​Websites can be complicated things....but that's where we come in. More often than not, anyone getting in touch with us to ask about our web design services wants to know how much it will cost them. We have some indicative prices on our website, but these are just guidelines - so how does it all work to come up with a price for your website, and how does the process work to get it up and running?
Step 1 - Content Discussion
The price for any website is based on the size and complexity of the required features and visitor experience, so the first thing we do, before any prices are even mentioned, is talk about what you need your website to present to the visitor looking around. Sometimes this is already thought about, the person enquiring may have considered what pages and information they need to have on the website, and what the website needs to do for them (perhaps involving a blog or e-commerce solution).
If you're not sure what is needed then we can help you by asking lots of questions about you, your business and your expectations from the website. From this we can propose a suitable size and what pages may work best and from there we can put a price together.
Where you have the desire to be high up in Google search results then we'll work with our SEO expert who can work with you and put together a search engine focused structure and even provide page text and copy to give you the best chances of success.
We may talk with you over the phone, Facebook, e-mail or meet in person, but whatever way works best for you also works best for us (though chatting over a good coffee is always a bonus!)
Once a price is agreed, we will put the contract and paperwork together and send over the initial invoice. When these are all returned, we're ready to get going.
Step 2 - Design and Layout
This can be discussed during the initial conversations, though it is more often left until later when contracts and paperwork is sorted out. We may ask if you have any websites that you like, or if not, get a feel for your thoughts on design, colours and other styling aspects - many clients are happy for us to get going with our own ideas, and we usually get it right, however we also expect that feedback will come our way once we send you a link to look at the initial website draft :)
Frequently, clients who are not sure what they want begin to have thoughts once they see things working online, so the demo website is a great part of the process to allow us to work on things that you can see change as we update it based on your comments.
Step 3 - Testing
The draft website is also our base for testing - we do our own checks of links, spelling and grammar and functionality of features like contact forms and online shopping processes, though we also expect you to do some of this as well so you can be sure yourself that it is all working.
We test websites on a number of browsers and a range of different devices and screen sizes, however there are so many options out there, your own testing can result in you spotting something we didn't - the more testing the better!
Step 4 - Going Live
Once you are happy with the draft website design that we have been working on with you, we'll agree the right time for it to go live and be visible for others online. Whether you bought the domain name yourself or we arranged it for you, the process is mostly the same - sometimes there are a couple of hoops to jump through to update your domain settings, other times not - it just depends where you bought the domain name from.
On the chosen go live date, we will move a full backup of your new website over to our own server, running final tests and setting up a number of features that we can't do on the draft website. These include enabling the SSL certificate, setting up page load time enhancements to make sure your website is as fast as possible, and finally enabling the automated backup solution.
When this is all done, we'll let you know and ask you to do your own final tests before announcing it to the world :)
We'll also, at your request, submit the website to Google Webmaster Tools with a unique sitemap.xml file added.
It's at this stage that any final invoices will be sent out, or if you are paying monthly, we will have sent you a link to sign up to GoCardless which we use to collect these payments.
Step 5 - Ongoing Support
We don't just leave you high and dry now either - we regularly monitor your website to ensure any software is up to date and that backups are running correctly. We'll also make any changes you request to the original page content, perhaps changing images or updating a paragraph or page of text.
If any of the website features are managed by yourself, e.g. a blog of e-commerce feature, we're here when you need us to answer questions or login and help out if you need anything. Your costs for the website are not just about the initial design, those costs also get you at least 12 months of our time and support in making sure your website is working for you as you need.
Step 6 - Get in touch
We'd love to hear from you if you have any questions of your own about our website design services - whilst we work and live in Carlisle, we have clients across the UK and even as far as Japan and Switzerland, so call Chris on 07880 858381, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or send us a message on our contact form - we'll be happy to answer any queries you may have!