The free website design guide below has been written to help people who have decided they need to hire a website designer or web design company to assist with their web design project.
The website design guide aims to inform users of some of the most important things they should consider before making a decision on which website design company they hire.
Make sure your website developer talks to you in plain English. They should be able to explain things to you in simple terms - so you know what you’re getting from your website budget. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your website is written in PHP or ASP, has MySQL or not, uses HTTP or HTTPS and so on. That’s their job – they’re the experts!
If a developer can only talk to you in industry jargon that you probably don’t understand, they’re most likely not the best website partner for you. Watch out for developers who lose sight of the business purpose your website serves, and who hide behind their technical jargon. You need to know, in plain English, how your website will meet your objectives. We promise to talk to you in Plain English. We will explain everything in simple terms. If there are questions you need answering or technical elements you need to understand, we’ll discuss them in simple terms, while our expert website designers and developers take care of the rest.
Make sure you own your website! We’ve know of several cases where clients pay a web designer to develop their website only to find they don’t actually own it! i.e. the copyright remains the property of the website developer!
The ownership of any website we develop is transferred to the client when they give their final approval and make their final payment. To protect our interests we do retain certain rights over our content management systems but once you’ve paid for your website you can consider it your own.
Make sure your website design company write their websites in W3C standards valid code. In case you didn’t know, there’s rules and guidelines on how websites should be written, and it’s important that they're followed, especially from a search engine optimisation perspective.
In short, we follow the rules. Websites we develop are checked to ensure they are written and programmed in the correct way.
Make sure your website developer talks to you about your overall project plan! What are your objectives for the website? What behaviour do you want to see from your website visitors? How can you measure its success? Is your new site geared for new customers, existing customers or both?
Frankly, without initially discussing goals and objectives with clients, we’d find it near impossible to work with them from the start! For us it’s mandatory that we talk to our clients about the objectives of their website project. How can we help clients achieve their objectives if none are determined from the outset? If you’re ready, Contact Us to set up an appointment to discuss your needs.
We recognise that business websites serve various purposes for both new and existing customers alike. We even write up a full website specification for you. This means we agree in advance exactly what you are getting for your money – now that’s accountability!
Ask your website developer if it’s down to you to provide all the text and images.
From years of experience, we know how difficult it can really be for clients to find the time to write up pages of relevant, keyword-optimised, search engine friendly website content. For this reason we’ll work with you to create first draft content, with or without the assistance of professional copy writers. You can amend or adjust the text however you see fit and we’ll advise you every step of the way. We can take care of as much or as little as you need.
Make sure your website developer knows what they are talking about when it comes to optimising your website for search engine visibility and ranking. If they claim to offer “SEO services”, ask them to show you some examples of successful projects. The proof is definitely in the pudding – find out how high they rank in their local town or county for terms relevant to what they sell like ‘website design’, ‘web development’ and ‘internet marketing services’.
We offer an extensive range of web marketing services and SEO services that are designed to help your website rank highly in search engines and drive relevant quality traffic to your website. We offer different packages geared to varying budgets – why not Contact Us to discuss your objectives and SEO expectations.
Be sure to ask your developer if the quotation they’ve given is exact or an estimate. Ensure you take advantage of opportunities to make minor tweaks and amendments to the website, as it’s developed. If the designer is a true professional, they shouldn’t charge additional costs for pre-go-live tweaking – also ensure you ask if they do before you embark on your design project with them.
We’ll work with you to create a website specification then, once it’s agreed, we’ll provide you with a fixed price quotation – not an estimate – so you’ll know exactly what you’ll be getting for your money before you commit. Most importantly, we’ll provide plenty of opportunities for you to give guidance and feedback throughout the development, ensuring that the final product is exactly what you want and need.
Websites & email services require reliable hosting. Both websites & in-bound emails are stored on special computers, known as ‘servers’. Website servers are always connected to the internet, allowing visitors to access your site and send you emails all day every day, 365 days a year.
