos, ideally electronically. If they are not electronic we can convert them for a minimal cost. Then we need all the supporting text. This is a description of your business, each product and service. Finally any extra features you would like to see on the site. If you see a web site that you like the style of, tell us and we can give you a similar style.

We will then collate all this information together and produce a draft web site. You will then be able to view the site and recommend any changes before it goes live.

Once it goes live we will register your website with the search engines. It will then take a few days for them to trawl your site and index it for searches.

How long does it take to publish a web site?

Depending on complexity and how much of the content is given to us in an electronic form. It will generally take 1-2 weeks to produce a draft site. Then on average 2-4 weeks to finalise the site, publish it and register it with search engines.

What on-going costs are there?

Once you've paid the initial package cost, the hosting for the first year is included free. After the first year you will have to renew your domain name registration for £20 +VAT for another year and £30 +VAT for the next year's hosting. We will send you an invoice just before renewal.

Your Web Design Questions Answered

Contact Form