Web design FAQ

Why do I need a website?

As a cost effective method of promoting a business or service, a professionally designed website is hard to beat. The internet gives you the potential to reach a global audience with even a fairly small budget.

What types of website are there?

Websites are built for a variety of purposes. Some are purely promotional sites, 'online brochures' for businesses. Some offer online purchasing incorporating full e-commerce systems and automated stock control. Still others are seen as community sites and offer people a chance to meet and discuss matters online via forums, blogs or chatrooms.

How do I know what site is right for me?

If you feel that a website may be a useful addition to your business for whatever reason then feel free to give me a call or email. I am happy to meet up with people in the Sussex area for a no obligation discussion of your requirements.

I already have a website but I dont like it. Can you make it nice?

Of course. I am able to completely overhaul any existing site and give it a fresh new look with clear navigation, fast loading times and full W3C compatibility.

Can I change my sites content myself?

If you intend to be constantly changing your sites content I can fit it with a custom CMS. This enables you to update the content of your site from your own computer at any time. Remember, relevant, frequently updated content will draw repeat visitors.

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Technical FAQ

What are the advantages of SEO?

Put simply Search Engine Optimisation pushes your site toward the top of the rankings on search engines such as google. The idea is that whenever a visitor to google enters a word or phrase which is relevant to your business, your website appears as high up the results as possible thus promoting your business to a huge nuber of potential customers.

What techniques do you use to create websites?

Most of the sites I build are to xhtml compliant standards using CSS stylesheets for layout and styling, this ensures maximum cross-browser compatibility and efficient search engine friendly websites.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is the address of your website, i.e www.yourdomain.co.uk. As such it needs to be something related to your company or industry as well as being memorable and not too long and complicated. Choosing a good domain name is the first step to getting an effective online presence.

How do I accept card payments on my website?

There is a great deal to consider if you decide to take the step of accepting online credit card payments. The most important aspect is security, you need to be able to assure customers that their details will not be available to any unauthorised persons. Your site will therefore need an ssl certificate to encrypt the data given to you by the customers so it cannot be read by anyone else except the owner of the certificate. You will also need to use a payment processing service such as authorise.net and have a merchant account set up to receive funds. Finally you will need some form of shopping cart software to allow customers to choose the products they want to purchase and send you the payment.

SEO tip

Get backlinks! One of the most important things you can do is to get other sites linking to yours. There are many free internet directories who will be happy to list your site, the best of the lot is dmoz, make sure you get listed there!