Frequently Asked Questions
 | What is a website? |
- A website is a 24/7 salesperson who promotes your business, organisation, products and services to those
who are looking for similar services online. It is an extremely cost-effective and paper-free way of
advertising and promoting your business.
Many people also use a website to promote their hobbies, to create an online family album, to share pictures
and memories of family trips, holidays and as a way of keeping others posted about latest news. Websites
are also a very popular way of sharing information and knowledge about various topics of interest.
| Why do I need a website? |
- If you own a business, want to advertise it locally and to people living far away, there is no better way to
promote it other than hosting a website. More and more people are getting used to 'looking up the net' to find
what they need. This includes buying online, selling online, networking, research etc.
One of the main reasons behind having a website is simply because it is extremely cost effectve i.e. it only
costs an initial set-up fee and a very small on-going fee. If you want to spread the word around about your
business, this is the next best service after word-of-mouth!
| What is a domain name? |
- A domain name can best be described as a business name or a name you want your business to be
remembered as. Most people chose a domain name based on their company name like www.ba.com
(British Airways), www.tfl.gov.uk (Transport for London), www.google.co.uk (Google) etc.
- Most businesses like to choose a name that appropriately reflects the nature of their products and services.
Others like something short, simple and easy to remember. When deciding to have a website, choosing a
suitable domain name can sometimes be the trickiest decision to make. With an ever growing popularity of
having ones own website, popular names are often already taken by other people. As part of our design
service, we offer advice on finding a suitable domain name. We do this by suggesting names that are
available and is an exact or near enough match to your business. To check whether a particular domain
name is available, you can do an online search at www.whois.com, www.whois.co.uk or with other
companies who offer domain name registration services.
| What is web hosting? |
- A web hosting is slightly different to a domain name. A domain name is like your house number whereas a
web hosting is the area where your house is located. You need a place where your house can sit for
others to see. This is known as 'hosting'. Hosting services are provided by various companies who charge
a monthly, quarterly or yearly fee. The exact cost and duration of hosting varies from one company to
another. Based on your needs, we can offer advice on a hosting package that best suits your budget.
| What is an e-mail? |
- E-mails are almost like letters but are delivered by the computer rather than by the postman. They are sent
from one person to another through a computer. E-mails can be accessed anywhere in the world where
there is a PC and Internet access like Internet cafés, at home, at work etc. E-mails have become a very
popular mode of communication nowadays and can be used worldwide for very little cost. You do not need
a website to have an e-mail address. However, most websites tend to have one or more than 100 e-mail
addresses (depending on size of business), that ends with the website name, e.g. webdesign@pcwebhelp.
org, info@pcwebhelp.org, joe.bloggs@pcwebhelp.org and others.
| What is a search engine? |
- There are quite a number of good search engines where your website can be submitted for maximum
recognition. Many companies make promises of submitting your website to 1000 or more search engines
claiming this will lead to a 'better ranking' or 'top ranking on Google'. Unfortunately, this rarely leads to 'a top
Google position', as claimed, and only ends up spreading your e-mail address to companies sending unlimited
spam.
Unlike many others, we do not offer false promises of a 'Top ranking on Google' because this is unrealistic.
However, we do promise to offer your website maximum recognition by submitting it to some of the best
search engines known worldwide. Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ask Jeeves and a few others are some of
them. As part of the design fee, we will work on your website code maximisation, website key word / key
phrase search and inbound links. It is very important to keep your web page content accurate and up-to-
date for search engine optimisation.
| What is an eCommerce website? |
- eCommerce websites allow businesses to sell products online to the world 365 days in a year. An effective
eCommerce site relies on a number of factors to be successful. Important factors that need to be taken into
consideration are an easy-to-navigate website, good market research to ensure your products are in
demand, realistically priced products, flexible delivery options, good returns policy, good clear close-up
images of products being sold, regular website updates to ensure the site is up-to-date etc. We can design
an eCommerce website to your exact specification but it needs to address all of the above mentioned
factors in parallel to work and be effective.
| What is a CMS site? |
- CMS is a content based site which is hosted along with a database. This is slightly more complex than a
simple static website and has to be updated and maintained on a regular basis. CMS sites can be updated
and maintained by site owners fairly easily with a bit of training.
| What does it cost to design a website? |
- Different web designing companies have their own pricing policies. It is important to get quotes from a few
companies to compare what is being offered for the cost quoted. Some companies, with long portfolios, tend
to charge more than newly established companies. This does not necessarily mean you will be getting a
better service. Small companies, with smaller teams, might offer a more personalised, better and quicker
service than a company with lots of client.
It is also important to check (at the onset) how much future updates are likely to cost once the initial design
process is over. Businesses tend to grow, change, improve and usually want their website to reflect this on
a regular basis by updating text, pictures etc. If your business is likely to need regular updates, it might be
best to have a fixed contract where a fixed amount is paid monthly irrespective of number of updates. If
your business is likely to need occasional updates only, an hourly rate might be more appropriate. We offer
both services and also advise on which of the two might be best suited for your business to ensure you get
the most out of your budget.
| How often should I update my website and what would it cost? |
- This is entirely up to you. For established businesses like daycares, nurseries, counselling centres and
others, there might not be a huge need to update on a regular basis unless there are changes to pricing,
terms and conditions etc. However, some websites have changes everyday (like news sites), or changes
weekly / monthly (like eCommerce sites) and might need regular updates. As part of the design process, we
try to understand the needs of your business and offer advice accordingly. At our initial consultation, we
would give you an approximate idea of what it might cost for future updates, should you decide to get these
updates done by us.
| Can I update my own website? |
- If you are IT literate and feel confident to do your own updates, we would be happy to offer training and
teach you. Training is offered at an additional cost and can be agreed in advance. Depending on your IT
skills, it could take anything between 1-5 days training to learn some of the basic update skills. We can
advise you about exact training cost and time frame necessary after finding out about the complexity of your
website. Simple static site updates are usually easier to learn than eCommerce sites.
| How do I make my website effective? |
- A website is a 24/7 sales person trying to promote your business. Like all advertising material, it needs to be
well planned, have a clear business focus, have good content that is simple, precise and easy to
understand. To make your website text effective, we ask for all possible business literature, product and
service information. We also ask for pictures, logos, client feedback (if you have any) to create a
comprehensive picture about your business. Sometimes, a simple picture or business logo inspires us to
design an entire website. At other times, we might ask you for colour preference, design ideas and try to
incorporate them as best as we can.
- If we feel that the colour scheme, text layout and design plan chosen by you could lead to potential
problems, we would honestly advise you about this. We would like to deliver what you want but would also
guide you appropriately, based on past experience, where necessary.
| Do you have any other questions? |
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