Making a decision about investing in a website usually involves many new questions: How does website hosting work? How are changes made to the website? How much will the website cost? Having answers to these questions makes it easier to decide what kind of website your business really needs.
Can’t find the answers to your questions here? Why not contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Why do I need a website?
Every day the Internet becomes more and more integrated with business. After all, a decade ago, e-mail was rare. Today, it is an essential tool that most businesses cannot operate effectively without.
Your website has a powerful impact on a potential customer’s confidence in you. A professional design, well-written copy, helpful product information, and good contact info can tremendously increase trust in your company. It lets people know you’re knowledgeable and up-to-date. Your website will open yourself up to a world of opportunity in reaching people who might not otherwise find you. With the click of a mouse, anyone can get to your company’s website 24/7.
Will having a website solve all my marketing needs?
A website should never be used as a replacement for the marketing and promotion you already do. Websites work best when used together with your existing marketing and promotion techniques. There is still nothing that really beats traditional printed materials (which we also do) but the more value you can add to them, the better.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is the storage space your website requires on the Internet. Without any hosting, your website would no longer appear on the Internet.
The more pages in your website, the more room it occupies on the Internet, therefore the more it costs to keep it there.
The other major piece of hosting is the bandwidth allowed for visitor traffic. If you require high bandwidth, your website will cost more to host on the Internet.
Like print ads in magazines, you need to renew your lease on the space. Europa Studio can recommend hosting on an annual basis at very competitive costs.
Static or dynamic?
Deciding whether you need a static or dynamic site depends on what you need your site to do. If you are using your website to keep visitors informed of what you are doing on a regular basis, you may want to consider a dynamic site (although it costs more initially, there is no expense for maintaining the frequent changes). If you are using your website to provide mostly unchanging information to visitors, then a static site may be right for you.
What do I need to get started?
We will need all the information that you wish to include in your website. Making changes to a website after completion is very time consuming, so we must have all images and copy before your project is commenced.
How much will the website cost?
There are a huge number of factors that affect a quote – all of which are taken into account when forming a quotation. But generally, the cost of the website will depend on its size and how often it needs to be updated. After set-up, the expense of maintaining a website depends on the cost of changing it, the hosting fees and domain renewals. Contact us for a free quotation.
How will people find my site?
We optimise your web pages for search engine ‘friendliness’ by using carefully selecting contents, keywords and META tags. These will help search engines like Google find your site. Also, after your site is finished and online, we will manually submit the site to all the major search engines. Search engine rankings can never be guaranteed, but we will do everything possible to ensure your site has the best chance of success.
What else can be done to promote my website?
Marketing your website offline is of vital importance to attracting new business and enhancing your company profile. To maximise the effectiveness of your new website, we recommend that you include your web address on all company literature, business cards and brochures.
For more information, see our article on promoting your website offline.
What is ecommerce?
Ecommerce is the practice of selling products and services online. The Internet provides many advantages over traditional selling, purchasing and marketing procedures. It enables a company to showcase its products, provide up-to-date information, specifications and applications, as well as sell products all in one place.
The Web is good for business on both ends of an exchange because of the convenience and speed. Products can be sold or ordered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year without the need for support staff.
Do you offer a photography service?
We offer a high quality digital photographic service. All digital images are taken in high resolution and optimised for the web. We also work closely with a professional photographic studio to ensure your photography is of the highest quality.
What is a domain name?
Your domain name is your website ‘address’. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address – just like a telephone number – which is a complicated string of numbers. It is called it’s “IP address” (IP stands for “Internet Protocol”). IP Addresses are hard to remember. The Domain name makes using the Internet easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the “domain name”) to be used instead of the IP address. It is a “mnemonic” device that makes addresses easier to remember.
How do I ‘register’ a domain name?
Domain names can be registered through many different companies (known as ‘registrars’) that compete with one another. The registrar you choose will ask you to provide various contact and technical information that makes up the registration. The registrar will then keep records of the contact information and submit the technical information to a central directory known as the ‘registry’. This registry provides other computers on the Internet the information necessary to send you e-mail or to find your web site. You will also be required to enter a registration contract with the registrar, which sets forth the terms under which your registration is accepted and will be maintained.
How long does domain registration last?
Each registrar has the flexibility to offer initial and renewal registrations in one-year increments, with a total registration period limit of ten years.
Can we update the site ourselves?
Europa Studio can provide you with a content management solution suitable for your site and your business requirements.
If you are interested in maintaining the site yourself, static websites are typically written in HTML. HTML may be modified with FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or similar programs that are available to anyone – thereby making it possible for you to change the content of your website (if you are familiar with HTML and have one of these programs). Be advised, however, that it is easy to change the website interface along with the content – so be sure that someone experienced with HTML makes changes to your site. If you are reluctant to change the website on your own, Europa Studio has reasonable rates for site maintenance.
Dynamic websites are written with a considerable amount of programming that makes it possible for you to modify the content of your website at any time. They are a very convenient means of managing your website, but are costlier than static websites. For this reason, they may become cost prohibitive and should only be considered in situations where website content needs to be updated on a regular basis – or when paying someone to update content would cost more that having the dynamic website programmed.
What is web accessibility?
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the web. More specifically, web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web, and that they can contribute to the web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.
Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.
When designing accessible websites, Europa Studio adhere to the guidelines of W3C, the Web Accessibility Initiative. Their guidelines are widely regarded as the international standard for web accessibility.
We are not based in the south – Can you still design a site for us?
Absolutely. Europa Studio have undertaken several projects for companies that are not based in the south of England. Contact us to find out more.
