Q Forget the hype. In what ways might a website be of real benefit to my business or organisation?

Q When I can get free software that promises 'Quick and easy website development' why would I want to pay you to do this for me?

Q What are 'Web standards'?

Q How much does a professionally designed website cost?

Q My business is small. Could a website be of any benefit?

Q How many pages does a website need?

Q How often should a website be updated?

Q Can I update my site myself?

Q How can I improve my search engine ranking?

Q I already have a website, but it's not performing. What can I do?

Q How should I promote my website?

Q What are the advantages (and disadvantages) of web publishing over conventional printed brochures?

Q What does 'RCW' stand for?

Forget the hype. In what practical ways might a website be of real benefit to my business or organisation?

An effective website should help you make money, save you money, or better still, do both of these.

Make money

Depending on your organisation, you may make money either directly, or indirectly from your website.

If you have suitable products or services to sell then your potential customer may be able to conveniently order or book and pay online anytime of the day or night and from areas or countries outside your normal geographical region. In other cases, such as industrial machinery, your potential customer could conveniently obtain much required information, illustrations, specifications, etc, in advance and already be in a buying frame of mind when he or she contacts your sales department.

For a knowledge or people-based organisation a website is an excellent way of presenting examples of projects undertaken, case studies, articles, and other credentials that will demonstrate technical or professional competence.

A website form page makes it easy for potential customers to contact you at a time that suits themselves, whilst your organisation is fresh in their mind, rather than having to remember to telephone you on your next working day.

Save money

For many organisations a website can save them money whilst also improving customer relations.

Potential customers can visit the website and immediately obtain all, or most of the information they need in order to place an order. This can mean huge savings in the staff time required to answer queries (often exactly the same queries over and over again) or in the cost of printing and mailing of catalogues and other literature. This is especially true for those prospects who contact your organisation only to find that you don't offer the product or service that they are looking for, thus accidentally wasting their own time as well as yours.

If you have a product or service that needs technical support then this can often be effectively provided with a website 'Help' section. This means the customer can often get the help he needs, perhaps even when your office is closed. Another cost-saving example is the replacement of lost instruction manuals which can be made available for convenient download straight from the website at any time.

When I can get free software that promises 'Quick and easy website development' why would I want to pay you to do this for me?

The development of an effective website requires many skills apart from the ability to write HTML code and transfer files to a web server. A website is an important part of the persona of any organisation, on view for 24 hours a day, seven days a week 365 days of the year. It could also be the first contact a potential customer has with an organisation, and the first impression gained may well be a factor when deciding whether or not to do business with it. Most organisations call in expert help for the creation of their advertising and promotional materials and it makes sense to adopt the same policy for website development as well.

Also, once the time and effort required to learn how to produce effective and good looking results are taken into account, it can actually prove to be much more cost effective to call in professional help from the outset.

Another benefit of using a professional to develop your website is the cross-fertilisation of ideas that occurs from project to project. For instance, an idea that worked well on one website may well be adapted to another completely different type of organisation.

Finally, most authoring software currently on the market does not generate HTML code that properly complies with latest Web standards.

What are 'Web standards'?

These are standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium to lead the Web to its full potential. In particular, web standards will help to ensure that all future browsers will work consistently.

This will have the benefit of making it possible to escape from dependence on any company, or proprietary technology, as well as avoiding the time-wasting necessity of trying to create pages that look good on browsers that were deliberately designed to be incompatible.

Additional benefits of strict compliance with latest standards are simplified website maintenance, smaller files that download quicker, improved accessibility for people with disabilities and increased usability on devices other than current desktop computers. All new RCW Web Design websites and pages are carefully validated against current web standards.

How much does a professionally designed website cost?

This depends entirely on the objective of the site. For instance, a website whose sole purpose is to provide basic information about an organisation and to solicit a request for further information may successfully accomplish its objective with a single page and a feedback form. On the other hand, sites offering secure shopping, or providing news or other information to clients and potential clients on an on-going basis will naturally require a larger presence, plus site maintenance. RCW projects have ranged from £500.00 + VAT to £15,000 + VAT.

An entry price of £500.00 + VAT buys a professionally designed web presence, including name registration, web hosting with visitor statistics for one year, plus an e-mail response form if required. Considering the amount of information that even a single page can contain, plus the potential for immediate visitor feedback, this represents an extremely cost effective method of business promotion.

My business is small. Could a website be of any benefit?

Yes. In many ways, the smaller the business, the more cost effective and useful a website can become. This is because smaller businesses are nearly always at a severe disadvantage when it comes to the budget available for advertising and promotional materials. However, an effective website really can help level the field. For instance...

