affordable small business web site design and search engine optimisation

Frequently Asked Questions

This page contains a collection of FAQs relating to Niche Web Design and its products.  For FAQs on search engine optimisation an web site design visit our resources page.

Q: [Why should I pay someone to design me a web site?]
A: [Web site design is more that just a pretty page.  A well designed web site will be easy to navigate, have a clean professional look, be quick to load and most importantly SELL your products.  The site will also be designed to be found by the search engines.  Although none of these tasks are particularly difficult, knowing the best way to go about and how to complete the tasks takes years of experience and research.  I would recommend everyone has a go, but owners of small businesses rarely have the necessary time required to design a good web site that will tick all the boxes]


Q: [How does Niche Web Design differ from other web design companies?]
A: [We offer a bespoke web site at the same price as you would expect to pay for a 'template, cut and paste' product.  We put a great deal of effort into ensuring your site is as successful as possible on the search engines, again, something you would not expect at this price.]


Q: [How can I pay?]
A: [By Credit card through Paypal, or cheque.]


Q: [Will I own the rights to the site and content?]
A: [Yes, once the design is completed its yours.  We will send you a copy of your site on CDR for back up purposes.]


Q: [How long does it take to design a web site?]
A: [How long is a piece of string!  Depending on the requirements of your site, a 3 page site can take as little as a week to get online, a 7 page website may take 2 weeks]


Q: [Can you help with writing the content?]
A: [Yes!  Although you know your products and market, we will take your knowledge and apply it to your site in a way that the search engines can understand it and visitors can too.]


Q: [Can you design online shops and eCommerce sites?]
A: [We have set up and customised shops in the past, but for a small business, custom
eCommerce sites can be very expensive. There are 'ready made' ecommerce sites
that might suit the budget of the smaller business available on the internet, but
if you really must have your own ecommerce site talk to us.]


Q: [Do you offer a web site submission service?]
A: [Yes!  See the SEO page for details.]


Q: [Do you provide hosting?]
A: [Not at present. Our business is all about quality and affordability for small businesses.
we cannot compete or offer the same level of support as the established hosting
companies, so we have found the best ones for you. Don't worry - although
we don't provide the hosting, we are more than willing to arrange it for you and
set up your site for no extra cost.]


Q: [Can you help me set up my site.]
A: [If you have created your own site and are having problems uploading it, or
for some reason things just aren't working - we can help. Just contact us.
Most minor problems we won't even charge for.]


Q: [I have a site that needs up dating, can you help?]
A: [In most cases yes. If the site is designed to (or roughly based on :-) ) web standards
then we can easily update it and add content for you.]


Q: [Are your sites designed to web standards?]
A: [YES. unquestionably. Niche Web Designs only produce web sites to the latest standards (XHTML and CSS) to ensure compatibility with all the latest browsers. We use a variety of tools to check compliance and place a 'valid xhtml' logo from the w3.org website
that can be clicked at anytime to check the page is still compliant.

It is important that your sites are designed to such standards apart from the
fact you may be penalised by the search engines for not doing so (hence reducing you
reach) - just think how annoyed you are when you visit a web site you cannot read.
]


Q: [Do you offer on going support.]
A: [Yes. Whether you have a web site designed by us, another company or you have designed a site yourself we can update your site when and as you wish. Simply pay for updates as you need them. If you have the content ready to place on your site and simply need it uploading this can take as little as 15minutes.]


Q: [Can I update my own site?]
A: [Yes. Although we don't offer content management systems (as they harm SEO) our code is written in such a way it is easy to updateWe will provide free support and information to anyone who wants to update their own site]


Q: [What software do you use]
A: [Lots.  For web design and layout we use web expression, Microsoft's latest website development tool.  Unlike FrontPage (which no professional designer took seriously), web expression produces standards based code.  Most graphical work is produce using a combination of Corel Draw, Xara Extreme and paint shop pro.  Our SEO is managed by IBP.]

For questions on search engine optimisation or web site design, see our resources page.