When working through the beginning stages of a new web design project, we find that clients ask us a number of recurring questions. To answer these and help those of you who are unsure, we’ve put together a list of FAQs you might find useful.

1 – How much will my new website cost? Will it be worth it?

Understandably, these are some of the most commonly asked questions, and also hard to answer without first having thoroughly scoped out the work that will be needed to complete any web design project. This is because the needs and sizes of different websites can differ substantially.
For us to accurately quote for a new website, we’ll need some information from you to kick-start the process, including:

• An overview of your business such as services, products, target market and business objectives
• Your current (or intended) web address
• An indication of design style, including any existing brand guidelines or applications of your brand
• The approximate size of the website (“size” here means number of pages and amount of content)
• The main purpose of your website – why do you feel you need a new website, and what do you want it to do when it’s live? For example, do you want to sell your products online, or do you want to promote your company?
• An idea of budget, timescales and technical considerations
• Who are your competitors? What do you think they’re doing right, and wrong?

2 – How long will it take to build my website?

Once you’ve provided details of how you’d like your website to work, we’ll discuss timescales with you. If you require a straight-forward ‘brochure’ web design, we can get you up and running in no time.

If you’re looking for higher levels of functionality such as a content management system (WordPress for example), e-commerce, customer log-ins or other bespoke features, we’ll also account for this when working out your project timings.

The quickest way to get your new website live is to give us as much information as you can from the start. The more we know the quicker and more thoroughly we can work.

3 – Will I be able to make changes to my website?

The majority of our clients have access to their websites through a content management system (CMS), the most popular one being WordPress.

CMS-based websites are one of the most effective solutions, so we usually recommend them to our clients. A CMS website allows you to log in via any browser – Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer for example – to make changes and additions to the website content with no extra software required. This includes adding and updating articles and images.

4 – I don’t have any text or images – can you help me pull some together?

Don’t let this put you off. We can offer advice as well as full copywriting services, custom photography, stock imagery searches, illustrations, video, animated content and much more.

And what’s more, copywriting and commissioned or royalty-free photography can be very cost-effective. You’ll probably be able to use the same materials for your marketing and sales collateral too, helping you make your budget go further.

5 – I like ‘so-and-so’s website – can you make it look like that?

It’s great to have an idea of what you like or don’t like – try to bring some “likes” and “dislikes” to your initial website design meeting, it’ll really help and will put us on the right track from Day 1 of the project.

A crucial part of any website development project is communication – talk openly with our website design team about your preferences. That way you’ll get a website that looks and works how you want it to. And be open to ideas too – we’ll make sure the communication flows both ways.

6 – Do you offer training in WordPress or other Content Management Systems?

Yes, if we integrate your website with a CMS such as WordPress, we’ll make sure that you’re brought up to speed with how WordPress works as a CMS, and also how the specifics of your website are kept updated. This way, you can start adding news stories, blog articles, home page features and additional information as soon as the website’s gone live.

7 – Do you build any Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) into the website?

Yes, we build all our websites with SEO in mind from the start. Areas covered include:

• Analysis of current content to identify key phrases and keywords
• Build of website using web standards that are preferred by Google and other search engines
• Consideration of page URLs, headings, images, keyword density, inbound and outbound links
• We don’t use any ‘black hat’ techniques that ‘promise great results’ but deliver penalties from search engines

We can also offer advice and guidance on how to carry out SEO for yourself once your website is live, or we can help build your SEO levels on a monthly basis. The best way to do this is to discuss your online marketing strategy with us.

8 – Can I add functionality at a later date, like an e-commerce shop?

The great thing about the way we build our websites is that we can modify and ‘extend’ them. If you know your plans from the outset then we can prepare the website for future additions. Likewise, if you decide down the line you’d like to add some functionality, we can take care of that for you.

So there you have it – 8 commonly asked questions about website design. Hopefully we’ve answered any queries you might have. If there’s anything else you need to know, then just get in touch, we’d love to say hello.