Web Site Planning

• Why have a Web Site?

• Gathering Information for Your Site

• Our Design to Publication Process

• Registering Your Domain Name

• Price Guide

Why have a Web Site?

The Internet is a useful medium for marketing and promoting virtually any type or size of commercial company, voluntary organisation, educational establishment, or trade organisation. It has major advantages over other mediums and can be an invaluable resource to your business or organisation as on-line information services are easy to update, flexible and encourage feedback from visitors.

Many potential customers will ask if you have a brochure. Producing printed brochures can be expensive and inflexible due to the high printing costs associated with relatively small quantities. Far more detail can be included on your web site as well as having the ability to change and add to it quickly, keeping it current.

Furthermore your customers can correspond with you making it easier for them to do business with you. A successful web site will help to keep your business ahead of the competition.

An estimated 40 million people regularly use the WWW. a number which is growing all the time as organisations of all types realise the massive potential of this medium.

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Gathering Information for Your Site

Consider:

• Who are your main competitors? Research their internet sites.
  What have they done on the web? How could it have been better?
  
  
• How will people find you? Search engines, mailings, other adverts?
  
  
• Who are your target users? Tailor the web site to work to suit them.
  
  
• A site must be simple to operate, with clear links and reasons for visitors to return. Feedback forms, useful tips, articles and advice pages etc.
  
  
• A good site requires good copy and layout, with careful use of graphics and links to related topics.
  
  
• Your site content could also include a correspondence address, key personnel, opening hours, telephone/fax numbers and e-mail on easy reply buttons.
  
  
• Illustrating your site - consider different ways to make your site memorable and interesting.
  

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Our Design to Publication Process

• An initial meeting would enable us to discuss your Web site requirements.
  
  
• Gathering information such as your company logo, profile, brochures, advertisements, photographs, price lists etc. Any site design styles or preferences that you may have.
  
  
• Establish your Web site preference - a one-off design and publication or publication with regular updates such as events, news and special offers detailed.
  
  
• Discuss your domain name (your www.address) and e-mail requirements.
  
  
• A costed proposal would be put forward.
  
  
• Upon your acceptance and initial deposit of 50% of the design to publication cost, your Web Site would be constructed within an agreed timescale.
  
  
• Once designed we would arrange a demonstration, and subject to your approval/amendments proceed to publication.

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Registering Your Domain Name

Each individual Web Site has its own unique address (URL) more commonly known as its domain name. Being unique, each domain name must be registered before it can be used and it must know which computer address your site is stored on. Most companies or organisations choose to use their own name as part of their domain name e.g. captivewebs.com, although you might decide to use a wording that gives an indication of what your business does.

Having a memorable domain name is important.

You may find that your first choice for a domain name has already been taken, as thousands of new domains are registered every day. So even if you aren't ready to use a domain name yet, you should still reserve one as soon as possible, and we can arrange this for you.

There are some mandatory rules to consider when choosing a UK domain name:

1. Two letter domain names are not allowed.
2. Two character names are permitted such as www.5p.co.uk.
3. No more than 63 characters are allowed, including the top level domain (.co.uk) part.
4. The only non-alpha-numeric character permissible is the hyphen '-'.

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Price Guide

There are 3 main parts to costing your site:

• Creating your web site
• Domain name registration and hosting service
• Maintenance/Updates

Creating your Web Site

Creating your Web Site is likely to be the biggest single cost and we will give you a costed proposal after making an analysis of your requirements. As a rule of thumb you should budget between £50 to £150 per page, however, we like to achieve the right overall effect for your site so pricing is individually assessed.

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Domain Name Registration and Hosting Your Web Site

Our domain names are registered for two years and at the end of this period you would be given the opportunity to renew your domain name registration.

Included within this charge for your domain name registration are:

• Web Site hosting
• Unlimited e-mail addresses
  
• Unlimited web space

• CGI/BIN support allowing Form Mail options
  

The charge for the two year's registration varies depending on your domain name preference, and whether you wish to have a .co.uk or .com or other top level domain part, though as a guide between £30 to £80 should be allowed.

Remember this is for two year's registration and hosting.

For some business requirements an annual business package will be recommended and prices start as low as £100 plus VAT for the first domain name.

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Maintenance

Your visitors will like to know that your site information is kept current and therefore we are happy to enter a maintenance agreement which for an agreed fixed monthly or bimonthly charge we will update/change your site in accordance with new material supplied.

If you would prefer a more ad hoc approach, we are more than happy to update as and when necessary charging on an hourly basis subject to a minimum £25 charge. Again amendments would need to be forwarded to us, either by e-mail or posted to us.

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