Got a question? Read through our FAQ to find out more about us, or jump to a specific section.
Website Packages
If you aren’t sure which package suits you, get in touch or book a free consultation call with us. We can help you figure out what will work best, or even create a completely bespoke package if needed.
Our website services page gives an overview of what to expect from our packages. If you need more precise details about any of the packages, or want to confirm the exact contents, get in touch with us.
Our packages are a great starting point and fit most businesses, but we are experienced enough to know that they don’t work for everyone. As an independent agency, we can always be flexible and adapt to each client, so if the usual packages don’t quite fit you, we can make you one that does.
As a rule, we think it’s best you control the domain and hosting for your website yourself. This gives you the peace of mind that you’ll always be able to manage your website, even if you can’t get in touch with us for any reason. We’ve worked with several clients who had websites built by agencies that have ceased trading, leaving them with no access to their files, mail servers, or even domain addresses.
It also means you can manage the site in-house or with another web developer, without being tied in to a long-term contract with us (although obviously, we would be delighted to support you if that works best!)
Once we start work on your project, we’ll be able to advise you on the best options, considering your budget, the technical needs of your site and ease of management. We can work with most hosts and domain registrars, so if you have a preference then let us know.
We’ve partnered with Siteground and recommend their WordPress hosting for most small business websites. We’ve found them to be a great balance of value for money and quality of service, with responsive support when needed. They also have a collaboration feature that lets us handle the technical side of your website while keeping your billing details private.
For larger sites, we love Cloud Above. We use their service for our hosted sites and they are always on hand to help when needed. They are great if you are looking at hosting your site in the cloud, and offer a scaleable service that grows with your business. They also use 100% renewable energy and plant trees for every site they host.
For domains, you can purchase through Siteground or Cloud Above (and most other hosts) at the same time as you buy hosting. This can be handy for keeping all your website billing and information on one system, and sometimes gets a small discount too. However, there are loads of domain registrars out there so it’s best to shop around.
Consultancy
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Training
No. All of our packaged websites use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, so it’s more like working on an email or Word document than code. You don’t need any special tech skills, and we find that most clients feel confident updating their site after the training session. You will also get written documentation about how to edit your site, so if you do forget any of the details of the session, it’s all there to refer to as needed.
We want you to feel comfortable about the day-to-day running of your website, but we aren’t expecting you to spend hours hunched over a keyboard. If anything, it’s the opposite! We understand that your expertise lies elsewhere and that you’d much rather be working on your actual business than fiddling about trying to get your website to play ball. Our handover process walks you through some of the most common tasks for your site, and you also get a written step-by-step guide for editing and updating your website. Little jobs like changing your opening hours, adding a new product or highlighting a special offer become part of your general admin routine rather than a frustrating and difficult task that takes up too much of your time.
All of our packages also include an aftercare period, where we’ll be on hand to help with any teething problems. If you still feel nervous we can arrange to extend this period, and we are also happy to quote for further work if you want to make bigger changes than you are comfortable doing yourself.
Sure! If it’s not possible for you to manage the website for whatever reason, we can organise a retainer or ad-hoc process to make changes and updates.
However, if you are ok sending an email or editing a Word document, you already have the tech skills to update your website. Outsourcing minor edits rarely makes sense from a time and cost viewpoint. In the time it takes to email us with the changes you want, us to schedule them in, and for you to approve them, you could have just written them straight onto the site for free.
We’re always happy to help with bigger changes or more complex tasks, but just as you wouldn’t pay a mechanic solely to clean some dust off your car, we would feel bad charging you for basic tasks you could easily do yourself.
General
To be honest, it depends. We think WordPress is the best platform for most businesses, as it is cost-effective, user-friendly and super flexible. Unless your circumstances are very specific, we can make a WordPress site to suit you.
We also use Shopify and Big Commerce for some e-commerce sites, but find the costs and constraints associated with running these sites mean it works best for businesses with a certain level of turnover.
If you have an existing site on another platform like Wix, Squarespace or Weebly, then we can offer a web MOT or an SEO review for your site, with advice on how to proceed. However, we are unlikely to undertake significant work on these platforms because they don’t offer the level of customisation and control we like to put into our sites.
That’s no problem. All our packages have a fixed starting rate and include everything you need to get your site sorted. The price won’t change unless you add extras, like additional support. We’ll also let you know if we think the package you have chosen won’t meet your needs, but we can usually rejig things so you stay in budget. This means you can be confident that the price you agree is the price you will pay.
In theory, we can start work with just an idea. Our first step in every project is a scoping call to work out what your real world goals are, and how your website can support you to achieve them. We can help you plan, develop and edit all of your branding and content as the project progresses.
However, the more you prepare before commissioning a website, the quicker and smoother your build will be. In an ideal world, you should have the following things ready to go:
- A name and logo for your site, alongside some basic brand guidelines, like colours, fonts and overall feel (are you formal and corporate or casual and fun? Or something else entirely?)
- A list of all your products and services that you can offer customers.
- Professional-looking images and video that represent you, your products and/or services
- An idea about who you want to visit your website, and what you want them to do once they are there. For example, a shop selling baby items wants parents to buy items, or friends and family to buy gift sets. A hairdresser’s website aims to get local people to book appointments. A charity might want people to download a fundraising pack. Think about who is your target audience and what action provides value to your business or organisation.
- Written content that introduces your business to the user, and then sells your products and services
- Access codes or logins for any existing sites or services like Google Analytics
- A design mood board or some sites you like/dislike can also be handy
We differ from most agencies in two ways. Firstly, we always look at your website and online processes as part of your wider business. Our focus is always on what we can do online that will help you and your organisation achieve your real-world goals. If we think the brief you’ve given us won’t get the results you want, we’ll tell you AND suggest how it can be adapted to work better for you. We want to use our experience and knowledge to get your business to the next level, not just build something that fits the brief but doesn’t help you in the long run.
Secondly, we pride ourselves in speaking plain English, and don’t use lots of techspeak just because we can. While we are comfortable working in a big tech team on complex projects, we know the type of discussions we’d have there aren’t appropriate for an SME owner who just wants to know how to use a mailing list to keep in touch with their customers. We’re always happy to answer your questions and explain how things work clearly. Many clients tell us that we’ve helped them feel more confident and empowered running their business online after working with us.
