Website Proposal FAQ
This document describes a frequently asked questions when a new website proposal is made by the Griffin Web Studio to a new or existing client.
What is information architecture?
Information architecture is the relationship between all the different pages of a website. This is communicated visually through a sitemap and helps with SEO.
Here is an example of a sitemap
What is an SEO?
SEO, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimisation, is a set of tasks and features developers use to help online Search Engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others get a glimpse of your website without reading the entire website. In today's world, SEO is still essential because it helps AI generative technology determine if your website is worth crawling and including in the generated results.
What is an interactive prototype?
An interactive prototype is a grayscale or black-and-white version of your website designed to prove the functionality and features will work in the browser. No design elements are applied at this stage, as the prototype is just built to allow all parties to make final decisions on the functionality.
Here is an example of a wireframe prototype: Griffin Web Studio Limited - Wireframe Prototype for Practitioner Passport
Here is an example of the final design prototype: Griffin Web Studio Limited – Final Design Prototype for Practitioner Passport
Why do you use WordPress?
WordPress is open-source content management software that powers around 28% of all websites on the Internet. Tens of thousands of developers worldwide contribute to the project, which is growing from strength to strength. WordPress allows us to develop flexible and customisable websites that conform to modern standards and observe web development best practices. Furthermore, the community of web developers that use WordPress reaches far and wide. It allows us to tap into this collective intelligence and bring that wealth of experience to your project.
Where is the website hosted?
It is usually recommended that you host the website with us. This is not least because we are heavily involved in building it and know the code inside out. Also, since our speciality is in web application and service development, we have in-house technology and expertise to host websites ranging from a micro business to a large corporation, depending on your business needs. When you host your website with us, we don’t upsell your website’s uptime, nor do we do the same for security and maintenance. It's not something the majority of cheap hosting platforms can say. Last but not least, one of the benefits of hosting with us is that we proactively fix issues for you since, as part of all basic plans, we include error detection and remediation.
Who do I call if something goes wrong with the website or I can’t figure something out?
If you subscribe to one of our ongoing website care plans, we will be your first point of call should your website go wrong. We will determine whether it is something the hosting company needs to fix or something covered by your website care plan. We will also provide training and video tutorials to assist you in using your website once it is launched.
What happens after the website is launched?
Once your website is launched, we will provide 30 days of support to ensure that any bugs have been ironed out and that you are confident using your new website. After this, you will need to subscribe to one of our ongoing website care plans (if you are not hosting with us) to make sure your website is looked after and maintained. These website care plans include updating your software, regular backups, security checks and making sure your website is online and open for business 24/7. More information on our website care plans is available upon request.
How long will it take to appear at the top of Google?
The time it takes for your website to appear on page 1 of Google depends on several factors. It depends on the search phrase people use to find your website and the number of other websites also available for those search phrases. Nobody can truly say how long it will take for your website to appear at the top of search engine results pages (including people who work for Google). However, some factors can improve your chances. Building your website on WordPress is a good start, as WordPress has some great Search Engine Optimisation fundamentals built-in. Creating unique and engaging content on a regular basis for your website is also critical to increasing your visibility amongst search engines. Launching your website and forgetting about it is a surefire way to get lost in the noise.
We are happy to talk more about your search engine strategy if we haven’t already.
How will I know if anyone is visiting my website?
We will install our in-house analytics software on your new website and show you how to log into your account. There, you can see a wide range of statistics about your website, including the number of visits, page views, and time people spend on it.
Once you subscribe to one of our website care plans (or if you host with us), you will also receive a more detailed analysis of your website's performance and recommendations for improvement.
What happens if I want to add some features to the website while you’re building it?
Whilst we like to be flexible and responsive to your needs, we also want to deliver what we promise within the timeframes and budgets we have allowed. If you ask us to add new features to your website while we are building it, we will most likely ask why. If we all agree that your new request will help us achieve our objectives, we will gladly oblige. If this new feature is something you would like to add to your website but is not directly tied to your original objectives, then we will suggest scheduling it for a second iteration of the website once it has been launched. This will, of course, require a new proposal.