Some of the most common questions we are asked are listed below. If you can't find an answer to your question here, then please contact us using our contact form.
About our web design services
- If I ask for a quote, what happens next?
- How much will a website cost us ?
- How long will it take to design my web site ?
- Do you use pre-made templates ?
- What do I need to supply to build a website ?
- Should we put lots of graphics on my pages ?
- Which tools and techniques do you use ?
About our search engine optimisation services (SEO)
- What is a web browser ?
- What is a search engine ?
- How do search engines work ?
- I have a new site but why isn't it in the search engines yet ?
- How do search engines rank a web site ?
- When I type the relevant keywords associated to my business, why doesn't my website appear or why is it very low in the results ?
- Can one get instant results with SEO ?
Website hosting, domain names and site updates
- What is a domain name?
- How do I register my domain name ?
- What is Web Hosting?
- What does uploading mean ?
- How do I upload my website online ?
About our web design services
If I ask for a quote, what happens next?
We will first talk to you on the phone or discuss by email to find out your exact requirements. We can also meet with you if you prefer, but this is not essential. Once we know about your business and your exact requirements, we will give you a quote for designing your site. If you decide to go ahead, we will design a mockup document along with detailed information about the website. Once that is approved, we will take an initial deposit and start working on your website itself.
Back to Top How much will a website cost us ?
Every project that we work on is unique and tailored to each individual client's requirements. We will quote a fixed price when we know your precise website design requirements. Remember, our quotes are free, so just ask us !
No hidden costs : agreed fixed price means you know exactly what you will pay.
Back to Top How long will it take to design my web site ?
This largely depends on what is involved, as well as how soon you, as the client, are able provide us with the essential documents, such as copy and pictures. A simple brochure site can be up and running in 1 or 2 weeks. More complex projects can take longer. When we know you exact requirements, we will send you a contract with a realistic end date.
We know that project deadlines are very important : we will always do our utmost to meet them.
Back to Top Do you use pre-made templates ?
No, we never use pre-made templates because with pre-made templates, your site would end up looking like hundreds of others sites on the internet. At PhantomSoftware Web Design, we create each and every website from scratch, so every design we create will be unique.
Back to Top What do I need to supply to build a website ?
You will need to supply us with the text and pictures you want to appear on your site. The more complete this content is, the easier the process will be. You can supply your text and pictures (e.g. full sized jpegs from digital cameras) via email, cd or diskettes but we are also able to scan them for you. We can also search for pictures or graphics for you on the internet, if you don't have any of your own. It is also helpful, if you have any particular ideas about colours schemes or styles that you want, to tell us as much as possible at the start.
Back to Top Should we put lots of graphics on my web pages ?
It's essential to keep a balance between aesthetics and clarity : not everyone has a broadband connection, and overly complex graphics take a long time to download, so it's very important to maintain a fast download time so that people on dial-up connections can browse your website without having to wait for ages. However, all the graphics we incorporate on our web pages are optimised for fast-loading time.
Back to Top Which tools and techniques do you use ?
We usually hand-code our websites using an open-source editor called Bluefish. We code using W3C compliant code and we don't use (deprecated) tables but only CSS. By keeping most of the code on a separate file, this ensures your website is standard compliant (a legal requirement sometimes), loads faster and that your pages are clear and easy to update.
Back to Top About the world wide web and search engine optimisation
What is a web browser ?
Web browsers are software installed on computers and used to see the pages of a website located on the Internet or stored locally on a hard drive. Some famous browsers are Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Konqueror and Lynx< (text-based browser).
Our websites are compatible with all browsers and running platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux ...). We always ensure that each and every website we create is tested to the fullest.
Back to Top What is a search engine ?
A web search engine searches for information on the public web by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible. Some well known search engines include Google, Yahoo, MSN.
Search engine traffic is considered to be the best traffic a website can receive, along with printed or online directories : nearly 85% of traffic to most web sites is found by using a search engine or directory.
Back to Top How do search engines work ?
Search engines employ the use of spiders to gather information from websites. The spiders continuously crawl websites pages, following the links on the pages.
Back to Top What does «optimising a website» means ?