• Small, low cost media advertisements can refer to the website. Visitors then go to the site to find much more information than could ever be contained in an advertisement. For example, the site can have colour illustrations, case studies, customer testimonials, news on recent projects, etc.
• High quality brochures, catalogues and other printed materials are expensive to produce and then costly and time consuming to send out. These costs can be eliminated or reduced when the organisation has an effective website.
• Potential customers or clients can obtain extra information at any time, day, night or weekend, when staff might not be available to handle sales enquires.
• Potential customers or clients can make first contact via e-mail, again at any time.

A very small firm's professionally designed website can look just as good as that of a large organisation.

How many pages does a website need?

There are no hard and fast rules. The question can only be answered after having first established the objective of the web site. RCW has worked on sites ranging in size from just one page to many hundreds of pages.

However, one of the special advantages of a website is that it can start very small, and then gradually build up over time as dictated by need and experience.

How often should a website be updated?

As with the question above, there are no hard and fast rules as the answer has to be tied in with the objective of the site. If it is understood from the outset that an organisation requires a website that will be updated rarely, if at all, then this will be allowed for in the design. (There is nothing worse than having a website referring to 'breaking news' that actually broke in 1997.) Having said this, there is a now also a tendency for search engine indexes to lose interest in sites that appear to be neglected. It is therefore worthwhile refreshing a site from time to time even if there is no actual news to post.

Can I update my site myself?

We have designed websites with a view to their owners subsequently maintaining them themselves. Depending on the level of skill the client or their staff wish to acquire this can be tackled in two ways...

1. The necessary HTML code to edit and transfer files to the website can be learned.
2. The site can be programmed so that one or more pages, such as a news page, can be updated via a simple password protected form page, with minimal training.

If the client wishes to maintain their own website then RCW can advise on the best way of going about this as well as supplying training and support if required.

How can I improve my search engine ranking?

Entire books have been written on this subject, and complete websites devoted to it. However, here are a few simple suggestions...

1. Ensure pages have full, meaningful titles. (Not just 'Home Page')
2. Ensure that meta 'description' and 'keyword' tags are correctly used.
3. Make sure the first paragraphs on the home page carry relevant content.
4. Try to get links to your site from sites that are already being indexed.
5. Use search engines to check competitors web pages. If they are ranking higher than your own site then ask yourself 'why?'
6. Allow time. With countless millions of pages on the World Wide Web it often takes six weeks or more for new sites or pages to get indexed.

Needless to say, all these areas are taken care of for RCW clients, if required.

I already have a website, but it's not performing. What can I do?

Here are a few quick possibilities to consider...

1. Can visitors actually find the site via search engines?
2. Is the site being adequately promoted by means other than search engines?
3. Is the site slow to download, or is it too difficult to navigate?
4. Is there any call to action, or any other way in which a site visitor response is elicited?

Quite small, but appropriate, adjustments can have a profound effect on the performance of a web site.

How should I promote my website?

Search engines are a very useful way of promoting a website, and full advantage should be taken of them. However, be sure to promote your website in as many other ways as possible. Here are some other simple suggestions that may help...

1. Include the website address as part of your 'signature' on all out-going e-mail.
2. Make sure the website address forms part of the address on all printed materials, letterheads, business cards, labels, catalogues, media advertisements, etc.
3. Don't forget conventional media such as advertising and public relations, wherever appropriate.
4. If you are already using, for example, press advertising, ensure your website address is included on all advertisements. Smaller, cheaper advertisements, but maybe more frequently, or in more media, can be highly effective when combined with a good website.
5. Do not depend exclusively on search engines to bring traffic to your site.

What are the advantages (and disadvantages) of web publishing over conventional printed materials?

Website publishing is an alternative to conventional printing. Often they should be used in conjunction as one does not replace the other. Web publishing offers these advantages over print...

1. Immediate updating.
2. Immediately available to a world-wide audience, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without any printing or distribution costs.
3. No limit to the number of pages.
4. No cost implications for having colour photographs.
5. All organisations, no matter what their size, can look good.
6. Website visitor statistics can tell you how many visitors your site has had, and the pages they viewed.
7. Visitors can immediately contact you or buy at any time via your website.

Conventional print offers these advantages over the web...

1. No matter how large or complicated the page, there is never a download time penalty.
2. The appearance of pages is fixed by the designer and printer. Considerations such as the users computer hardware and software and Internet connection speed have no effect on what they will see.

What does 'RCW' stand for?

Richard & Caroline Watson. RCW has been working exclusively on the design, deployment and maintenance of websites since 1996. Prior to this, RCW was in the field of business presentation graphics for 25 years with offices in the West End of London.

Answers to some of the more frequently asked web design questions.

Please see our 'Client portfolio' page for more information on some of our current websites.

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RCW Web Design
High Wycombe · Buckinghamshire · United Kingdom
Telephone: 01494 513521

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