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.
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...
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...
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...
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...