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Created on Thursday, 25 August 2011 16:26

faq's



Who are we?

As the name sugguests we are a small website design company based in Devon. Our aim is to provide affordable yet professional website design, development and eCommerse solutions.

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What services do we offer?

We offer website design and development, logo design, graphic design and search engine optimisation.

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How can we provide such affordable soloutions?

Although primarily based near the South Coast of Devon, we have an office in ancient city of Cusco in Peru. The significantly reduced living expenses allow us to provide a high quality service at significantly reduced rates.

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What is cross-browser compatibility?

Different browsers, i.e. Internet explorer, Firefox, Safari, Netscape etc, display web pages differently. This also includes different versions of these browsers. Cross-browser compatibility referes to the steps taken to ensure the pages look the same on each browser.
Ensuring cross-browser compatibility can be a lengthy process if many advanced features and technologies are involved.

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Why do different browsers display web pages differently?

Many browsers, specifically earlier versions Internet Explorer, are not "standards complient". If browsers do not conform to any kind of standards it is hard for designers to build sites that work on every browser.

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How do we deal with browser compatibility issues?

To start with we ensure that our code is complient with the w3c standards and we test our sites on a variety of browsers. On occasions we will need to include "hacks" in our code in order to overcome discrepancies with earlier versions of Internet Explorer.
Additionally, the use of templates and pre-tested code will assist us in the prevention of such compatibility issues.

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What is accessibility?

Accessibility referes to to how accessible the features of the site are and how to capture the largest possible audience. For example, there are many users with mental or physical disabilities who rely on assistive devices such as screen readers, brail readers etc.

There will always be users that have certain browser features disabled such as Flash or Javascript. There will be users that may not have the approprate monitor size/screen resolution to view the site correctly. There will be users that do not have a fast enough internet connection to view a site where many graphics or other forms or media are used. As you can see it is important to make a website accessible and it is our job to do so with minimal sacrifice to the aesthetics of the site.

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What is usability?

Usability closely ties in with accessibility and referes to how user-friendly the site is. For example, sometimes an innovtive design can lead to poor usability. Users follow trends when they are surfing and if you want to keep visitors on your site for longer then your design should conform to these trends.

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How do we cater for usability?

We continuously research surfing trends and adopt sugguested methodologies in order to create user-friendly websites. This is of course a balancing act. Sometimes the gains for adding a certain usability feature are not substantial enough to warrent the possible design alteration. As always with usability, accessibility, seach engine optimisation etc, we weigh up our options and do what is reasonably practicable.

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Why is optimising the file sizes important?

There are many statistics detailing how long visitors are willing to wait for a web page to load. A page with many fancy graphics or other forms of media can drastically increase the page loading time thus discouraging the visitors from staying on your site. There are many methods we can use as web designers in order to speed up the loading time of web pages such as using appropriate image formats and essentially taking advantage of the browsers in-built graphical capabilites at every possible opporunity.

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How do we make our sites "future proof"?

To start with we ensure that our sites conform to the latest coding standards as specified by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Additionally we will take extensive measures to ensure the code can be easily understood and maintained by third party website administrators, developers etc.

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How do i edit/update/maintain my website after it has been built?

We commonly build our websites on top of what are called Content Management Systems (CMS). A content management system is an area of your site where you can login and manage your content. Here you can edit text, photos, menus, links etc in one place. However, which ever way you look at it, you are going to need to learn how to use a CMS or employ a website administator to do the tasks for you.

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Can I have a website with lots of fancy animations, transitions and effects?

 

Yes and No.

More often than not, websites which consist of these design elements are built using a piece of software called Flash. Flash websites can look very smart but come at a high cost to your marketing campaign.

  • Search engines have a lot of difficulties reading Flash sites. Thus limiting the traffic to your site.
  • Flash sites are problematic for people with disabilities who use assistive devices.
  • Updating, editing and maintanance is a problem if you do not know how to use the Flash software.
  • Some users do not have Flash installed on their browser.
  • Flash sites take longer to build thus increasing the developement cost.
  • Flash sites take longer to load, thus discouraging visitors from viewing your site.

 

NOTE: If you would like to find out if a site was built using Flash, right-click on the main content area of the site and you will see details about the Flash player used.

So what are the alternatives?

  • We often use a programing language called Javascript to accomplish such effects. Javascript will inevitably have limitations compared to Flash but it is still a much more appropriate option.
  • We can embedd Flash animations into a page providing it is not for the purpose of providing content. We can also display alternative content if the user does not have Flash installed on their browser.

 

Using a combination of non-content based Flash and Javascript would be our recomendation.

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How do i get traffic to my website?

There are various internet marketing techniques such as Search Engine Optimisation, PPC (Pay Per Click), social networking, banner advertising, and blogging to name a few. We provide a basic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) service as a part of a set package. Additionally, upon completion of this project we will provide you with a small internet marketing guide detailing the various techniques involved. As you will understand, the marketing of a website is an on-going process. It is therefore important to familiarize yourself with these methods in order to suitably plan a marketing campaign.

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What is Search Engine Optimitsation?

Search engine optimisation referes to the methods used in getting the website into the search engine listings under as many keywords and keyphrases as possible.

How do we optimise a website for search engines?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) includes

  • Re-constructing parts of the website where necessary to make it more search engine friendly
  • Analysing search trends and researching appropriate keywords and keyphrases
  • Constructing the content of the site to include these keywords/keyphrases
  • Recommending domain name alterations if appropriate
  • Intallation of assistive tools such google site maps, RSS news feeds etc.
  • Using a team of Cambridge certified content writers to write good quality content for the site.

However, these points only apply to what is known as "on-page" optimisation. There is significantly more involved involved in search engine marketing. There are many "off-page" factors such as link building and social media which also play and important role in getting good search engine rankings. Additionally, we use a variety of analytical and statistical tools in order to monitor progress etc. A detailed description of SEO and Search engine marketing is beyond the scope of this text.

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How do i put forward my design ideas?

There are various ways in which you can put forward your design ideas and sugguestions. You can use Word, Powerpoint, a graphics program such as Paint or Photoshop (if you are familiar with one) or even a hand drawn diagram. We can work around which ever method you feel comfortable with.

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How do i put forward my project breif / proposal?

The project breif / proposal will need to be very specific. You will be required to submit a questionnaire and provide very specific details about your website. This breif will remain fairly ridgid through-out the development process so it is important to consider each question carefully.

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What happens if I want to add to or change a part of the website after the proposal/breif has been confirmed?

This will entirely depend on how much additional work is required. You will tell us what you want to be added/changed and we will tell you how much work needs to be done and how much it will cost. However, each time you decide to make an alteration, we may need to advise you if the changes are going to create issues regarding SEO, usability etc.

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Will i receivce technical support after my website has been built?

Upon completion of the project we will provide full technical support in the unlikely event that the issues in question relate to a mistake on our behalf. Should you require on-going support, you will need to contact us to discuss an appropriate support package.

Additionally, we will provide a set of documents providing user information and outlining the technical specifications of the website.

We will endevour to adopt standard security procedures during the development of our sites. However, in order to fully protect yourself from hackers you would ideally need employ a internet security specialist of some kind. Understandably this is not a feasable solution for many small websites. Providing that you or your webmaster/administrator installs the appropriate security updates (if you are using a content management system) and you keep regular backups of both your website and database (if one is used), this should not be a problem. Details will be provided on how to do so.

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