How much time will the project take?
My general guideline is to allow 6-8 weeks based on experience. The timing depends on how quickly you provide feedback, decisions and content for the website throughout this collaborative process. This may be done quicker if all content and images are ready, turnarounds and feedback are quick, and I don’t have a large number of other projects on at the same time.
How much time do I need to dedicate to this?
Consider investing a few hours per week. This is essential to understanding your requirements, for you to give feedback and enables you to get the best out of my expertise and experience. You will also need this time or more to write your content and find images or get photography done.
How much contact will I have with you and how do we communicate?
We will communicate throughout the process via email or phone and use WhatsApp or similar if it is quick changes or questions. We only have video calls if required at key stages and generally keep these to about 40 mins (the reason for this is down to a bad experience in the past where video calls became very frequent and ran into many hours per call).
We also collaborate on documents – this is for content, questionnaires etc. I prefer using Proton (as its secure and private) but can also use Google Docs.
Our hours are generally Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm. And in emergencies outside of these hours. I always aim to respond within 24 hours.
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.
However 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 my hourly rate of £45. If we need to transfer anything this will be added to the cost.
If on a payment plan I generally 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 I will still aim to complete the project.
Can I change things myself?
At the end of the website build I provide an hour’s worth of mini screen recordings (includes time for emails, recording, uploading etc) showing you how to edit content or add blogs – or what it is that you require. If more training and screen recordings are required, then this is charged at an hourly rate. Please see my tech support options for more info.
Can you change things for me after launch or add more work to the project during the build?
Yes, I charge an hourly rate or competitive daily rates for extra changes. Look at my tech support options or get in touch and I can give you an estimate on price. This is for anything that was not included in the deliverables in the proposal.
What are your websites built on?
I use WordPress as it 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. Also because it is so widely used, it means anyone can pick up the work should you choose to go elsewhere without having to completely rebuild the site again (if staying in WordPress).
What theme / plugins do you use?
I use a proven premium theme which is highly flexible, customisable, well supported and easy to update and you get updates for life*. It is also not as bloated as some WordPress themes which can slow down sites. This is along with Elementor page builder (free version) and a few premium plugins (again which get updates for life*) which give most clients the functionality they require. Clients find it a lot easier to use than most page builders.
I also use a range of reputable free WordPress plugins to provide extra functionality, depending on the needs of your project. At times depending on what functionality you need we may need to source premium plugins but usually these are fairly low cost and we will discuss this and get you to purchase.
*This is as long as the theme developers provide this.
Can I use my own theme and plugins?
The only time I work with other themes is on existing sites if you need a bit of tech support and only if I am able to help. If you want to use a particular plugin please let us know and we can see if it’s safe and compatible.
What about domain names, website hosting and business emails?
Domains (ie www.yourcompany.com)
I recommend clients purchase domains under their own name and keep control of them, then allow us access if need be to set things up. I recommend purchasing only the domain (and privacy if needed) and not emails and hosting – you can add these later only if needed as there are other options – please speak to me first as I could save you a lot of money and hassle.
I recommend Cloudflare for buying domain names as they offer wholesale prices that stay low and they are very reputable – under £10 per year for a .com and less for a .co.uk. They also give domain privacy free. Prices for specialised domains will vary. Other domain providers may charge low at the beginning but then go up each year.
Website Hosting (where you website and files are stored online)
I offer eco hosting from £120 a year or it is included if you take up the 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 is run on 100% renewable energy. Please find out more here.
Business Emails
I offer hosting with emails from £150 a year (IMAP or POP which I give you configuration details to set up on your preferred platform) – you can find out more here.
However it is recommended to use a proper business email platform for speed, security and reliability:
- Proton Mail or Proton Mail for Business – I use this because it’s private and secure and it’s easy to import emails, calendar and contacts from your previous platform. They also run on 100% renewable energy and offer a suite of useful products (depending on your package) such as Drive, VPN, Password Manager and more.
- Another option is Tuta Mail
- Other options include Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
I can offer some advice on Proton set up and help on others if I can, or refer you to specialists.
Can I use my own website hosting provider?
There are several companies out there offering hosting and domains and I recommend getting in touch with me before you purchase anything so I can offer advice and recommendations or check if the one you want to use is good. 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), sites go down often and the support is not good. Also often they start cheap but then the cost goes up.
I don’t offer the wordpress maintenance package if you don’t host with me, as I need full control over server facilities such as database backups, PHP versions and SSL certificates. Plus it’s not an environment I am familiar with if things go wrong.
What about ongoing updates to WordPress, themes and plugins and other updates?
Like every computer needs regular updates to anti-virus software, so maintenance is required on a WordPress website to keep it updated and secure. The backend system, plugins and themes are regularly updated by the developers/makers (sometimes several times a week) in order to fix security loopholes and bugs or be compatible with other plugins and software so that you can keep your website more secure and running optimally. It is crucial to stay on top of these or risk compromising the site and possible hefty costs to clean it and restore it. Most people find these regular updates overwhelming and also are nervous that doing an update could break the site (which sometimes it can if the system and plugins have not quite caught up with each other in order to be compatible).
I can take care of that for you if you sign up to the wordpress maintenance package. This is usually only available if you use our hosting. This is because I know it and what can go wrong and can get quick and good support. If dealing with other hosting companies I cannot guarantee this or may not have full access to the server control panel.
Please note I cannot fully guarantee the site from being compromised or hacked. Likewise if you make changes and something goes wrong and I need to fix anything, there will be a cost involved for either of these situations. I also recommend that if you are making edits to the site that you use very secure passwords, do not use public wifi, have protection or anti-virus software on your computer. Things like this rarely occur but I need to make you aware.
Find out more about my eco hosting and wordpress maintenance services.
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, I will implement the wordpress maintenance package at £30 a month to cover hosting costs and updates. This is because I still pay for space on the 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.
Do you include SEO and 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 – I recommend good hosting and include any necessary plugins to improve this
- Structure – I use the correct headings and hierarchy for posts and pages
- Images – I optimise, resize and compress them for faster loading and advise you how to label correctly so that Google can read them
- The amount of traffic/visitors to your site – I can give a bit of advice on this or refer you to a specialist
- How long people stay on your site – I 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 the visibility and ranking of your website so let me know what your goals are and I can advise what you need or refer you to a specialist.