So you have decided that a web site for your business would be a good idea,
but you don't really know where to start...
The information below should provide basic information on the ins and outs
of setting up a web site, but if you have additional questions please e-mail
us or use the form on the 'Contact' page.
If we think that other people can benefit from the answer to your question,
we will add it to our list!
A domain name is simply an internet address. For example, www.google.com is the domain name of the google search engine. For most businesses, a domain name will either be your company name (e.g. 'www.ebay.com)', or will reflect the type of goods or services you offer your customers (e.g. www.car-insurance.co.uk)
The process of getting your own domain name is known as 'Domain Name Registration'. There are plenty of companies on the internet who will allow the registration of domain names (try searching for 'Domain Name Registration' on the internet), which effectively buys you the right to use that name exlusively for the period purchased, usually one or two years. As the time approaches for your regstration period to expire, you will receive a reminder to renew your registation, from the company with which it was originally registered. It is worth mentioning that it can save problems later if you register your domain name with the same company from which you purchase your web hosting package (see below). This means that if you do have any problems, you are only dealing with one company rather than two. Although the Domain Name Registration process itself isn't too complicated, finding the Domain Name you want can be difficult. As you can imagine, there are millions of web sites on the internet, all of which have their own domain name. So depending on your name or business type, there is a good chance that the name has already been taken. You may want to try different high level domains (that's the last bit of the web address - .com, .co.uk., .net, .biz etc.) You can use our search tool on the Domain Name Registration page to check out the availablity of the domain name you want.
Then you have two choices: get creative with your domain name, or use a sub-domain name from an existing site (getting more complicated now isn't it?). Let's take it a step at a time...
Suppose you have a bookshop, and your ideal domain name was 'www.bookshop.co.uk'.
You've checked, and found that 'www.bookshop.co.uk' is not available, so you
check 'www.bookshop.com', 'www.bookshop.net', 'www.bookshop.biz' etc. etc.
and they're all taken - what now?
Then comes the 'get creative' part - you try thebookshop, jimsbooks, booksforyou,
books4u, and so on until you find one that suits your business, and that you
hope your customers will remember. Some clever 'lateral thinking' has been
applied by some of the big companies in this respect - for example would you
automatically associate 'elephant.co.uk' with insurance, unless it had been
backed by a huge TV advertising campaign?
Using a sub-domain name: Business Network Scotland run the 'scotbiz.net' site, a name chosen to be easily remembered by our customers, and yours. We can sub-divide our scotbiz.net domain into separate websites, called sub domains, each of which becomes a web site in its own right. Think about it like a block of flats: The block has a main address (say 5 High Street), and each apartment within the block has an additional identifier (flat 12, 5 High Street). If we use the bookshop example above, the web address would be 'bookshop.scotbiz.net', again very simple for your customers to remember.
A 'scotbiz.net' domain is included in the price of our £149 web site package, so you don't have to pay anything extra.
It depends on the type of domain name you want, and also the charges levied by the company through which you register. As a general rule, you should pay no more than £15 to register a Domain Name.
As well as registering a domain name, you will also have to arrange a web hosting package. Web hosting is effectively purchasing some space on the internet, where you can store your web site pages once they have been created. It's just like the space on the hard disk of your computer, except that it will be in a computer centre somewhere, and can be accessed by people browsing on the internet.
YES! And it's important that you purchase one which will suit your needs,
both now and in the future. At the bottom of the scale, are free web hosts,
which will allow you to store your web site on their servers, in return for
being able to display adverts of their choice on your site. Although this
can be fun to play around with for a while, do you really want to advertise
other people's businesses on your business site? Probably not...
So you then move to the web hosting packages which you have to pay for. These
range from a couple of pounds per month up to... well it depends on what you
want/need/think you need!
The main criteria for a hosting package will be the amount of file space you
get (limiting how many web pages, graphic files etc. you can store), and also
the amount of traffic you are allowed (how much monthly information you can
transmit from your site to other internet users.)
