FAQ · Web Design in Edinburgh, Scotland

Frequently Asked Questions

I want to start my website with you. What next?
How long will it take to create my website?
What's the difference between the SuperValue and MyBiz packages?
A family friend says they'll make me a cheap website. Good idea?
Help! I can't contact my existing web designer. What now?
Are you a member of the "UKWDA"? Is the UKWDA a scam?
I want my own photos included in my website. How?
Are there any ongoing costs for a website?
What is web hosting or web space?
How do I keep my website updated?
How do I make my website more popular?
What is W3C valid code or "industry standards"?
What is a Google sitemap?

I want to start my website with you. What next?

Please get in touch by phone on 0131 208 2460 or email us. The first stage is to decide on a suitable website package for you, consider any extras and fix a cost for your new website. We will then direct you to fill out our special online questionnaire which will get you thinking about your new website and give us much of the information we need on your business needs, design preferences and tastes. Once we have received your project materials we will begin work on a graphical design "concept" or concepts. Revisions will be made to this concept until you are delighted and the design is finalised. At this stage the design will be converted into web code which will be used to build the final website.

How long will it take to create my website?

SuperValue Package websites take 2-3 business days to complete. MyBiz Starter, Pro and Store Packages involve fully customised layouts and take around 21 days to complete. The speed at which we complete a website is highly dependent on you, the client, being able to provide your website materials (text, logo, any required images, completed project questionnaire) in a timely fashion.

What's the difference between the SuperValue Package and the fully custom MyBiz packages?

The SuperValue Package includes an attractive fully-custom graphical design for your new website. We then "slot" that graphical design into a pre-made high quality layout which we have already made. This greatly reduces development time and of course the cost to you. The pre-made layout is simply a common layout for a website with a heading area, navigation area and content area. You get a totally unique looking website but without re-inventing all the web code needed to make a bog-standard layout. This is best for many small businesses looking to get a quality presence on the web and get into the search engines and cheaply as possible. Note that the SuperValue package is not the same as creating a site from a "template", a practise which re-uses graphic components.

The MyBiz Starter, MyBiz Pro and MyBiz Store packages include fully custom design and layout, which means the layout is created from scratch to accommodate any conceivable website size, structure or shape or unusual feature. This is a complex and more expensive undertaking, which is simply unneccessary for those on a tight budget.

A family friend has offered to make me a cheap website. Good idea?

The answer depends on your goals for your website. If it's important for your business to project a polished, professional image and for the website to generate good traffic, then generally the answer is: no. If it's important to you that your web designer is reliable, contactable and competent, then generally the answer is: no, absolutely not. There are a lot of web design charlatans out there, from "family friends" to uncontactable freelance bums, who think they know a thing or two about web design but will take months to turn out a basic site that's several cuts below looking professional. These days, web users are a serious market for your products and services. If it ever looked like the world-wide-web was going to be a flash-in-the-pan novely not to be taken seriously, then those days are well and truly over. In some niches, like holiday property rentals for example, the web is the primary way your users are going to find your services. So, if your website is as - or more important - than a brick-and-mortar store, why not take it just as seriously?

Are you a member of the "UKWDA"? Is the "UKWDA" a scam?

We are not "members" of the "UKWDA". Many web design companies (even the bigger ones who should know better) include a "UKWDA" logo on their websites, claiming membership of "UKWDA, the Web Standards Organisation in the UK". However, closer inspection reveals the UKWDA is nothing of the sort. The "UKWDA" is actually a clever scam designed to drive traffic to the Redstation Web Hosting company. Any web designer worth their salt should be able to figure this out. The UKWDA has no credentials, no contact information, no articles of association. It offers "membership" and a listing to any web designer who can pass a couple of flimsy tests and agree to a totally non-enforced and fabricated code of conduct. And what does it get out of this? Thousands of links back to it - one for every web designer member - and of course thousands of links to its main "sponsor" (really it's sole creator) - Redstation web hosting.

Help! I can't contact my existing web designer. What do I do?

There's a certain species of "Web designer" which goes "missing" from time to time - it's a common problem which can leave you in a fix if you need to update your website in a hurry (or even if you're not in a hurry but you haven't been able to contact your website designer for weeks or months! Please see our Website Rescue Service for details of how we can intervene to regain control of your website. For future web work, we recommend you hire a professional web design company like Edinburgh Web Designs, not an unreliable freelancer working from his/her bedroom.

I want my own photos included in my website. How do I do this?

