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Canalside Websites - Steps for Website production

Step 1 - Initial requirements

Ideally, we like to meet all our clients so we build a working relationship with them which lasts all the time we continue to work with them. Sometimes this is not possible as the distances involved can be prohibitive so we can discuss by telephone the requirements. We are based in the South Midlands so a large part of the country’s canals are in relatively easy reach for us to be able to meet and take the design forward. You may already have thoughts in mind what you would want a website to look like from others that you may have seen and will need to carefully think about what you are trying to achieve. We can help you to clarify your requirements.
One of the key decisions in the website/domain name. Selecting a suitable name will not only help people find your site  but will also directly relate to your business. Examples of this are www.pub.co.uk or www.business.co.uk . We will advise you where searches can be made for an available domain name and possible solutions to popular domain names that have already been purchased e.g. www.canal.co.uk.

The website name will need to be purchased (we can do this for you , however, we encourage you to own your own website name) and one of the .co.uk  examples above, if available, will cost around £10 for two years before requiring renewal.

With the domain name purchased, we can quickly move, usually within a couple of days to a holding page shown on the Internet. For details of hosting (your website has to be held in a computer connected to the Internet), we have outlined what is required below.

We will need to agree what the content of the website will be. You may be comfortable with just one page of information, however, for businesses we would encourage a full description of your offering which will grow your site to several pages. The overall draft layout of your website can be decided at this stage.

Step 2 – Build and agree

From the above, we have an outline of the website and what it will contain. We can write the content for your site but would encourage you to have an active part in this. Most sites have an ‘about us’ section and description of what they are trying to achieve and this is also best produced by yourselves.  We will have gone through a basic design when we first met which will define the ‘look and feel’ of the site. Colour can play a significant part here so if you already have a brand which shows a particular colour, typeface or logo, this can be carried forward into the design.

As the overall layout of the website has been decided in the previous stage, the detail behind the different pages can now be progressed. This will normally take a week, or less, to complete at which time the outward face of the website will be complete. Ideally, we should meet again to finalise the look of the website. There is still lots more to do!

We need to agree how readers are going to contact you be this by telephone or e-mail and to discuss what address you would wish to identify yourself as. E-mails can be directed to any electronic address although care has to be taken with any reply to ensure the reply is sent from the appropriate address.  

We will also need to discuss any changes to the website once published and how these are going to be managed. If we take, as an example, a pub which serves food, the menu may change regularly or events may wish to be advertised. A shop will have new ranges of stock to sell. We can provide this support as part of ongoing maintenance although we are more than content to handover the site to you for updating.

Step 3 – Publish and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Readers only see part of the content of a website. There is a lot hidden from the reader which helps search engines, such as Google, find your details and list/rank above another similar site.

You will see promises by companies to ensure your website is at the top of the search engine listings, but, be warned, not everyone can be top all the time!, and, although you may make a high ranking initially, your competitors will soon catch up. A more consistent and business generating approach that we employ is to optimise your website so that different searches will show your site at, or near, the top of the results on an ongoing basis.

This consists of researching the words and phrases most applicable to your website and completing many small but significant unseen elements.

Your website will now be made available via the Internet so you will begin to receive contact and any business. We will ensure that all the major search engines are aware of your site and content. Search engine awareness can be related to the growth of plants – a  seed is there and you will see it grow but it takes some time to fully mature.

For users of the Internet to see your website, we have already said that your website needs to be hosted by a web connected computer. This will cost you upwards from around £30 per year and the cost is dependant on the reliability and availability of the site on the Internet, the speed of loading the web page and how much traffic your expect to attract through the website. If you require a small website with only a few people looking at it each day, then traffic will be relatively light. If you expect to take orders or receive lots of e-mails, then a more expensive hosting will be required to satisfy the increased traffic.

We are sometimes able to negotiate free hosting as an initial status to get your website viewable on the Internet.

After publishing

When the website is fully completed and available to view on the Internet, we can either manage your site going forward on your behalf or transfer the responsibility over to you to continue.

Please be aware ongoing website management is a specialist subject operating within a changing environment and requires specialist knowledge to ensure your website continues to fulfil its purpose.

© Canalside Websites 2010   Part of Bancroft Associates (boatmail.co.uk, canalandriversidepubs.co.uk, waterwaysdirectory.org.uk )

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