Frequently Asked Questions

The short answer is that it depends on your requirements.

Blog / Information-only sites are the cheapest to set up, and have the lowest requirements for ongoing maintenance and hosting.

More complex sites with additional functionality such as e-commerce or membership based sites take longer to build, need more complex ongoing management, and need better hosting to operate properly.

The complexity of the website design also plays a factor - there are 2 types of design - individual pages, and templated design - the number of designs required to build your website will increase the cost.

Lastly, the number of pages which need content uploaded will also impact the cost of your website.  For example: a 5-10 page 'static info/brochure site' will be much cheaper than a site with multiple inventory items, or large numbers of blog pages.

There are 5 main cost elements to consider:

• Domain (recurring charge)
• Hosting (recurring charge)
• Set-up (one-time cost)
• Maintenance (recurring charge)
• Design / Function updates (as required)

There are also a number of secondary costs: (these can have both an initial cost and ongong charges)

• SEO (where your website appears in search engine results)
• Optimisation (how fast your website loads)

These costs are not specific to me, or any particular platform.  When considering costs, you should budget for all of these.

Each site is unique and as such, will have a specific cost.

Request a consulation, and I can give you an estimate of build and maintenance costs for your website.

Final costs will be agreed before any work is commenced and the project is fully scoped.

Discounted rates available for non-profit organisations.

Timecales to build will very much depend on the specifics of your website, and on how quickly you can respond and provide required information during the build process.

From experience:

• A Single page site could be ready in 1 day!
• A template based 5-10 page website could be ready in 2-3 days
• A custom design 5-10 page website could be ready in 1-2 weeks
• A more complex project such as a membership or ecommerce site could take 1-2 months

The hardest bit about getting a website ready is often pulling together all the details needed for the content and processes to be published.

Building a website is often the first time a new business will have to write down the full details of how they operate and this process can be daunting. Don't worry though, I have a lot of experience helping businesses define their core processes and information for customers.

All my WordPress website builds include:

(as required)

• Server configuration / setup (cPanel)
• Email set-up or integration
• Wordpress setup or migration
• Divi (Premium visual builder theme)
• Mutiple premium Divi plugins
• 3 months of free admin support

Non WordPress website builds include:

(as required)

• Server configuration / setup (cPanel)
• Email set-up or integration
• Site setup or migration
• 3 months of free admin support

It varies depending on the complexity of the website and how much you want to be able to do.

I provide basic training on adding new content for free with every website build.

I can also provide additional training and documentation for you and/or your staff members to enable you to operate your website at your desired level.

Yes of course!

I offer great value packages to continue the same level of support, or even to completely mange it all for you.

Check out our Website Admin Page

No, sorry. I do not offer hosting at this time.

This is for business resilience - as a freelancer, if i was to host your site / data, and something happened to me you could eventually lose all access.  Of course, that is a 'worst case' scenario which I hope never becomes an issue!

I do have recommended suppliers who are personally vetted by me, and offer a great service and value for money.

Don't worry though, I'll be on hand to help you with all the tasks you need to get set up.

Check out my server admin page for details.

That's fine.

I am happy to work with other platforms and frameworks, or SaaS provides such as Wix, Squarespace and Shopify.

We can have a chat about your requirements and take it from there.

Yes, of course!

I can help you revise and improve your website to meet your business objectives.

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world because of its flexibility and low skill barrier to entry.

These qualities make it the number one choice for CMS websites across the world.

Being the most popular platform, unfortunately means that WordPress also attracts the most attention from hackers; for this reason alone, it is essential to keep everything updated to the most recent versions.

• Running a WordPress website is an on going process requiring regular attention.

Regular updates to functionality and security are released and when applied can occasionally cause the site to have problems, having regular offsite backups allows an immediate rollback; the issues can be resolved before applying the updates.

Any business owner can learn the basics of WordPress quickly, but it takes time and takes away from your core business

Let me take the load off you, and provide a stress free website.

It very much depends on the size and complexity of your website.

I currently offer various options starting at £40/pcm.

Usually when you use a SaaS (Sotware as a Service) option, maintenance is an automated process.