Most small businesses do not need enormous amounts of web space, because the web pages themselves are not very big. Equally, any graphics which are displayed on these pages should have been converted by the web designer to reduce their size, and make them suitable for the internet.
Traffic limitations, are more difficult to predict when you are just starting
out. Most hosting packages will set an upper monthly limit, say 3000 megabytes,
and if your traffic exceeds that, they will charge you per megabyte for the
excess. It is always best to err on the safe side, and make sure that you
have a hosting package where you will not max out. This at least keeps your
costs predictable, and the difference for the next package up, may only be
a few pound per month.
Let's face it, everybody that sets up a web site hopes that it will get thousands
of visitors, and that their business will be successful because of this. It
rarely happens overnight, and realistically, it can take several months for
your web site to get picked up by the major search engines, and to find it's
way on to their results pages. (See Search Engine Optimisation, below.) However
it is important to understand how the system works, so that you can use it
to the full, without paying more than you have to!
With our scotbiz.net package, we use a top quality hosting package, which includes excellent support, just in case of difficulties. If you choose a Scotbiz.net web design package, you will share this same web space, and will benefit from the same high quality of service. Again, it is included in the cost of the £149 package.
When you have registered a Domain Name, you can then tell the system where your Domain Name should point to on the internet, so that when someone types in your web address, they are directed to the main web page, stored in your web space. The actual process for setting this up is dependant on the system used by the company with which you register your Domain Name, but it is usually fairly straightforward. Just make sure you have all the necessary details to hand!
There are a number of considerations to take into account when designing a web site, particularly where it is to be used for your business.
Most obvious, is that it should tell your potential customers about the products and/or services you have to offer. It is easy to get wrapped up in how your site looks, and to go overboard with making it fancy, but remember that your customer's want information about your company; they will rarely be impressed by things that flash, twirl, and change colour, unless you are in the business of making things that flash, twirl, and change colour!
Make it easy for your visitors to find their way around, and to find what
they are looking for. It is worth spending some time before you start, to
sit down and think about how you will lay out your pages, and what each one
will contain. For example, the main page on your site, often called the Home
page or Index page, is the first one your visitors will see, so you need to
ensure that it is going to capture their attention straight away.
Always have a Contact page with your name, address telephone number, e-mail
address etc. If your are difficult to find, consider giving directions, or
a map.
If you offer a number of products and/or services, consider how you may group
them over several pages, so that they are consistent with what the customer
may be searching for. You should also consider how often the pages will need
updated; if the information is very specific, will it be likely to change
regularly? (prices, descriptions, availability etc.)
Finally, and potentially most important, is that the site should be search engine friendly. That means that the construction of the site will be optimised to ensure that when someone searches for your products and/or services, that you stand a good chance of being found. (See Search Engine Optimisation, below)
You should also carefuly consider who will design your web site.
Most people probably know a talented teenager who can create a website. It may look OK, but does it fullfil the criteria above? A professional web designer will talk with you about your business, your customers, and your expectations, before even talking about the design of a new website. They will then discuss possible solutions, until you both reach an agreement as to what is to be achieved. They should then be able to give you an idea of the time involved, and the approximate cost. If you feel that the cost is expensive, don't be afraid to ask for more information. Reputable designers will have nothing to hide. And remember, you can always shop around...
It depends on several factors:
How complex your site is, and therefore how long it takes to build.
How much information you supply:
If you can provide all the text in electronic format, then the designer can
simply copy it in, saving him time, and you money. If you want the designer
to write all the information this can take a considerable amount of time,
since the designer will regularly refer back to you to ensure that the information
is up to date and accurate.
