About Websites

Websites can be broadly broken down into 4 types

Static
A very fixed website, containing any number of pages, but where the content does not change unless the author is requested to amend pages.  A very cheap option, you can buy this capability from any number of website companies.  Prices will vary, check them out before committing to one.

Dynamic
Similar in certain respects to the static site, with the exception that parts (or all) of the site has content that is linked usually to a back-end database and can be updated by the website owner, site members or services from other sites.

CMS
Content Management Sites are dynamic sites that provide the owner with the capability to modify the site appearance and content through a user interface.  The owner can usually add/modify sections of their site, known as "Web Parts".  Items such as "Forums", "Tables", "Graphics", "Text Sections", "Web Feeds", "Data from underlying Databases" etc can all be added / modified fully by the site owner without resorting to writing a line of code or utilising a web designer.

Enterprise
Enterprise sites are the real big players in the market and are always dynamic, often can contain a large amount of CMS but primarily all data is fed by one or more databases.  These are often in excess of thousands of pages and are usually e-commerce sites or sites supporting large businesses.
Small Business

Your Website

Talk-PC's area of expertise in the areas of web-sites is in the Dynamic/CMS areas.  Whilst I have written Static sites before, usually the small business requires more than just a simple shop advert for their wares.

Before we delve in any deeper, it is important to note, that having a web presence is of no real benefit if you cannot be located or people visit you.  At Talk-PC, we ensure that we utilise the best ways of ensuring your site will be hit by the major search engines.  Trying to ensure that you get a page 1 showing on the search engines when customers are searching for your web site.

All websites are designed using the very latest technologies (Microsoft Visual Studio for website design and code, SQL Server 2005 for backend database).  Using these technologies means that we can leverage the high standards of security, data integrity, best practices and website standards afforded by the toolsets.

Costs

The cost to completion of a small business dynamic website can be broken down as follows;
  • Initial Consultation(s) - Free of charge
  • Initial Meetings to discuss needs - Free of charge
  • Registration of web address - Approx £7 for 2 years
  • Procurement of 12 months webspace from hosting company $77 p.a.
  • Website Design, authoring, coding etc. - Usually Fixed Price
  • Services of Graphics Design Services (If Required) - Usually Fixed Price
It is not easy to give prices for website design, due to the different requirements in each business case.  However, I do not usually quote an hourly charge rate, preferring a fixed price for the job, based upon a very good understanding of your requirements gained in the initial consultations/meetings.  An approximate price range being between £300 for a small simple dynamic site to upto £2000 for a more integrated site with more complex business rules and requirements.

All our dynamic sites will use SQL Server 2005 as the backend database, and this capability is included in the $77 from the web hosting company.

Process

The process that we would follow to provide your site would be as follows;
  • Initial consultation exercise, where I gain an understanding of your business and the needs that you wish met by the website
  • I write up my understanding of your needs in a document and through a process of review between us, this gets agreed as a baseline requirements specfication
  • Once the baseline requirements specification is formally agreed, I provide a detailed quotation including name registration services, hosting costs, design/authoring costs and any graphics design
  • Once the quotation is agreed, I request 33% upfront payment.
  • We remain in constant liaison during the website development phase.
  • Once you have accepted the website in meeting the requirements specification, I will invoice the final 67%.
For further details or an informal chat, please contact Mike Read on (01985) 216351 or email Mike@Talk-pc.co.uk.