2. What if you just want a "facelift" to enhance your existing site?
Kiss Web Designs specialises in make-overs of existing web sites which may be looking tired or aren’t achieving traffic and sales. No job is too small and we can undertake anything from minor redesign, to the addition of new functions or pages, right through to total reconstruction.
We’ll need to know your current url (web site address) with some details of what your revised changes, goals and objectives are. Then we’ll analyse the existing site and identify time and resources needed, including impact on the existing code. If continued operation of the site during upgrade is required we will develop a plan to phase in the modifications without interrupting use of the site.
Where sites have been created by other designers - it’s often cost effective to re-build sites from the ground up…although we can save time by taking content and images from the present site.
We request all clients to sign a contract before beginning work. For first-time clients and jobs with a quote value under £300, payment in full is required. For projects over £300, a 25% deposit is payable on ‘agreement to proceed’, with the balance due when you’re fully satisfied upon completion. For regular clients, maintenance, update changes and site expansion can be handled at an agreed hourly rate, with monthly or quarterly invoices based on completed timesheets.
Our monthly 'all-in' contracts including site build, maintenance and optimisation are proving popular...please ask! (minimum contract normally 12 months). This arrangement can be tailored to suit budgets and provides maximum flexibility.
6. What does your fees include?
Essentially our fees are all-inclusive:
7. How do you go about constructing a new site?
After consulting to determine the functional needs of your site we then identify the technical resources required, and work out with you an estimate for the best cost/benefit approach. If necessary we can act as your agent in obtaining domain names and hosting contracts. At present we direct most of our clients to NetBop Technologies.
We’ll then work with you to identify the site content plan, geared specifically to your target audience, and decide a clear and intuitive navigation schemes.
The next stage is the design of the pages, images and technical aspects having regard to the constraints of the medium.
We’ll then construct pages to your specification, working closely to properly reflect the ‘look and feel’ and ambience your business. The required infrastructure and code is implemented to give the site functionality, which may include tables, animation, databases, CGI scripts and so on. As we progress pages are uploaded for viewing on our own site for your comment and email feedback. In this way we can tweak all aspects to your precise needs and only when you are satisfied do we publish the 'live' site for your public launch.
8. Do all sites need regular maintenance?
Some sites require little if any maintenance but it’s a good idea to regularly freshen the content to attract return visitors and search engine robots. Additionally optimisation involves regular tweaking of code and content.
We can offer pre-paid maintenance plans by way of a monthly retainer for sites that require them. (at discounted hourly rates). Many contracts involve web master updating service combined with ongoing optimisation.
9. Can I update the completed site myself?
Yes, provided we plan for this in the starting brief. However the upfront cost is probably at least £1000 more and varies according to what precise content (and images) are to become user up-dateable.
This approach requires us to construct dynamic pages whereby specific page content (usually text, but sometimes images as well) are kept in a database on your web site server. We write special program scripts that transfer information from the database to create the pages.
We then install database management tools that let you log onto a special control panel from your Internet Explorer browser to dynamically and simply update material in the database. As soon as you make the change it’s instantly reflected in your web pages. You can update the database content as often as you like (eg. every hour) but you have no control over the remainder of page. This method is more expensive to set up but is ideal for updating product information, prices or special offers. Please ask for a quote.