Web design FAQs
Answers to some of the most common questions I get asked about designing websites
This is the question I’m most often asked, but one that I’m unable to answer until I know exactly what sort of website you need.
Each website is different, and the costs will be based on your specific requirements. Once I’ve established what you need, I’ll provide you with a detailed, no-obligation proposal confirming how much this will cost.
I use WordPress, the software used to power over 40% of websites on the internet. If you’d like more information on this, I’ve written an article about the 5 reasons why I use WordPress.
All of the websites I design are bespoke. Unlike many web designers, I don’t use pre-designed templates.
That depends on the complexity of the site. A small one page website can take a couple of weeks elapsed time, but a complex site with lots of content and functionality will take much longer.
This will be confirmed once we’ve agreed on the requirements. Typically this will include digital files of your logos and other branding, along with the written content and images that you want displayed. If you have an existing website then the relevant items can be copied across.
Whilst I’m happy to review the content that you’ve written and make recommendations with regards to SEO, I’m not a copywriter.
If you’re not comfortable writing the content yourself then there are plenty of excellent freelance copywriters out there who would be able to write your content much better than I ever would.
I will be able to source photos for you from stock libraries, which may or may not incur additional costs.
We can communicate whichever way you prefer: video calls via Zoom, phone and email.
Once the project is underway, I will send you regular (usually weekly) status updates via email to let you know how your site’s progressing.
Yes. I will give you access to the site as it’s being built.
Once the build is complete, there will be two rounds of reviews where you can request changes.
Yes, I will be able to add a signup form to the site, but you would also need to subscribe to an email marketing platform to manage your mailing list. As you’ll be working with personal data I’d recommend using a reputable firm such as Mailchimp, which provides a secure and reliable service that integrates well with WordPress.
I’ll build your new website whilst your other website is still live. When we’re ready to go live with your new site, I’ll repoint your domain name from the old site to the new one. This change takes around 24 hours to replicate across the internet, after which time the old site can be deleted.
Definitely. These days more people access the internet from mobile devices than desktop computers, so it’s super important that your site looks great on mobiles and tablets.
Of course. The most popular way of doing this is to include social media icons in the header and/or footer of the site which link to your social media pages. Doing it this way means that your visitors can access your social media from any page of your website.
Before your site goes live, I will run this through an SEO audit tool to ensure that Google and other search engines can access your site, index it and understand it without any problems.
I also provide a range of additional SEO services.
Your website belongs to you, so of course you can make updates yourself if you feel comfortable doing this. I can also provide you with links to videos showing you how to update the text or add new photos.
Most of my clients prefer to ask me to do this for them, with the work charged on a time and effort basis.
If you don’t already have web hosting arrangements then I can provide UK based hosting for you in a secure and robust cloud-based hosting environment.
If you don’t want to maintain your website yourself then I can do this on your behalf, running weekly software and security updates, a daily security scan and daily backups. I would also receive a real-time alert if your website were to become unavailable for any reason, and restore this as quickly as possible.
You can have as many email addresses as you like, though obviously there is a cost involved.
You’ll need to use an email program or app such as Outlook to access your emails. I’ll provide you with instructions on how to configure this.