Website Help Articles
2010 New Year’s Resolutions: Getting a Website
Dec 27th
We are once again at that time of year where we all promise to lose weight, stop smoking and to be more positive. Along with all of these personal New Year’s resolutions often comes a raft of business resolutions, goals or targets.
“I really need a website”.
“I must get that shopping cart so I can sell my products online”.
“I’ll update my website in the New Year”.
Resolutions and thoughts like this are common ones, especially amongst business owners. However, as the New Year starts and all that comes with it means that your current website, or ambitions of finally getting a website, get swept under the carpet. Read the rest of this entry »
Ensuring you get the best website quote
Dec 6th
Many people live in fear of getting ripped off by a dodgy web design company or paying more than they should for a website. While there are quite a number of overpriced, underperforming operators out there, there are also many great web design business’ whose main goal is to make you happy.
We have written previously about question you should be asking yourself before you approach a website designer, but they were more focused on the general stuff. We often receive quote requests from potential clients saying something like this:
“We want a website exactly like the one at www.websitename.com. How much?”
Now to you that might sound like a reasonable question, however, I would bet a lot that there has been a series of assumptions you have made, or an understanding or your requirements which are not automatically clear to someone outside of your business. Read the rest of this entry »
The Admin Site – Origins
Dec 6th
Yes you guessed it, I just saw X-Men Origins – Wolverine. Unlike that, this article has no special effects or mutants, however, The Admin Site does have rippling apps and razor sharp functionality… Ok I promise not to make any other Wolverine fuelled nerd jokes.
There are so many Content Management Systems out there, many of them really good. Some of the better known CMS’ are Joomla and Mambo, both of which are built using the same programming language as The Admin Site, PHP.
It was these very Content Management Systems which fuelled our desire to build our own CMS. Many average punters are given content management systems, like Joomla or Mambo, to manage their websites, however, these systems are not user friendly for your average business owner who knows little or nothing about websites and the internet. We wanted to create a content management system which would revolve around ease of use and would not confuse it’s users by bombarding them with dozens of links or with using terminology which would only serve to confuse them. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Someone Stealing My Business Name?
Dec 6th
Recently a lot of our clients (and us too) have been receiving curious emails from Asian countries, mainly China. These emails are from seemingly legitimate companies who are stating that they have blocked another company’s attempt to register a domain name similar to yours. For example, they told us that someone was trying to register spikewebdesign.asia, .hk, etc.
They say that they have done their research and found that you are the holder of the trademark, which they are currently protecting on your behalf. At first this seems legit and a number of my clients have been concerned. One particular case we had just purchased a .ASIA domain for a client, then they receive an email telling them that they do not own this and it is being blocked. Then the company kindly offered to secure the domain on our client’s behalf. Read the rest of this entry »
Search Engine Optimisation
Dec 6th
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is possibly the greatest buzzword on the internet at the moment. Everyone who has a website or wants a website is concerned with how well their site performs in Google (sorry Yahoo and the rest, but you just aren’t brought up in conversation).
Over the last year or two it is a regular occurrence that a client, who we are designing a website for, will come to us saying that they’ve been contacted by a Search Engine Optimisation company who is promising big things. This frequently occurring situation is the instigator for the writing of this article. Hopefully this article will save us (Spike WebDesign) time in phone calls explaining what the SEO companies are really offering, and be informative to the general punter who doesn’t have the expertise or understanding.
Firstly, let me start by saying that there are a number of really great SEO companies around who achieve really solid results. However, I have yet to encounter a SEO company which tells ‘the whole story’. I would like to relay two recent encounters to you. Read the rest of this entry »
Choosing A Website Design Company
Dec 6th
There are literally hundreds of great website designers and companies out there and choosing the right one for you can be like a game of ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. Website design companies range from one person part-time operations to large studios with hundreds of employees.
The first thing a lot of people would do when in search of a web design company is search for something like ‘Website Design Company’ in Google. This on the surface sounds like a completely logical idea and you will find website design companies. However, whether or not they are going to be right for your needs is another thing all together.
When you break it down to its most basic level there are only two types of websites – off-the-shelf template websites and custom built original sites. This often translates into cheap versus expensive, but not always. Read the rest of this entry »
I Need A Website. Where Do I Start?
Dec 6th
This is a question facing many people when they decide to launch their business onto the internet. It doesn’t matter if you are a one person operation working from home or a large company who has multiple offices, there are a number of key questions you should ask yourself before approaching a website design company.
The first question that needs to be asked is a simple one but the most important. Why do I need a website and what do I want it to do? Many people will answer straight away; “Well I would like an ‘About Us’ page, maybe a ‘Contact Us’ page and a few other pages like other sites have… you know.” This response is akin to telling a builder that you’d like a house with walls and a couple of doors scattered throughout the house.
