So many people start to have a website built and then get too bogged down with the details and end up having it in development for years. This not only means that by the time it goes live it will probably look a little dated but also the code used on the site may not be secure anymore.

This will probably mean that you end up having to pay additional costs which you wouldn’t of had it of gone live when it should. 

If the delays in your website development are the fault of the web agency or programmer then you should sit down with them and go through a timeline. You need to establish what is needed from you and when in order to get the site up and running. Set a new deadline that you both agree on and that is realistic. You need to ensure that targets are met, so ideally break down the remained of the project into smaller chunks so that you have goals to aim towards. This could be for example, completing all the home page elements by a set date then having all products uploaded by the next date that you set.

If you are going to be having a new website then it is very important to ensure that it is planned out properly and in detail. It can be tempting to just show the developer a few websites you like and ket them get on with it, but there needs to be communication both ways in order to ensure you get the end product you want but also more importantly, need.

Each company has their own unique selling points and ways of working. A website should reflect the personality of the business and match the rest of your marketing whether that be social media or sign writing on a vehicle.

You should spend some time with the designer and developer, talking about what your business does and why you need a website. You will need to convey what you want the website to do and then how you would like it to look. If you are stuck for ideas, have a good look around before you meet with them at other sites to find some that you like. If you can then show these to the designer, they will be able to start to get a feeling for the type of thing you are looking for.

Many people think when they hear the phrase “computer programming”, that it is a complicated process that can only be undertaken by professionals but coding is not difficult to learn and with determination anyone can learn the coding necessary to write simple programmes. Some programming languages are easier to learn than others, so it is a good idea to start off with one of these.

Firstly, the programme that you want to write will determine the complexity of the computer programming language that you will need to learn. HTML is a simple coding language which is a good one to begin with and is widely used in web design. JavaScript is also a contender for ease of use and is relatively easy to learn.

If you want to get involved in web development, content management systems or ecommerce applications then learning PHP would be an essential programming language to get to grips with as it is used widely in many popular applications.

It may be that your interest is in game programming as this is becoming an immensely popular and lucrative career choice for graduates. If this is the case, then a solid knowledge of C++ or equivalent is important and will ensure you have a good chance of employment in this field.

Having a website can be a great help for your business. More and more people now search

A huge percentage of website views are now coming from online for the product or service they require. If you do not have a website then you may be missing out on a potentially huge amount of business. Not only are people searching online more but they are often using mobile devices to do it such as mobile phones or tablets. You need to ensure that your website has been designed and programmed with mobile devices in mind and that it works and displays as it should.  Often the number of visitors on a mobile device are higher than on a computer. Many companies are using social media of a way of advertising their brand and products / services and often when using social media sites, visitors are using a phone or tablet. With these figures, it is obvious that all website owners should be considering mobile marketing and mobile friendly websites. Not only may you put visitors off if your site isn’t mobile friendly but the search engines such as Google may also devalue the rankings your site gets on the search engine result pages.

If you have a website then you need to understand the importance of making changes and updates regularly. All websites should be updated for customer experience, Search Engine Optimisation and for security reasons. You may have a brochure type website which purely offers information, and which is aimed at generating enquiries or you may have an ecommerce website where you sell products or services online. Regardless of the type of site you have updates are still needed. As a potential customer, you want to be able to read the most up to date information and know that what is on the website reflects what’s going on instore or in the industry.  

Security is another reason why a website should be updated regularly. The code may need to be tweaked or the content management system updated to allow if to function as it should and to be less likely to become victim to security breach. This is of the utmost importance when it comes to ecommerce sites which sell through a payment gateway.

SEO (search engine optimisation) also requires fresh and relevant content to be added to the site to help boost the rankings of the site on the search engines such as Google. If your site is left for months and months on end with no changes the chances are it will start to fall down the search engine results listings.

Over time as your business grows your website often needs to as well. You may want to add additional pages, functionality or change the way it works. Often business owners want to cut down on costs so rather than having a new site, they will continue to adapt their old site. This can work well for small changes but over time sites often become disjointed and certain elements start to work against each other. If you are just wanting to update images and add new pages for content then your existing site will probably work perfectly.

Sometimes it can actually be more cost effective t essentially start over with a new website. This doesn’t mean that your existing content and images cannot be used, but it does mean you can have a new look and feel to your site and design I around the functionality that is needed and may be needed in the near future. It is important to bear in mind changes that may be coming soon that you will need to incorporate in your design as this will make it easier to implement when the time comes. When you set your new site live, be sure to tell Google and other search engines if your domain has changed and redirect old links to the new site.

If you are looking to create your first website then you will need to decide who you are going to use and what you need your website to do. Many small business owners are attracted to free website makers to allow them to publish a page without any upfront costs. The issue with these sites is often they are based on quite a restricted template and will only allow you to change a few elements. They are often not very search engine friendly, meaning that you may find it hard to get your website to rank well.

If you are using a small web design company or someone that is self-employed then you can expect to pay anything from around £400 plus for a very basic site. You may also be charged a hosting amount per year and possibly a support fee if you wish them to manage it for you. If you are wanting to be able to do updates to the site yourself then you will need to ensure that it is built with a content management system attached to it and that it includes all the functionality that you need.

As any good SEO Specialist will tell you, one of the keys to getting the best search engine results is ensuring that your website is regularly updated with new original content. However, this can be time-consuming; someone actually needs to take the time to construct the content and upload it. Chances are, if you’re a small business in particular, it may not be cost-effective for you to use your own staff or time to do this.

Thankfully it’s easy to find people to do this for you, and at very reasonable rates. Firstly, it’s definitely worth asking your SEO Specialist or Web Designer – chances are they’re used to having to supply content and will either offer this as a service themselves, or will have contacts that they can refer you to.

Alternatively, you could use a sourcing website to find someone. Sites such as freelancer.co.uk allow you to post jobs for independent freelancers to bid on, so post an advert and try a few providers to see who can give you the best results.

Competition is high so costs are actually usually pretty reasonable, and you tend to pay at piece-meal rates. However, it’s definitely worth considering quality – selecting someone with experience in writing SEO-friendly content will be more expensive, but will likely get much better results.