Hosting costs cover the rental of data space on a server, which you’d normally pay monthly, quarterly or yearly. Make sure your website developer tells you in advance how much you will be paying for your hosting. Our hosting can be tailored to your exact requirements (including data throughput and bandwidth) and our fees are very competitive. Contact Us to find out more!
In simple terms, your domain name is the address used for your website & email. Our domain name is emarketingsupport.co.uk.
When choosing a web design company, always check that they’ll register your domain name in your company’s name – not in their own name – as registering it in their own name means you’ll never legally own the domain! What’s more, if you ever decide to change your website development company, it can cause you no end of problems, especially when trying to transfer your domain name to another hosting company.
Be assured, we will only ever register your domain name(s) in your name, never our own – so legally it’ll forever be yours! We can also help you to get your domain names transferred away from your current provider.
It’s critical to make sure your current website hosting company uses fast, safe, secure and reliable servers, located in one of the big data centres or major cities within the UK. Many rogue website developers cut corners by using slow, unreliable servers because they’re cheap – don’t be fooled!
Our hosting servers are exactly what you’d expect from a professional design company who cares passionately about the websites they design and host – after all, it’s in our professional interest to ensure they’re accessible and available 24/7! Our servers are located in a secure data bunker 25 metres underground, in the UK. They have full-scale, physical and electronic security procedures in place and run from critical systems that include power, cooling, connectivity and data storage – all designed for maximum reliability and dependability. If you choose to host your website with us, frankly you couldn’t be in safer hands.
Most website developers will set up email accounts for you and your staff in order to receive email at your domain e.g. your.name@yourcompany.co.uk, using email client software such as Microsoft Outlook. We suggest you check that these services are offered and that they’ll set them up for you without extra cost and that incoming and outgoing email is included.
If your developer states that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) will take care of outgoing email, treat this with extreme caution. Many ISPs block outgoing email from any address other than their own. For example, if your internet connection is with Sky, you might only be able to send email from your.name@sky.com. Other ISPs require authorisation before they will allow you to send email from your own email address. They may charge for this service – be sure to find out in advance!
Our professional email services allow you to send and receive your email via our secure servers, therefore bypassing all of the problems mentioned above. Mobile (laptop) computing allows you to communicate while you’re on the move, regardless of where you are in the world.
You’ll also have access to Webmail with all of our email packages, allowing you to collect your emails from any internet connected computer. Furthermore, our email services can be accessed via your BlackBerry, iPad or other mobile device capable of handling email.
It’s vital to check whether or not your website developer is happy to provide you with ongoing support and assistance. Are they happy for you to call them to ask questions or get advice? Do you have to pay any extra? It can be very discouraging, when your website server has crashed or you’re not receiving emails, to be told that you’re not covered and that it’ll cost you an arm and a leg to get things sorted out.
As you’ve guessed, we offer ongoing support to all of our customers, and in the vast majority of cases, without any additional cost!
We’re more than happy to accept your calls, and we’ll always do our best to help. We’ll give you our office and mobile telephone numbers too, so you can contact us whenever you need to. Rest assured, we'll always be on hand to help!
Check that, as your business grows, your website is able to grow and develop with it. Ask if it can be upgraded or updated in the future. We hear (far) too many stories of web developers who are unable to make significant changes to websites one or two years down the line, due to use of propriety software or solutions or because they simply don't have highly skilled website developers in house, who are able to take your website to the next level.
Our content managed websites are designed and developed so that we can make changes to them, both now and in the future. We very rarely use ‘off the shelf’ systems, so that we can tweak and amend your website however you would like us to, plus we’ll be able to bolt on sections without having to start from scratch and frequently, very affordably too!
There are certain rules, regulations and recommendations that your website must comply with and adhere to, especially concerning how blind, handicapped or disabled people access your website. We’d be happy to provide advice and support on these matters, to ensure your website remains accessible to everyone who would like to view it. In addition, if you need to access standard terms of use, copyright statements and disclaimers for your website, please let us know – we can source these for you without additional cost!
If you any questions or concerns that haven’t been covered on this page, please Contact Us today to discuss them – we’re only a phone call away! Alternatively, why not book an appointment to discuss your website needs over a coffee? We look forward to hearing from you!