The maintenace of these sites built into the cost of the monthly subscription and fees you pay.

Options I offer for these service are focused around content updates and data updates.

Yes I can.

Just give me some topics you would ike to include and I'll make rich content for you.  You have the option of a review and amend workflow to ensure all content is in line with your brand and that you are happy with the tone and language used.

I can also make sure that any content you write is formatted correctly and optimised to help you get the most out of your SEO.

I also now offer direct AI Integration with my WordPress sites based on the Divi theme - the Divi AI uses the context of your webiste to suggest on-brand content to help elevate your message.

I offer a variety of options.

My main admin package includes  1 hour per month of included time to work on any aspect of your website.

I also offer larger packages with more time, and the option to pre-pay blocks of time at a discounted rate if you are already subscribed to one of my maintenance packages.

No, sorry. I do not offer hosting at this time.

This is for business resilience - as a freelancer, if i was to host your site / data, and something happened to me you could eventually lose all access.  Of course, that is a 'worst case' scenario which I hope never becomes an issue!

I do have recommended suppliers who are personally vetted by me and offer a great service and value for money.

Don't worry though, I'll be on hand to help you with all the tasks you need to get set up.

That's fine.

I am happy to work with other platforms and frameworks, or SaaS provides such as Wix, Squarespace and Shopify.

We can have a chat about your requirements and take it from there.

Yes, of course!

I can help you revise and improve your website to meet your business objectives.

It really depends.. with hosting you get what you pay for.

The cost of hosting depends on:

1. How much storage do you need?
2. What facilities are required?
3. What resources do you need?

From Krystal  - one of my recommended suppliers (affiliate link)

• Quality basic blogging and email server costs start at £80/year
• Quality e-commerce hosting costs start at £230/year.

If you are planning to target a worldwide audience you may need a CDN (content distribution network) - all the Krystal plans come with a basic free CDN through Quic.cloud and a 'Pay-as-you-go' service plan for when your business gets bigger.

There are lot's of options, and i will discuss this with you and make recommendations as part of my service.

No, sorry. I do not offer hosting at this time.

This is for business resilience - as a freelancer, if i was to host your site / data, and something happened to me you could eventually lose all access.  Of course, that is a 'worst case' scenario which I hope never becomes an issue!

I do have recommended suppliers who are personally vetted by me and offer a great service and value for money.

Don't worry though, I'll be on hand to help you with all the tasks you need to get set up.

Check out my server admin page for details.

There are a variety of qulaity SaaS (Software as a Service) options such as:

• Wix
• Squarespace
• Shopify

..and many others.. each has their own pros/cons.

I'm happy to discuss these options with you

Yes of course.

I'll need access to your control panel (usually cPanel or a variation of this)

We can review your current hosting and if there are any issues I can help you migrate to more suitable hosting.

There are lots of options out there and some will be more suitable for your needs than others.

Some things to consider are:

• Storage capacity
• Is email included?
• What faciltiies are available (PCI compliance, object caching, server caching etc)
• What level of resources are provided (CPU, Memory, Bandwidth etc)
• Hosting uptime guarantees
• Hosting customer service
• Where are the hosting servers based?

I always recommend platforms that offer LiteSpeed hosting as it is the fastest option and comes with a range of benefits.

If you are planning to do e-commerce or take payment online, you may be interested in achieving PCI compliance.

My service includes helping you choose a suitable plan, setting everything up and liasing with the hosting company on your behalf.

You should usually choose a server based in the same country as your main audience.

You can actually only 'lease' domains for set periods - the longer you take the lease for, the cheaper it gets. Ownership of the domain always stays with the domain registrar.

Different domains cost different amounts, at the time of writing a .co.uk domain costs arount £10/year and a .com domain costs arount £15/year.

There is a small SEO advantage in picking a domain that reflects the country your main audience is based in. For example, a UK based business should choose a .co.uk or .uk domain.

You can have multiple domains directed to the same website - companies often do this to protect their identity or to gain small SEO benefits in international markets.

Pick a domain that you like and will work for your brand identity.

Check which variations of this domain are available and/or taken - try to avoid domains that have an established business attached to them already.