Three possibilties here: 1) Provide your photographs to us in a digital format, on CD, memory stick or via email. The quality (composition, focus, lighting, resolution) of the photos will have a strong influence on how your website will look, especially if those photos are to be an integral part of the design, not simply as a list of product photos for example. One factor you can easily control is resolution. We can use any photograph you supply but aim for 5 megapixels as a minimum if setting out to take photos for your web project. This gives us the flexibility to crop and zoom. 2) The second possibility is to provide your physical, non-digital photographs to us for scanning. A scanning fee will apply in addition to your website cost. 3) The third is that we visit your business premises and take professional quality photographs before commencing development of your website. Please see our Website Design Services section for pricing and terms.

Are there any ongoing costs for a website?

Yes. It is normal to pay an annual fee for the domain name (website address) and also for the web hosting space (the place on the web where the website is stored so it can be accessed and viewed by visitors). All of our web design packages include free domain name and hosting in the first year. Thereafter a small fee will apply for each. You are free to find your own suppliers for either after the first year, though if you do a domain transfer fee will apply to cover our admin, and you will need to have the website moved to a new server for which a fee will apply if you don't do it yourself.

What is web hosting or web space?

Web hosting space is the place on the web where a website is stored so it can be accessed and viewed by visitors. This "place" is actually space on the hard drive of a specially configured computer which is attached to the internet by high-capacity lines which can carry a lot of traffic simultaneously. It is normal to pay a small monthly fee for web space. Our web design packages include this free in the first year.

How do I keep my website updated?

You have three options here. Option 1) Pay a website designer to update it. This option is fine if updates are infrequent and/or highly technical in nature, or if you are time-limited and spending money on your website is not a problem. Option 2) Learn to edit the website yourself using an HTML editor. This will take considerable learning time and it is not suitable for many people. Option 3) Have a Content Management System (CMS) installed on your website. This will allow you to update text and images yourself from any computer with internet access. You log into an online panel which allows you to edit certain areas of your website using a standard word-processor style interface. CMS is included as standard in our MyBiz Pro package. It can be added later to any existing website. Contact us for details.

How do I make my website more popular?

The most important challenge a website owner is likely to face with their website is a lack of significant traffic. There are a range of methods that can be used to increase traffic. These include 1) ensuring that the website code is correctly created and valid and that the website is equipped with a sitemap document, 2) creating more relevant content for the website, 3) ensuring that "keyphrases" are used in the text of the website which correspond to what what your target audience is searching for, 4) requesting quality, relevant, incoming links from other website owners, 5) encouraging or "baiting" incoming links by writing good unique content for your site, often using a blog, and 6) creating great off-site content (articles) with a link back to your website, and circulating these with an article distribution service. All Edinburgh Web Designs websites start with the basics: Valid, readily searchable HTML code and a Google sitemap as standard. Our MyBiz Pro Package comes with Keyphrase analysis included. If you 're interested in help with any of the other methods, give us a call.

What is W3C valid code or "industry standards"?

The languages that web pages are written in (HTML, CSS and others) are standardized by a group of around 500 member organizations from around the world. That group, created in 1994, is called the World Wide Web Consortium or "W3C". Its goal is to develop standards for the web to ensure the it continues to work and be viewable no matter who builds websites and web browsers to view them. Often in the bottom of a website (and at the bottom of all Edinburgh Web Designs websites) you will see an small icon or text saying "Valid HTML" or "Valid CSS". This means the website has been built to a certain standard laid down by the W3C, a set of rules which help ensure the website will display correctly across all browsers and computer platforms, even platforms developed to assist people with disabilities e.g. limited vision.

A website written this way is also much leaner than its non-valid counterpart, which means it is faster to download and uses less web hosting resources. It is also much easier, less time-intensive, and of course cheaper to update and maintain in future. It is often claimed that a valid website can enhance your search engine rankings, though this is not necessarily true. It is thought it can make your website more search engine friendly by reducing the amount of garbage in the page the search engine has to read before it gets to relevant keyphrases. However, the main benefit is that it makes the website much easier to work with in other "search engine optimisation" efforts. A valid website can be thought of as a nice clean kitchen - you know where things are and it's quick, hygenic and efficient to cook a meal in, even a meal for several people. A non-valid website can be thought of as a student flat kitchen - an unpleasant mess that takes 3 times as long to produce a squalid little bowl of supernoodles.

What is a Google sitemap?

A Google Sitemap is a document in a particular format which specifies which pages on your website (and in which priority) should be listed on search engine result pages when a web user conducts a search. This document is stored alongside your website and submitted to search engines when your website is created, and optionally every time it is updated thereafter. It's an efficient method of getting your website listed in Google and other search engines. It's included as standard with all our website packages.