Please enable JS
Planning

Planning Business Websites

Planning a website...

When you order your website, all you really need to do is tell us what you want the site to do and be able to do, what you want visitors to do, tell us what colours you want us to use, and give us the text and images we need to build into the site. That's all we need in order to build a website. There are, however, a few other things that you need to do, and a couple of things that are useful to know.

One of the very first things you need to do is choose and buy the domain name that your site will use (see domain names). If you don't choose our 'Plus Pack', you'll also need to find and set up hosting for your website (see below). Beyond that, it goes without saying that the more thought that goes into a website, the better it will work and more effective it will be, so here are a few things you should consider when planning your website.

  • Domain Names: You need to choose a suitable domain name for your website - not always easy.
  • Page Contents: Most importantly, you need to put careful thought into the the words you use on each page.
  • Using Images: Images play an important part in making a website visually attractive.
  • Website Hosting: Before you can put your website on the internet, you need web hosting.
website objectives

WEBSITE OBJECTIVES

Tell us what you want your website to do

If you want the website we create for you or your business to be effective, one of the first things you need to do is tell us what you want the website to do! For example, do you want visitors to your website to buy something online, send you emailed enquiries, telephone you or visit your premises? Things like that. To help you be able to clearly specify what you want, you need to write a description of your objectives, usually called a 'design brief'. If you'd like a little advice on writing a design brief, read on...

website content

WEBSITE PAGE CONTENT

Writing content for your website

The term 'website content' refers to the text and images that are used on your website. You'll find the expression 'Content is king' everywhere on the internet, and for good reason. The general sense of the expression is that having a pretty website isn't enough; your visitors (and Google) will measure your website by the words on the page. If you'd like a few guidelines on writing your website content, read on...

using images

WEBSITE IMAGES

USING PHOTOS ON YOUR WEBSITE

Irrespective of the type of website you want or have, the images you use are important. Photos add visual appeal to a website as well as helping to selling products and concepts. Even if you only use images to break up the pages and make them more appealling, you need good quality and relevant images. For a little advice, read on...

website hosting

GETTING ONLINE

WEBSITE HOSTING, MAINTENANCE AND UPDATES

Every website needs to be hosted on a server connected to the internet, 24:7, and hosting is a very important consideration. Allied to this, you need to consider things such as how often you plan to update your website with extra information, or perhaps add extra pages in the future. For a little advice, read on...

Website Colours

As with any form of marketing, colours play an important part in website design. You know from your own experience of browsing online that how a website looks can affect how long you stay on it, and the feeling it gives you. Assuming you already know which colours you want us to use, (let's say a medium blue and light grey) how do you tell us exactly which shades of blue and grey you have in mind?

using colours on a website

Colours on a computer screen are created by mixing the colours Red, Green and Blue. Each of these colours is measured with a value from 0 to 255 and these allow us to identify more than 16 million different colours. Each has a unique 'Hex' (hexidecimal) code and, by using Hex codes, you can tell us exactly which colours you want us to use. Luckily, there are hundreds of online colour pickers to help you choose the colours for your new website.

Please share this Page
CMS or HTML?

We make no bones of the fact that we like HTML websites. This website, for example, is a very simple HTML website. We chose an HTML design because we don't want or need a time-consuming blog and the site doesn't need any sophisticated add-ons, just a couple of simple forms. It loads quickly and isn't of interest to hackers. We have absolutely no need for a CMS website.

HTML websites are more secure, need less maintenance and are cheaper than CMS sites, but are not as easy to update or add new pages to, if you plan to do this frequently. That said, our 'Plus' service includes a free update service if your website is hosted with us.

cms websites

CMS websites, such as those based on Wordpress, are very popular. If you want your website to include a blog or need data-driven features and functions, a CMS website may be what you need. However, they are always more expensive, require regular and continual maintenance, are almost always slower to use than HTML websites and are popular targets for hackers.

Before you order a website, from us or from anywhere else, you should draw up a list of what you want your website to do. These requirements will dictate what type of website you need.

Of course, if you're not sure what sort of website best suits your needs, we will include our recommendations in your pre-purchase quote.

Take the first step now and request a quote