Answers to frequently asked questions

Below is a list of frequently asked questions which you may find useful to read. Click on the underlined topic titles or scroll down the page.

01. Why aren't you charging a design fee?

In brief..

Businesses appreciate not having a large initial outlay

The design usually remains the property of Webgloss

Ongoing monthly payments cover hosting & search engine submissions



In detail..

We believe that many businesses cannot afford the huge initial outlay that is often required for a professional website design. By not charging for the design we are giving you the opportunity to put your business online for only the cost of either transferring or registering a domain (£20).

As a Webgloss client you will then pay a monthly package fee that covers domain hosting and search engine submissions for your website. The design remains the property of Webgloss but you may be given the option to purchase it if you decide to move to a new hosting company at any time in the future.

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02. How will I obtain a domain name for my new website?

In brief..

A domain name is the 'web address' of a website

Webgloss will register the domain name of your choice

We charge £20 for this process



In detail..

A domain name is the 'web address' of a website - it is what you type into your browser when going to a website.

A domain name is essential for you to have a website and you may choose a suitable name for this. Your chosen name may not be available (someone else may have already registered it) but, if it is, Webgloss will register the name for you. We currently charge £20 for this process and an invoice is sent to you following the registration process.

If your website is being designed by Webgloss and you register your domain name with another registration company it will have to be transferred to our servers. It is therefore less time consuming to allow us to register it for you.

Your .co.uk domain name will need renewing once every two years - a .com type domain name needs renewing every year. Webgloss currently charges £20 to renew a .co.uk or .com type domain name with the regulating authorities on your behalf.

Before the domain expires Webgloss will renew it for you and will then send you an invoice for £20 - if you do not wish your domain name to be renewed you need to let us know at least 90 days before the renewal date.

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03. I already have a domain with another company

In brief..

To keep the same domain name it will need to be transferred

We charge £20 for this process

See our help pages for more information



In detail..

If your business already owns a domain which you wish to keep, there is a charge of £20 for transferring it to Webgloss Web Design Hampshire. Please view our help pages for details of transfer procedures.

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04. Could I lose my domain name?

In brief..

We will renew your domain so that you do not lose it

co.uk domain names are renewed once every 2 years

We charge £20 for the renewal



In detail..

Webgloss will renew your domain with the regulating authorities at the appropriate time. There is a charge of £20 for this - .co.uk type domains are renewed every two years and .com type domains are renewed every year.

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05. How do I know which design / hosting company to choose?

In brief..

Ask the design company many questions

Do they know HTML or do they just 'generate' the code for their sites

Do they just use 'ready-made' templates?

Check out their client base - are they real clients or just a few friends?

How long have they been in business?

Are they saying you must update your website yourself? If so, be careful!



In detail..

Ensure that you ask the right questions before you make your final decision. Does the company actually know how to write HTML code from scratch? Or do they just use ready made templates? Many web design companies just purchase templates and change them which can cause massive problems when you need your site updating. Webgloss writes all the HTML code for its websites and we never use bought in templates.

Have a good look at their client base and check that they are actual businesses, not just 'invented' to show examples of what they could do if they did have clients.

Think carefully before you sign up to a website that you have to update yourself - do you really have the time to do this? Webgloss will update your website for you and remove the worry of learning how to use a content management system.

Finally, ensure that your designers won't 'run away' once your site is online. Pay a huge fee for your design work and you may receive a great looking site - but will the designers still be there when you need them six months later?

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06. How long will I have to wait for my business website?

In brief..

Approx. 2 weeks for your skeleton design

Approx. 4 weeks to complete your site

Approx. 6 weeks in total



In detail..

It takes us approx. 2 weeks to design a skeleton site for your approval. This is just a single page for you to view the design.

Once the design and layout has been agreed and you have provided all the content for your site, it normally takes up to 4 weeks for the site to be fully developed.

Your website will be uploaded to your domain and 'go live' once your first standing order payment has been received. The average total development time is therefore 6 weeks.

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07. What will I need to do / provide?

In brief..

Think about your content and topic titles

Choose a package

Complete the online form, email or telephone us

Email us your content text, photographs and logo within 2 weeks of agreeing the initial draft design

We will then design your new website



In detail..

The first thing to do is to think about the content for your website and decide how many topics you will need. Normally each topic has its own page. Then choose a package from our packages page that fits with the requirements of your business.

Then contact us, preferably by completing the form on our contact page.

We will contact you and ask for a certain amount of content to enable us to design a skeleton site for you. The skeleton is only a single page design and it will enable you to decide whether you would like us to design and host a full website for you.

Once a design has been agreed we will be able to give you an idea of when we will be able to commence the full design. You will then need to send us the content for your site. This content must be received within 2 weeks of the draft design being agreed for the package costs to remain as quoted.

Please remember to send any text, either in an email, a plain text document created with Notepad or, if you use a word processing package, please save your documents in 'rich text format' (.rtf). We are unable to accept textual content in pdf or image format.

When sending images please send us either jpg, gif or bmp formats - this will ensure that a high resolution is maintained.

We will keep in contact with you throughout the development process and, usually within 4 weeks of receiving the content for your site, your new website will be online.

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08. How do I set up my Webgloss email account on my computer?

In brief..

Ensure that you know your email address and password

Open Outlook Express

Follow the instructions on our help pages



In detail..

We have given step by step instructions on our help pages for setting up your email accounts within Outlook Express. You may also contact Webgloss if you have any problems with your email set up.