It varies... Some larger, well established design houses are expensive, some are less so. Don't always assume that because some companies are are cheaper, that they inferior. Many small companies have low overheads, and still produce excellent work through talented designers, with thousands of satisfied customers. You should visit the websites of various web design companies to get an idea of what you can get for your money, and shortlist 3 or 4. Then call them, explain what you want, and discuss it with them. Only by doing this will you establish whether or not they are the people you want to do business with, and from whom you will get value for money.
As mentioned previously, Business Network Scotland Ltd. provide 'All in one'
packages, where we can set up your domain name (or a 'scotbiz.net' sub-domain),
design your website, provide web hosting, an e-mail address and technical
support. These packages start at £49 for a single page site, with 2
pictures of your choice, e-mail and hosting for 1 year.
We also offer a £149 package with 5 pages and up to 8 graphics. After
you provide us with the information about your business, products, services
etc., the creation of the site usually takes around a week. You can see what
the site looks like before it goes live, so that any last minute refinements
can be made. Since we do all the setting up, design, and support, it is a
simple one-stop-shop, at an excellent price. This gives you the chance to
see if your website is going to work for you, without any heavy financial
commitment. If your business grows to the point where you really need your
own domain name and web hosting, we can arrange it on your behalf, and transfer
your site to it's new home. We will maintain a link from your old scotbiz.net
address for a period of one year to make sure all your customers know where
your new site now lives. So there is no risk in starting off with a small
site at scotbiz.net!
Search Engines are like indexes of web pages on the internet. At these sites, you type in a search phrase, and the Search Engines will trawl through all the web pages it knows about, and find the most relevent pages for the words you typed. Probably the best known Search Engines are Google, Lycos, Yahoo and MSN, although there are hundreds more. These search indexes are created by software (known as spiders) which trawl the web for all the web pages, which are then buitl into a huge index, containing not only the website information, but also a summary of the contents of each page. As you can imagine, with so much information on the internet, it can take several months for your web pages to be found by the spiders, indexed, and to subsequently appear on the search engine results pages.
When designing a web site for a customer, it is important for us to understand what that customer is offering on their website. If, for example, you sell exotic indoor plants, then it is likely that a potential customer looking for that type of business will type 'exotic indoor plants' into a search engine. Search Engine Optimisation is the skill of ensuring that, as far as posssible, your site will match a search query from a potential customer. This is done in several ways, including how the text is laid out on the page, the contents of the text, how web pages are named etc.
It is important to realise that good design will significantly improve your ratings with the search engines, but no company will guarantee consistent first page placement on any search engine. The processes used by search engines to determine the relevancy of a page (called ranking algorithms) can change over time, so your placement in a search can also change - up OR down! Additionally, being first on one Search Engine doesn't necessarily mean you will be first on another.
However to end on a more positive note, although poor web design will almost
guarantee you anonimity on the search engines, good web design will ensure
that you have the best possible chance against your competitors
Many search engines offer options where you can pay the search engine company
to get a higher placing on the results pages. Costs tend to be variable, so
you need to investigate carefully. and make sure that you spend your money
wisely.
The simple truth is that you can get by without e-mail, but you maybe severely
disadvantaged if you do not have it.
E-mail (electronic mail) is a great tool for many businesses, and the reality
is that many people who visit your website, will be experienced e-mail users,
who take e-mail for granted. It allows your customers to visit your website
and to then contact your company, day or night, without leaving their computer
or having to remember a phone number to call you during office hours. Equally,
if you have e-mail, you can reply to enquiries, at any time, whether or not
the enquirer is available. It is well worth getting an e-mail address, and
spending a little tim getting to know how to use it. It can pay dividends
in the long run. An e-mail address is included in our £149 web design
package.
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This page is designed to allow people who are less familiar
wtih the internet etc. to find out more.
It explains in simple terms, some of the jargon that is used when talking
about web sites, web design and e-mail.
If you have a question that is not answered here, please e-mail us, and will
answer as soon as possible. If we think others can benefit from your question,
and the information provided, we will add it to our FAQ section.