It's essential for a web designer to find a balance between several elements : usability (e.g. navigation menu), accessibility,search engine visibility and fast download time. For example, if your website is not accessible, you will lose visitors; if it has a low visibilility for search engines, you will lose potential visitors.
Optimising your website means optimizing your internet business.
Back to Top I have a new site but why isn't it in the search engines yet ?
It can take a certain time before the spiders used by search engines find your first pages and include them in the search engine's results.
Back to Top How do search engines rank a web site ?
Every search engine uses a different algorithm for ranking the various websites. An algorithm is a very complicated set of rules that a site needs to adhere to, in order to rank well in the search engine's results.
Back to Top When I type the relevant keywords associated with my business, why doesn't my website appear or why is it very low in the results ?
This is where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) becomes important: it is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a website ranks in the results of a search engine, the greater the chance that it will be visited by potential clients.
By properly designing your website, we will first ensure that search engines easily find your pages and index them : this is the first (and an important) step..
However, a «new born website» is usually of not great interest to search engines in comparison to its longer established competitors : this is perfectly normal and logical; the process of becoming popular is time consuming and requires a good knowledge of how search engines work.
Ethical SEO techniques will improve the chance that the site will be found by the search engine and well placed : The goal after that is to have your pages appear in the top results.
Back to Top Can one get instant results ?
Unfortunately, no. Beware : a few SEO firms which promise instant and magnificent results might use «bad» techniques prohibited by the search engines that can eventually get websites banned temporarily from the search engines.
At PhantomSoftware Web Design, we never use any of these techniques, nor do we promise instant magnificent results, because it is just not possible to promise instant, magnificent results in a very short space of time. Yes, high rankings take some time to build up- especially when using ethical (and safer) practices : however, the benefits will be huge once your website will naturally rank well in terms of visitors and potential clients.
Back to Top
Website hosting, domain names and site updates
What is a domain name?
A domain name is a unique address which points to your website. Eg. www.PhantomSoftware.org
Many personal sites use only the domain name of their Internet Service Provider (ISP) but we strongly recommend you get your own domain name if your site is a commercial enterprise.
Back to Top How do I register my domain name ?
First, you will need to check if the domain name you are looking for is available to be registered : you can use Nominet's free on-line search facility - called WHOIS in order to determine whether a domain name is available and, if not, the organisation or person to whom it is registered, and at what time that registration was made.
Alternatively, most web hosting companies allow you to do the same checking before you get a webhosting package which will be associated with the domain name you have chosen.
If you need help choosing the right domain name for your business, we'll be happy to advise.
Back to Top What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is the process of renting some webspace on a remote server in order to publish your website online. Web hosting companies offer several web hosting packages. We will help you to determine which one is the best for your requirements. We currently recommend JWN Media web hosting packages.
Back to Top What does uploading means ?
While downloading is receiving a file from another computer, uploading is the exact opposite : sending your web pages to your webspace so that they can be accessed by the public across the Internet.
Back to Top How do I upload my website online ?
Uploading your website is a very simple process. It can be done in 2 ways : you can either use the "control panel" which is associated with your hosting plan (just click on the file you want, to upload it to you webspace), or use a FTP program installed on your computer. If you choose the second option, we suggest one of the following programs :
Mini ftp clients (these ones are light and easy-to-use)
Drop up Load (Windows) is a very light and simple ftp utility. No installation is necessary : just copy the DropUpLoad.exe file on your disk and double-click on it to launch it ! From this point, you can upload your files on your web space with a simple drag and drop. Our recommended choice.
wlFxp (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) is a light and simple ftp utility. No installation is necessary (note : you need to first install the J2SE package from Sun to use this utility).
Fully-featured ftp clients
FileZilla (Windows) is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface. Our recommended choice for Windows users.
Cyberduck is a robust FTP browser for Mac OS X with a nice and easy to use interface. Our recommended choice for Mac users.
AceFTP is a very easy to use FTP client software.
Linux users can also use one of the numerous ftp programs provided with their distribution, for example :
gFTP (this utility is usually provided with your distribution if you're using the Gnome Desktop Environment or Konqueror on KDE, which incorporates a very simple and efficient ftp utility.
We also offer complete site administration, aswell as hosting and domain registration for 60 €'s per year.