THWOTH | webstuff

I provide a 'webstuff' service to individuals and small businesses.

Whether you need a single page, a complete site, animated web banners, or other web elements, I guarantee a fast, friendly and reliable service. As well as providing a bespoke web design service I also offer advice and set-up on domain name registrations and hosting packages as required.

Here is a selection of some of my work - I think the sites themselves say more about my services and style then any amount of blurb written here.

	ralpherlephotography.co.uk This website is the beginning of a comprehensive archive which will make available for sale and by licence Ralph Erle's extensive collection of photographs. 30 years of taking photographs for a living has resulted in this amazing resource for all those interested in, or dealing with, photographs and photography.
	pog-music.com POG are UK sax player Penrose Feast, German drummer and producer Oli Sonntag, and Georgian bass virtuoso Giorgi Kiknadze. The acuostic improvising Jazz trio draws its inspiration from the whole history of music in order to create music which is of the present and yet has its feet firmly rooted in the past.
	www.albatross-marine.co.uk Albatross Marine are the sole UK retail and distribution point for Python-Drive flexible drive-shafts and also specialise in the distribution, sale, and repair of new and reconditioned PRM Marine Gearboxes - the universal standard in marine transmission
	Euhosts.net Euhosts.net is a hosting company where ethics and responsibility, fair play and good commercial sense are paramount. Euhosts.net aim to provide a high quality and professional service at affordable rates for clients - without hidden costs.
	www.uk-recumbent-bikes.com As you probably know, the bicycle is the most energy efficient mode of transport on the planet - and the recumbent is the most energy efficient design of bicycle...... ever!
	www.heelium.net A German-based international improvising collective indulging their audiences, and themselves, in the modern musical irrelevance some still call Jazz.
	www.markbassey.com Mark Bassey is one the UK leading Jazz trombonists. He is developing a site to act as an information point for UK trombonists, contain details about his various musical activities as a performer, educater, composer and arranger, and eventually as a purchace point for his CD's, arrangements and other musical services.
	www.hilaryburt.com Hilary Burt is an independent tutor of English and qualified dyslexia teacher for children aged 6-14 years, working with individuals and small groups who may need extra support with their learning.

A little about pricing

If you have looked into web page creation you will know that prices, and promises, can vary wildly; from "It shouldn't cost you more than £1000 or so...." to the perennial favourite, "Er... well that depends..."

I always work to an agreed fixed fee after a 25% deposit, for example; single pages from as little as £30 - complete sites from £200, depending on your requirements. All work is honestly logged to allow you to see exactly what you are getting for your money. Please Email the address below if you need any more information.

Contact: webstuff (at) thwoth (dot) net

P.S. Special deals available for musicians, charities, and other deserving causes.

Procedure

You may find it useful to review the steps necessary to define, design, create and publish a website on the internet. I am happy to offer help and informal advice on any aspect of the process - please feel free to contact me via the e-mail link above.

Choose a domain name

Chose a memorable and/or descriptive name appropriate to the business or organisation - for most UK enterprises a ‘.co.uk’ name will suffice - if you think that your endevour needs a more international profile then you could go for a ‘.com‘ domain - charities and similar groups often go for a ‘.org‘ or ‘.org.uk‘ domain to distinguish themselves from those who provide commercial services. The ‘co.uk’ domains are often be purchased in one and two year block, whereas the ‘.com’ domains can be purchased for up to 10 years. It is important not to miss your domain re-registration date - there are companies ‘out there’ that make their money from selling your own domain back to you!

Hyphens and underscores between words are allowed but best avoided. The whole domain name should be in lower case, and they don‘t necessarily have to have the ‘www.’ prefix.. Take a look at http://euhosts.net/domcheck.html to see if your chosen domain name(s) is/are available.

Search engine software or 'bots' usually look for keywords in a certain order :

The domain name (the internet address of your web site)
The file name (the name of each page file on the server ending with .htm or .html)
The page title (that bit at the top of the browser window)
The 'meta-tags' (words or phrases embedded in a html file, or web page)
The page contents. (the actual text and image names in a page)

If you want to use the web site to generate business enquiries and/or sales then a descriptive domain name is often useful (e.g. www.widgetshop.co.uk or www.shoesandbags.com) - this allows people to find you through what you do. If the web site is more of an information resource for consumers or clients who already know you exist then the company name is often used (e.g. www.smithandsons.com or www.janesmith.co.uk).

Define a design

This is the most difficult, time consuming and contentious part of any web site development.

People often have strong ideas about what they don't want but have less definite views about what they do. It is important that the design of the pages is appropriate to their function and properly reflects the business's or individual’s image/profile.

Having said that, content is the real reason people visit and return to a web site, and the 'look' can often be amended or even totally redesigned at a later point - though this can be time consuming. As a starting point it may be useful to find examples of web sites that you like/dislike to help the designer understand your preferences.

Organisation of data

Collect and organise as much of, if not all the content data and information for the web site into digital format. This involves gathering, collating and checking all text information and images etc that are planned for the web site. As mentioned before, content is the most important element of any web site and time spent on planning what you want on the web site is never wasted. Remember, the content of a web site is the responsibility of the client and not the designer.

Create an outline web site

The web site development and design usually takes 2-3 weeks from receiving all of the information. This time is spent creating the initial draft pages, registering your domain name and setting up the structure of your web site Your data will then be transferred either to a demonstration site not accessible to the public, sent by email or placed on a CD for you to view. Any modifications you require to the site will be made at this time along with proof reading and checking for typos, factual errors, email and link testing etc. This testing is an important part of the development phase.

Hosting

Finding a host for your web pages can be a bit of a minefield. There are many companies out there willing to take varying amounts of money for varying levels of service. Look for one that offers a good independently verified uptime in the high 90 per cents. Though I’m not in the business of pushing one company over another you could take a look at http://euhosts.net/shared.html (where these pages are hosted), they offer a number of packages at very reasonable prices with quite a comprehensive feature set. A hosting company may increase its charges if if your site traffic reaches a specific threshold - I know it’s boring but it is important that you read and fully understand any terms of service before you commit to one company or another. I can source and organise the purchase of the appropriate hosting package at http://euhosts.net for a commission if required.

Web site becomes "live"

When all is satisfactory the web pages are moved to the hosting web server associated with the sites URL (Universal Resource Location - the sites address) from where the whole world will be able to access your web site. You will also receive a CD archive of your site and all development material for your future reference.

Maintenance options

Reasonable modifications to the data or text of the site throughout the year are usually carried out without additional charge e.g. if a member of staff changes or opening times etc. Information can be emailed to webstuff@spot-the-dog.net and will usually be updated on the web site within 48 hours.

More substantial changes, regular scheduled updates and/or major design changes will incur a reasonable agreed charge.

Training

I offer a training service which takes 6 hours (two 3-hour sessions). This period of time is usually sufficient to take a person who is computer literate with the usual skills of word processing and using Microsoft products to the point where they would be confident in making changes, maintaining and backing up the web site The training cost is £60 per hour plus first class travel and accommodation expenses. Each trainee needs access to a computer for the period of the course - groups are limited to 4 persons.

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