Beginner's Guide

First of all, don't panic, it's not as complicated as you think.  There's a lot of jargon used in many professions, and IT are probably the worst offenders.

You may have been led to believe that the Internet is some sort of goldmine that just involves putting your website live and next year you'll be retiring with millions in the bank.  While this does happen occassionally, it is much rarer than you might hope.  However depending on your line of business, a good website could definitely increase your chances of being discovered by new clients you might otherwise not have been able to reach.

Let's look at this in a step by step process.

Step 1: The look and feel of your site

So what do we need to get a basic website online? Well the first thing you need is to have someone design a layout for you or select a layout from a selection of templates. If you want to have someone design a layout for you then you will end up with a much more personalised site than if you choose a template, however there are more costs involved. It's similar to having a cake made in a bakery exactly as you want as opposed to buying one in a shop. The bakery cake might be more expensive but it is a lot nicer.

We have an expert designer on hand to work with you to fulfill your vision.

You also need to think about what your clients would like - for example an insurance company would have very different requirements than someone selling kids toys.

Step 2: Domain Name

Once you have decided on the look and feel of the site, you need to get a domain name. This is something like joebloggs.ie or joebloggs.com. A good domain name is important as it should be easy to remember and allow people to quickly find you on the web. Quirky spelling is a big no-no (e.g. webbsitez.com) as is overly long domains (e.g. johnwaterstonecontstructionrepairsandparts.com). A final word of warning, make sure that your domain can't be broken up into strange words, as it is always lowercase i.e. there is a particularly famous example of a company recycling IT equipment called IT Scrap. They registered itscrap.com but obviously didn't realise that it also can spell It's Crap dot com. They could have used it-scrap.com - problem solved.

Step 3: Hosting

Hosting is simply a computer called a server connected to the internet with a very reliable connection and sitting behind a firewall and all sorts of specialised hardware to ensure your website runs 24/7/365 - or as close to that as possible. 

People sometimes ask if they can host in-house. Well it is technically possible, if you have a team of IT hardware engineers and security specialists at your disposal 24/7.

You can choose your own hosting or we can provide it for you. Bear in mind that especially in the case of shopping carts, content management systems etc we cannot guarantee a particular script will work if you choose your own hosting as there may be required features that are not present on the host you choose.

Step 4: Static Site or Dynamic Site?

This entirely depends on whether you are going to be constantly making text changes to your site or not. If you are then you should have a Content Management System.  This will allow you and your staff to log in and make changes whenever they wish. If not then a static site is needed.

Step 5: Do I want to Sell through my site and accept credit cards?

Again this depends on what sort of business you have. If you are selling lots of lower priced items then it might make sense to sell them and accept credit cards.  For some payment systems you will need to set up an internet merchant account with your bank. For others this is not necessary. We can advise you on the best scenario for your business.

Step 6: Ok I'm ready to go - how do people find me?

We work closely with our partners Granite Consulting who are experts in the area of getting your site noticed.