Company website FAQs about business website design, hosting and search engine optimisation.
Here are the answers to the most popular questions clients have asked me over the years. Got a question that isn’t covered? Let me know and I’ll add it to keep you informed and up to date.
I'm accumulating knowledge of workflows, prices and answers from other website designers too. It is always nice to compare and share.
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It's difficult to say how much a website will cost without knowing the requirements, but I outline prices considering my experience.
I provide two tiers:
Custom website design starts at £1500 for a static five-page small business website.
Custom website design consists of £1200 for the bespoke web design. I am an experienced user of WordPress, HTML, SCSS and the Bootstrap framework, which is the best SEO option.
I then charge per web page, which starts at £100 depending on functionality.
When I write the website content as well, I charge twice that.
I know designers who will double these prices again if they provide graphic elements.
E-commerce (shop) websites start around the £2500 mark because more work goes in, setting up a payment gateway and ensuring a smooth customer experience.
My particular website design style is kept simple for a good user experience, which helps search engine page rank.
I optimise each page around a chosen key phrase. Optimisation gives foundations for a robust website that can build and grow to become strong online.
For a more specific answer to 'how much does a website cost' email me for a quote.
Websites need a domain name (website address) and hosting; they can’t exist without these. Hosting is akin to renting space on the internet.
Website hosting varies between ISPs (internet service providers). There are cheap ISPs, which can be as low as £30 per year. After a lot of experience with hosting companies, I avoid the cheap ones – they often have terrible technical support and you can come unstuck.
There's a big difference between shared hosting and having a dedicated server. Shared hosting is like renting an apartment, whereas a dedicated server is like having a detached house.
Websites that are resource-heavy or expect a lot of web traffic should consider a dedicated server. However, for most small businesses, a shared server is more than enough.
A realistic figure for hosting on a shared server is £80–120 per year for a small website. A dedicated server would be more like £100 per month.
There is an additional charge per year or multiple years for the domain name.
Kaydee Web charges £100 per year to host a site on a shared server. Please click here for hosting details and prices.
An experienced web designer will host a website on a shared server for anywhere between £6–15 per month.
Prices vary depending on the quality of the service provider.
There can be other monthly costs.
For example, WordPress needs to be updated and securely maintained. It is worth having someone to take care of this.
There’s usually a set fee for backups, updates and maintenance, which should include the software. For a small website, maintenance should not be more than £100 per month, dependent on size and functionality.
For the website’s lifetime, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com (hosted version) charge per month. These platforms update the server and website software.
The fees are around £20 per month. The cost depends on the space used, the design themes and the plug-ins.
All businesses – e-commerce or not – must provide minimum information, which should be easily accessible at all times. Include the following on the website, such as in the footer, on the contact page, or within the terms and conditions:
By UK law, limited companies must include the following on their website:
If you want to include directors’ names, you must list all names of directors.
To determine a website’s information, you must first decipher the type of business.
Businesses can generally be split into three areas:
Sometimes a business can be a combination of all three.
Use the information below to determine your type of business.
A service business sells products of no physical form.
Service businesses offer professional skills, expertise and advice.
Examples of service businesses are web designers, content copywriters, photographers, accountancy firms and coaches.
A merchandising business is a buy-and-sell business model, whereby profit is made by buying products at trade price and selling them at a higher price. The product does not change form.
Examples are goods shops, toy shops, clothes shops and distributors.
A manufacturing business buys products and uses them as materials to make new products.
Included in the final consumer price are labour and factory overheads.
Some businesses feature under all three categories. For example, websites about tourist destinations, hotels and restaurants.
A restaurant may buy products and create a meal from them (manufacturing), offer waiter service (servicing) and also buy and sell drinks (merchandising).
Take into consideration whether the business offers, advertises and can sell services or products locally, nationally or internationally. Having an idea of business catchment area will help to target your content. Do these services or products come in different formats?
Once you know your type of business and its targeted markets, planning the website will be easier.
TThe more information included on a site, the better chance it has of survival. However, many small businesses need to start at the beginning and build.
When planning pages for a new site, ask yourself:
I recommend an 'About' or 'Background information' page, including the brand story and a professional photo of you and your team.
Every brand has a story, and background information helps you connect with your audience and gives clarity. Google rewards company websites that are transparent.
If you offer several services, choose separate pages for each to gain the best benefits on search engines.
Businesses with a low budget could start with one page of services, but I don’t recommend it. You’ll benefit from targeting each page with two to three related key phrases.
Companies that sell a product will benefit from an e-commerce solution with an online basket and secure payment facilities.
Or simply display the product example and use an enquiry form.
Visual services, like those offered by an architect or photographer, would benefit from a ‘Gallery’, a ‘Portfolio’ or a ‘Case study’ page.
Hospitality businesses should include online calendars and booking systems, so visitors can quickly request availability. Include a ‘Contact’ page with an enquiry form and, for local businesses, a map.
Data collection forms linked to a newsletter are a good idea, so that you can capture visitors. Try to offer something for free to encourage sign-ups.
I can help with the structure of your website. Email me with your ideas.
A service or product page is likely to be included on any website.
For transparency, Google likes to see an ‘About’ page offering background information on the business owner or company.
Include a ‘Contact’ page with company information and contact details to make it quick and easy for users to get in touch.
An FAQ page can often help an audience and provide search engine content.
Build and create websites that are accessible and provide the best user experience.
User experience is crucial in delivering a website that will be recognised by search engines. Google rewards well-built websites.
When creating web pages, follow search engine guidelines and use correct meta tags, page elements and schema markup. Websites should be kept clean and code-light.
Blog posts and informative articles significantly increase the chances of being well ranked.
A responsive website responds to the device it’s viewed on (smartphone, tablet or computer). It changes shape and layout. Your business website must be responsive for easy access.
Responsive websites are mobile-friendly because they are compatible with all devices – essential for search engine page rank. Google will show mobile-friendly websites first.
Achieving a high rank generally requires time, effort and a host of tools.
Once your website is live, you should regularly check search results, analytics, key terms, generate inbound links, consistently provide good content, encourage others to share your content, and much more.
Your website should not be left to run its course. It needs help throughout its life.
Depending on the competition, a website won’t reach the first page of Google search results without time and effort.
I use MOZ Pro to analyse websites. I use MOZ to improve the website and write quality blog posts around my industry to encourage a good page rank.
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SEO means 'search engine optimisation' or 'optimization' in the US.
The term SEO can include a few things, like on-page SEO, off-page SEO and search engine marketing.
When people use the term SEO, they are generally talking about the art of programming a website so that search engines understand and rank it.
Both layout and programming affect the way search engines rank a site. Ultimately, Google requires websites to be accessible, fast, content-rich and programmed, so that search engine crawlers can easily understand the pages.
I'm very happy to help. If I have not answered your question here, please email me to ask.