Websites
There are a number of different types of website you can have, or you can choose bits of different types. One thing to remember is websites are not cast in concrete, they are easy to update and change as and when your needs dictate, so choosing a type of website is not a terribly difficult things as it is easy to change from one to another
In addition to the cost of creating your website there is an annual fee of £80, which includes your server space and email hosting.
The different types are below, clicking on them will take you to the appropriate place on the page or feel free to read about them all as you scroll down the page.
Static websites
Static websites are similar to a brochure or corporate leaflet. They display specific information in a simple and easy to use format.
Our starter package is a 5 page website which normally will have a home page, 2 or 3 "product" pages an About Us page and\or a contact us form that will email an enquiry to you.
This website would be a good example of a static website.
Static websites start from £250 for a 5 page site.
Others we have done are :-
Grant Bailey Renovations
In addition to the static site there are a few animations on the buttons and "morphs" - before and after pictures. There was later added a gallery and dynamic feedback system that collects feedback, stores in in a database for the customer to "approve" before it is displayed on the site. The customer is notified by email of new feedback the moment it is submitted
Fairy Fabulous Cakes
Again this site has been added to after the basic site was chosen. There is animation on the buttons and an image scroller to display different images at set time intervals. The static gallery was upgraded to a dynamic gallery and broken down into sections as it had grown quite large.
Delicieux Cafe
This is a reproduction of the Delicieux menu card. There are no bells nor whistles is is simply an online menu. Delicieux have not used all the 5 pages they bought. As and when they want another page it will be created regardless of any change in rates that may have occurred since booking the site
Woodleigh Landscapes
Woodleigh Landscapes have the gallery as their homepage, but the rest of the site is static content. This is a great example of how static sites can be added to and improved as requirements dictate.
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Dynamic websites
Dynamic websites use a database to store most of the information displayed. The pages as viewed by someone browsing the site do not actually exist until they are requested. This makes things more cost effective if you have a reasonable number of pages that will all look similar and have the same sort of layout but the words and pictures on the pages will change.
While it does take a little more effort to create these sites the price per page is considerably less than a static site of the same size.
A dynamic website will cost from £400.
Examples of dynamic sites are
Boxed Bridal
Boxed Bridal wanted to be able to update their own content. but didn't want to learn how to program. this site was created with an administration "back end" that is password protected. All text and images on all the pages can quickly and easily be changed by the staff at Boxed Bridal.
Fairy Fabulous Cakes
The gallery section on this is site is completely dynamic. Adding images to it now takes seconds
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Shopping cart websites
Shopping carts are where you can sell your products on the internet. They display your wares and process the payments. Depending on the number of products you wish to sell will depend on which system you will probably choose. They range from little more than a static site using Paypal buttons for payments to a full blown shopping cart.. with a more basic cart in between
Shopping cart sites will use a shop framework that has been pre-written. The main cost
of these sites are making it fit your companies identity, with colours and logos etc. Then
loading up your products catalogue and configuring it to work as you wish, for example postal options etc.
Prices start from £200 - even the larger shopping carts are not that much more, as they have already been written.
Here are some examples
Simple sites...
Tyre Repair Kit
These guys have just one product to sell, the tyre repair kit, it seemed daft to write a massive shopping cart when all that was needed was a simple button. Paypal provide these buttons for just this reason so a very small could be launched quickly and at a superb price!
Terrain Foundry
This specialist product site has 16 products set up to use the Paypal buttons. They have literally processed £100s worth of orders through the site in less than a year!
Mid-sized and complete shopping cart...
Bumble Bears
Fiona makes handmade teddies. So needs to be able to add her own products and remove those that have sold. This site puts her firmly in control without overwhelming her with too many features.
Gr8fun Targets
This is a full shopping cart. You can have special offers, discount coupons, different postage calculated based on country, track customers, let them login to see the status of the order... the list goes on.. A very comprehensive solution.
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Intranets
Intranets are websites on a companies network. Best suited for businesses with multiple sites There a a number of solutions for intranets, but as they are on private networks I can not give any examples. They could be as simple as a static site or have 1000s of pages and span counties.
A small intranet can be from as little as £500.
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Forums
Forums are places for like minded people to interact with each other. It is a framework for people to ask questions or leave answers. If you have a large number of customers who may benefit form helping themselves almost as a "community" or needing a single place to see commonly asked questions etc - but interact with the site then a forum is for you.
A forum can be set up for £250, most of this is time configuring the site as, like the shopping carts forums are best pre written and customised rather than starting from scratch - which would take 100s of hours to complete
We are currently running one forum at the moment that receives 10,000 visits a month
Verminhunter
Verminhunter is a place where people who enjoy controlling vermin with airguns can ask questions and share stories. The subject matter may not be to your taste, but the principle of the forum is easy to see.
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Flash
Flash sites are visually very attractive. They allow for creative effects and user interaction that the previous sites do not, they seem to be dropping from popularity at the moment, often being replaced with normal HTML sites.
Flash sites will start form £500 for 5 pages and goes up depending on the complexity of your requirements.
One example of a flash site that has been running for over 7 years is
Pressing Needs
The whole site is one "movie", a single file. Clicking on links and titles will take you to a different location in a "time line". The Delivery Booking Form breaks away from the flash site collects some data from the user and emails a request for delivery to Pressing Needs.