How much time will this take?
From start to finish a website can take anything from a week to 6 weeks to deliver in full. It all depends on how quickly you provide content, feedback and decisions for the website and how much availability I have.
How much time do I need to dedicate to this?
Consider investing at least two to three hours per week during the build. This is essential to understanding your requirements and enables you to get the best out of our expertise and experience.
If you are sourcing your own images and writing your own text then we suggest allowing quite a lot more time depending on how quick you are (or speak to us about getting help with this).
How do I contact you?
We keep in touch throughout the project by email and WhatsApp if you wish. We will chat via Zoom/Google Meet for the key discussions at key stages. Then contact is mostly done via email, phone or WhatsApp (for quick things).
How much contact will I have with you?
We’ll be in touch at least once a week throughout the project, generally via email. We will only do online video calls such as Zoom/Google Meet at key stages. This is because other ways can often be quicker and more productive. If we find emails are getting too much we might suggest alternatives to keep track and project manage.
What happens if I’m not happy or want to cancel?
The way we work means that we discuss the work at every stage. You’ll sign off the work at key stages before moving forward to the next step. Also it’s crucial to have filled out the questionnaire and had the initial kick off session to discuss this before moving forward so I have a good idea of what you require. It also helps a lot if you have been through a branding process and you are clear about what you want, what services you offer and who you want to attract.
You have a right to cancel the project at any time. In the event of cancellation, you will be invoiced for the cost of the work carried out to date at our hourly rate of £45. We reserve the right to withhold final files/web pages until full payment has been received for a project. If on a payment plan we will only give full admin access once payment is complete and up to date. If the project is not completed within one year, no refund will be given but we will still aim to complete the project.
Can I change things myself?
At the end of the website build we can provide up to 4 short screen recordings showing you how to do basic things like edit content on your website and add new images and blogs. This equates to approx 30 mins in total including emails, looking into, recording, uploading etc. After this it will be charged at our hourly rates. Please see our tech support options for more info.
Do you provide any other training? For example, how to use Mailchimp or how to edit images?
Please look at our tech support options and get in touch and we can give your an estimate on price depending on what you require.
Can you change things for me after launch?
Yes, we charge an hourly rate or competitive daily rates for extra changes. Look at our tech support options or get in touch and we can give you an estimate on price.
What are your websites built on?
All our websites are built using WordPress and are hosted on your own hosting or our recommended hosting. WordPress is easy to use and is flexible and scalable, so you are not restricted in any way or having to pay expensive monthly costs if you want to add some extra functionality to the site. It is opensource which means it is free from commercial restrictions and limitations, so you can host your website anywhere you choose without the fear that changes in someone else’s business model will have an adverse impact one of your most important business assets.
What theme / plugins do you use?
We use a proven premium theme which is highly flexible, customisable, well supported and easy to update. Clients find it easy to use. We also use a range of reputable free WordPress plugins to provide extra functionality. In some cases, depending on the needs of your project, we will recommend a paid plugin but the choice is up to you (they are often very low cost anyway and can save a lot of time and trouble = cost). In all cases we source from reputable developers and ensure we have tested them before adding them on your website and can advise on options and costs before using.
Can I use my own theme and plugins?
We prefer to work with our proven themes and plug-ins, however by all means please do let us know and we’ll take a look. Extra costs will be involved for themes as they all work in different ways and require a degree of learning. Extra costs may be involved if it is a complex plugin to set up.
Where will you host my site and does the cost include domain names and email accounts?
We recommend clients purchase domains under their own name and keep control of them, then allow us access to set things up. We can also recommend a few domain name providers. Domain names range from a few £s to about £30 a year or more if they are a specialised domain. They try to sell you a lot more than you need like email packages which you could get as part of our hosting, so please speak to us first.
We offer our own hosting from £120 a year or it is included if you take up our wordpress maintenance package. It is reliable, affordable and offers good support, fast loading sites and Let’s Encrypt (free SSL or https:// which is required now) as standard (so no need to purchase an SSL certificate). The datacentre is UK based which again is good for SEO and they are green – the centre is run on 100% renewable energy. We also offer hosting with emails from £150 a year (IMAP or POP which we give you configuration details to set up on your preferred platform or we can help set up via free gmail for a cost). If you require Office365 or Google Workspace that is a separate cost.
PLEASE NOTE – If after 3 months from initial start date of the website build, the website has not moved to live site due to delays from client side, we will implement our monthly WordPress Hosting and Maintenance Package at £30 a month to cover hosting costs and updates. This is because we still pay for space on our server and need to keep plugins, WordPress and theme updated on a weekly basis and do backups in order to keep the website working and secure.
Can I use my own hosting provider?
There are several companies out there offering hosting and domains and we recommend speaking to us before you purchase anything so we can offer our advice and recommendations. There are a lot of poor quality providers out there or others selling you a lot more than you need or ones where the speed is very slow (affects seo and credibility) and service is not good. Also often they start cheap but then the cost goes up.
We don’t offer our wordpress maintenance package if you host elsewhere as we need full control over server facilities such as database backups, PHP versions and SSL certificates. Plus it’s not an environment we are familiar with if things go wrong.
Will my website show up on Page 1 of Google once launched?
SEO (search engine optimisation) is a complex process and just because you have a new website, it does not mean you will suddenly show up on page 1 for certain search criteria, especially if there is a lot of competition for those search terms. You need to also take into consideration:
- Site loading time – we recommend our hosting and include any necessary plugins to improve this
- Structure – we ensure we use the correct headings and hierarchy for posts and pages
- Images – we optimise, resize and compress them for faster loading and label correctly so that Google can read them
- The amount of traffic/visitors to your site – we can give a bit of advice on this or advise on of our partners who can help
- How long people stay on your site – we make recommendations to make the most of your site
- How often you add new content to your site
- The quality of the content on your site
There are a number of other things that can help improve your SEO so let us know what your goals are and we can advise what you need.