Getting a website up and running can be a trap for the inexperienced. You can end up spending a lot of time and money on something that does not do what you really want it to do. What follows pretty well sets out how we feel about setting up a website and why we designed our engine the way we did.

Deciding what you want

The most important thing to do is to decide what you actually want the website to do. Do you want your website to be just a 2 or 3 page static advertisment for your company? Or would you like your website to be a marketing tool that activly promotes your company and seeks out new clients? There is as big a difference between websites as there is between a model of a car and a real Rolls Royce.

So do a little research and decide what you want it to do first. Here are some ideas:

• Make us look good
• Help clients to find us easily
• Provide education about my products and services
• Provide the opportunity for the visitor to contact me directly or with forms
• Be able to sell products or services and ship them anywhere
• Deliver video, audio, documents.
• Easy for me to build and maintain

Build it yourself?

If you are really interested you can build your own website. There are good software pagkages out there (like Microsoft Expression Web) that, once you have learned how to use, will produce a good looking website for you. Some of these packages are even free. Try Googleing "Free html editors", you will get over 8 million hits. You can also get web templates relatively cheaply as well.

The big question is: Do you have the time or the inclination? This will be a committment that will take you away from other activities for a time.

If building websites is not your core business you are probably better to let professionals do it for you. But even that can also be fraught with pitfalls.

Getting a "Guru" to do it

There are so many "guru's out there now that many people think someone who can spell megapixel must know everything there is to know about websites. A 'Guru' is usually someone who we assume knows everything about the subject. No-one knows everything about the web, it is an ever changing field. Real professionals shun the term 'Guru' In the context of the web it usually means; they think they know.

Here is something worthwhile thinking about:

A website is not the end in itself. Your website must be a tool that helps you to get what you want. There are many technically good websites out there that do not do what you want them to - sell!

What about a professional?

Then there are those who really do know what they are talking about and will produce a great working solution for you. It will have all the bells and whistles (probably more than you would actually use)

But the trap to be aware of is; what about the on-going cost. It is reasonable that someone working on maintaining your solution would be paid and this can come at a high price. It also has to be slotted into their busy schedules so it might take a long time.

The Solution?

A well build practical solution that is inexpensive to set up and even less to maintain that will be supported and updated at reasonable cost! Does such a beast exist? Well, yes, obviously. I would not have written everything above if I could not help you.

The Let's Do It! solution is based on a number of simple principles that make it the ideal solution for you. Or does it? Maybe not! We really only work with a certain type of client. So have a look at our ideas below and if it is still of interest to you give us a call.

Speed

The INTERNET has matured into a speedy reference tool for its users. People want to find what they are looking for very quickly and easily. They are generally not impressed by fancy design if it impedes their speed. Flash pages are a case in point. For some time web builders were adding a lovely flash video introduction page. Then they added a "Skip Intro" page and nowadays they don't bother with the fancy stuff.

We favour utility over design and build our sites for speed of navigation.

Easy Reading

Our menus are all to be found horizontal and generally toward the top of the page under a header banner. People read from top to bottom, left to right. By using this same structure we know your website will be easier to read.

Use of available space

Many web builders limit you to 800 pixels in the middle of your screen. Works well on the older 800 pixel screens (of which there are very few left) They may also do this because it is easy to print a narrower page on paper since the paper is only that wide.

We utilise the whole of the screen and use an advanced wrapping option so that you can still print the page to a narrower piece of paper. Besides, now that a web page might contain video, audio and hyperlinks it is of less value to actually print the page.

Use of graphics

Many web builders will create nice graphics for menu items, and these can look very nice. However, they limit your ability to modify the site yourself without advanced skills in graphics and web structure. On our site you can deploy graphics on your site easily but we do not use graphics for menu items. This means you can easily create a menu item yourself using text. It can still look as fancy as you would like but the thing is - you can do it.

Easy Maintenance

Many web builders understand that a contract for a web development can be as lucrative after the web is built as before because you need to go back to them for any changes that you want done on your website. This usually means that

• You don't get the work done for some time
• It will cost you a lot more than if you did it yourself
• You need to be able to articulate the changes you want to a person who does not understand your business.

On our sites we create the framework in which you build and maintain your own website. You can change anything at any time and you don't need any special skills to be able to do so.

To have us contact you regarding your website needs please fill in the form below.