Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you include entering the site content in the price?
  

  We can enter the initial site content for you, automatically included in the development cost, up to a maximum of 10 pages. Just provide a Word document laid out clearly with the title of the page, the section the page should be created in (if it's a sub-page) and the text (content) for the page.

  For larger sites, please talk to us about on-going hourly development rates for creating/maintaining your site content.

  
  
• How important are meta tags?
  

  Your page descriptions are important, but keywords are now virtually ignored by Google. Watch this video for an explanation.

  
  
• How long does it take to get my website up and running?
  

  A new website with it's CMS (content management system) can be completed and deployed to a temporary location (a "stage" site) which you can access yourself within approximately 5 business days. The usual procedure for a new website is once the site is available to you in the staging area, we organize a training session so that you can learn the ropes of how to manage your site. Once you're happy with the content on the site, switching the site over to live occurs within a few hours of your notification.

  
  
• I haven't received an important email. Can I check what's been caught by the spam filter?
  

  Yes. Click here. You will need to register to access. Click the "Register" link, enter your email address, and click Register. Your password will be emailed to you. Once logged in, you can change your password if you wish to.

  Once logged in, you'll see that the functionality is fairly self-explanatory.

  • To "Deliver" an email, check the box in the first column and click the Deliver button. Note that delivering an email will whitelist the sender's email address, which will mean any future emails received from the address will bypass the spam filtering altogether, so Deliver with caution!
  • To select all messages in the list, click the checkbox in the header row.

  
  
• Image Optimization: what is it, why is it necessary, and how do I do it?
  

  Image optimization is the processing of compressing (or reducing the file size) of graphics (especially photographs) for display on web pages.

  When you view a webpage on the internet, copies of all the graphics used to display the page are downloaded and stored temporarily on your computer. If the web page you are viewing contains a lot of photographs (eg, in photo galleries) the amount of time it will take to fully display the page will depend on the optimized file size of all the photos.

  Photo files from digital cameras by default use a very high resolution (the "pixels") to ensure that the image is very sharp when it is printed. This means these files (usually jpg's) from digital camers are about 2-3 mb in size. These jpg's need to be optimized before they are displayed on a web-page, where the high resolution required by printing isn't an issue.

  You can optimize your photo images easily using the Microsoft Office Picture Manager (installed by default with Microsoft Office). Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

  There are also various easy-to-use software packages available for download that can do this for you:

  • Snagit from TechSmith, priced at approximately US$49.95 per copy. This program also includes a lot of other functionality, including a very flexible and configurable screen capture utility.
  • A reliable "free" (for non-commercial use) application is Multiple Image Resizer. The commercial license is UK£15.00. A little more complicated to use than Snagit, and doesn't include as many additional features, but resizes/optimizes images for web use efficiently.

  
  
• Is there an annual Licence fee?
  

  No. Your initial outlay for the site creation and setup is a one-off cost. There are no annual license fees required for the CMS (content management system).

  However, hosting fees are an ongoing service charge, invoiced annually.

  
  
• What is the difference between a domain and a website?
  

  A domain is a registered name, giving the owner exclusive rights to use that name. It is similar to registering a Business Name.

  A website is an area reserved on a web hosting computer (the web server) that stores all the necessary files and images to display the pages for the website on the internet.

  Although they are two different things, a website isn't accessible on the internet without a domain name. As part of its registration details, the domain name provides the internet with the location (the web server) of the websites files.

  • You can have a domain name registered without having an active website, however
  • You can't have an active website without a registered domain name

  
  
• What will a website cost me?
  

  That's a difficult question to give a "single figure" answer to! Each site is individually customized to your requirements, as well as your own technical skills. The best general guide is to say that a basic site setup, with a customized template based on the agreed design giving you the ability to create as many site pages as you need, whenever you need them, and a face-to-face hands-on tutorial on how to manage your site is $2,500 (AU).

  For a more accurate estimate, please get in touch so that we can discuss your requirements.