Q. What is a domain name?
In order for people to find your website it needs an address. Domain names are memorable addresses. Examples of domain names are: bbc.co.uk, inspiration.co.uk and lastminute.com. Domains are unique - once you buy one it is reserved for your use only, so long as you pay your renewal fees on time. |
Q. Can I have multiple email addresses?
Yes. Just let us know which ones you would like us to set up for you. |
Q. What kind of domain name should I choose?
There are 2 kinds of domain. Top level domains are those ending in .com or .net (for example). Local level domains end in .uk. Examples are itv.co.uk and dec.org.uk. When choosing your domain, you need to pick something that is short, memorable and is based on your company name or what your site is about. Then you need to make sure that your name is still available to buy - Design inspiration can help you with this. |
Q. Should I have an online shop?
If you have a product to sell, then an online shop could help you to increase the size of your customer base. Online shops sell 24 hours a day, locally, nationally and internationally. Design Inspiration can help you create a shop that looks great, makes shopping easy and is secure. Get in touch for more details. |
Q. What is a URL?
The URL is the address you type into the browser in order to go to a website. |
Q. What is a CMS?
A CMS (Content Management System) is a password-protected feature that allows you to manage and maintain advanced areas of your site such as latest news, special offers, etc. |
Q. How big is a web page?
The actual length of a web page is flexible, but a good rule of thumb is whatever can be displayed on screen without needing to scroll down too far. If the amount you need to scroll down is irritating, that's too far! |
Q. How can I know if my website is successful?
The criteria for success of each site can differ from site to site. Is it more important to you that you site looks good, or that it is interactive? Is it successful if it attracts lots of new visitors? Whatever your criteria, we can help you to develop a strategy to suit your site and your business. |
Q. Can I have as many web pages as I want?
We would be pleased to build as many pages as you like. When we begin a project, we will discuss how many pages your site might need. |
Q. How do I know how many visitors I am getting to my website?
We can arrange to give you access to full statistics on who is visiting your site and where they are spending the most or least time, as well as a host of other information. Ask us about our web statistics package. |
Q. Should I have an online shop?
If you have a product to sell, then an online shop could help you to increase the size of your customer base. Online shops sell 24 hours a day, locally, nationally and internationally. Design Inspiration can help you create a shop that looks great, makes shopping easy and is secure. |
Q. How can you help me to drive more visitors to my website?
There are many, many ways to do this, both on and offline. If you are interested in developing a strategy for your website, get in touch with us. |
Q. What is e-commerce?
E-commerce is simply a collective term for the process of buying and selling online. Many people use the term to mean an online shop. |
Q. Do I need to link to other sites?
One good way to get extra visitors is swap links with other websites that offer a product or service that is also likely to appeal to your visitors. |
Q. What is Hosting?
All websites need to be hosted on a web server in order for visitors to view it. Hosting is normally provided by specialist companies. Design Inspiration uses the UK's top providers to ensure you get the best support possible for your site and to make things easy for you we include hosting in our renewal fees. |
Q. I need to be able to update some of my pages, how do I do that?
If you need to do this on a regular basis, we can build a CMS (see above) for you to do this. If it's not something you need to do often, let us know what changes you need to make and we can make them for you. |
Q. How do I get emails?
Emails are handled separately from your website. Your email software (such as Outlook Express or Eudora) needs to be set up to check your mailbox. When we build a new site, we give you all the passwords etc. you will need to set up your software. |
Q. I have some pictures that I'd like to put on my website. How do I get them to you?
You can email them to photos@inspiration.co.uk. Alternatively, mail them to: Design Inspiration, 39 Wembury Park Road, Plymouth, PL3 4NG. |
Q. What is 'Hit' or a 'Hit Counter'?
Some people use 'hit counters' to measure how many times their site gets visited. Unfortunately Hit counters are very unreliable because they can count the same visitors again and again. We can arrange to give you access to full statistics on who is visiting your site. |
Q. How often should a website be given a makeover?
There is no hard-and-fast rule on this, but a good website should be examined weekly to see if it can be tweaked or improved in small ways. Every 12 months you should take a good look and consider whether your site needs a makeover. |
Q. What is an ISP?
An ISP (Internet Service Provider) provides you with your internet access. |
Q. What is bandwidth?
This is the amount of traffic that passes to and from your website. Most websites do not need to be concerned with bandwidth, but if/when a site becomes extremely popular charges can be incurred when normal bandwidth allowances are exceeded. |
Q. How can I make my site more interesting?
There are many ways to do this, such as by improving its look and feel or by including news or games. Talk to us to see how we could improve your site. |
Q. What is the difference between searching in different Search Engines?
Search Engines use different methods. This is why the same search will produce different results in Google than in Yahoo! for example. There are only a small handful of actual search engines - the rest take their results from the top few - these are known as meta search engines. |
Q. Should I have music or a voiceover on my website?
Unless it's particularly relevant to your site (perhaps you are a voiceover artist or musician), we would reccommend against it. Visitors generally find them irritating or intrusive. |
Q. What do my renewal fees cover?
Unless otherwise stated, your renewal fees cover all your annual fees such as hosting, domain renewal, etc. |
Q. What is multimedia?
Multimedia is a term used to describe the integration of different media, including text, graphics, audio, video and animation, in one website. |
Q. Can you help improve my site's search engine rankings?
We always build sites to be 'search engine friendly'. This involves a large number of things that help the search engines to rank your site. Beyond this, we have a programme of regular interventions we can make to help search engine rankings. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please get in touch. |
Q. What is Flash?
Flash is one way of getting multimedia onto a website. It requires specialist programming skills. |
Q. What is a Search Engine?
A website that acts as a catalogue for the Internet. Visitors can enter key words and the Search Engine tries to find a list of websites that most closely match the concepts behind your search words. The most popular Search Engines are Google and Yahoo! |
Q. Why are some websites more expensive than others?
There are many factors that influence the cost of a website. How much time it takes is only one issue. Specialist programming is often required in order to add the extra interactive dimension such as linking to a database or adding multimedia. |
Q. What do my renewal fees cover?
Unless otherwise stated, your renewal fees cover all your annual fees such as hosting, domain renewal, etc. |
Q. What is picture resolution?
This is what governs how much detail or 'sharpness' a picture has on a computer. It is measured in dpi (or 'dots per inch'). For websites, photos or scans should be no less than 72 dpi. For print, it needs to be no less than 300 dpi. If in doubt, just ask our helpful staff. |
Q. I have some pictures that I'd like to put on my website. How do I get them to you?
You can email them to photos@inspiration.co.uk. Alternatively, mail them to: Design Inspiration, 39 Wembury Park Road, Plymouth, PL3 4NG. |