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09. Do you provide web mail?

In brief..

Collect your email on holiday!

Anywhere that you can get connected to the net

Not applicable to 'forwarded' email accounts



In detail..

If you have email accounts with Webgloss you can collect your email wherever you are, as long as you have access to an Internet connection - visit our help pages for details.

Please note that if the email sent to your Webgloss account is being automatically forwarded to another email address, this facility is not available. You may, however, request that we cancel the forwarding arrangement to enable you to access your email from the Internet.

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10. How reliable are your servers?

In brief..

Fast business servers

Latest server operating systems

Extremely reliable



In detail..

Webgloss hosts your domain/s on fast business servers running Windows 2003 operating systems. These are considered to be amongst the most efficient in the UK and are extremely reliable.

However, all servers require maintenance on a regular basis and all technology needs to be kept up to date by a system administrator. In our experience your website should experience approx 99% 'uptime' and when 'downtime' does occur it tends to be at night, which is preferable for businesses.

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11. What does 'we use Google Sitemaps' mean?

In brief..

Google is the most popular search engine in the world

They will use your site map to index your website

We like Google!



In detail..

Google uses XML Sitemaps to inform and direct the Google crawlers - they intend to expand their coverage of the web and and speed up the discovery and addition of pages to their index.

By creating a XML site map for your website, we are enabling the Google crawlers to find information about your site and to crawl your site accordingly.

We're also doing what Google wants us to do - an incredibly good idea as they are the most influential search engine company in the world.

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12. Once online, how do I arrange for my site to be updated?

In brief..

Write down and clarify the changes you require

Email them to us

We will acknowledge receipt and let you know if the changes you have requested are covered by your package's inclusive alterations

If there is a charge we will calculate the cost of the work involved

Once you have confirmed that the cost, if any, is acceptable we will allocate a time slot for the changes

We will then contact you when your site has been updated to enable you to check the changes

An invoice, if there was a charge, will follow for payment of the work that has been carried out



In detail..

When you need your website updated please email the change/s to Webgloss. Please be as clear as possible to ensure that we understand what is required.

It is advisable to check through your email before sending it to ensure that you have clearly stated which page the update relates to and that you have included all the details of the change/s.

If new photographs are included, it may be preferable to send separate emails, one per photograph.

Please remember that the standard format of images is 'jpg', 'gif' or 'bmp'. There are hundreds of different graphic packages in existence and, although you may be familiar with, for instance, Quark Express, or the image manipulation software that was bundled with your digital camera, it may cause delays if you send images in the formats that apply only to your graphics software.

We prefer textual changes to be sent as part of an email but if you do need to attach a document please ensure that it has been saved in Rich Text Format - this is a universal format that, when opened in another word processing package, does not cause errors and unrecognisable characters to appear.

When we receive your alteration request we will acknowledge receipt and let you know whether there will be a charge for the work. Once you have agreed that you would like us to carry out the work we will give you a start date for the work. We endeavour to commence work on all updates within 3 weeks of receipt, although in reality small updates are frequently completed far more quickly than this.

If you require a large number of changes it may take longer than three weeks for work on the updates to commence.

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13. What do I do if my website isn't showing online?

In brief..

Rarely happens

Contact us

We will let you know what is happening



In detail..

If you do notice that your website is not showing online please email Webgloss and we will let you know what is happening - please be patient when this happens and rest assured that the problem will be resolved in the shortest possible time.

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14. Do I need a logo?

In brief..

A logo to reflect your company branding is an excellent idea



In detail..

We strongly recommend that you speak to us if you are in need of a logo for your company. A well designed logo can make a great deal of difference to how your company is perceived by the public.

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15. Will you reduce my monthly hosting if I recommend you?

In brief..

No



In detail..

No, but we will thank you profusely!

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16. What if I want to leave Webgloss?

In brief..

There is no tie in contract

You are free to leave Webgloss at any time

Site design may not be transferred unless purchased



In detail..

You are free to transfer your domain to another hosting company at any time.

If you request Webgloss Web Design Hampshire to transfer your domain to another hosting company there is no charge for this service (your new host may, however, charge to transfer the domain in) - please remember that a site design may not, however, be transferred unless this has been agreed by Webgloss Web Design Hampshire.

All design work and images provided by Webgloss Web Design Hampshire (excepting photographs and text submitted by the client) remain the property of Webgloss Web Design Hampshire and are protected by design copyright unless formally purchased by the client when a domain is released to another hosting company. Unless a purchase has been made the design remains the property of Webgloss Web Design Hampshire.

Webgloss Web Design Hampshire reserves the right to refuse to sell the copyright of any design.

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17. Am I permitted to copy any of the designs or images you use?

In brief..

Designs and images owned by Webgloss may not be used unless purchased




In detail..

It must be noted that the reproduction without written permission of any design work or images owned by Webgloss Web Design Hampshire, whether electronically produced or otherwise, will result in a copyright infringement case being submitted to our solicitors.

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18. What happens if my business closes?

In brief..

A decision will need to be made by the new owner otherwise the site will close.

You will need to make a decision regarding your domain name.



In detail..

If your business is about to close please inform Webgloss as soon as possible and give details of whether the business is being sold or coming to an end.

If you are considering selling your domain name please inform Webgloss and give us the detail of the recipient.

If the business is being sold please inform the new owner that they will need to open an account with Webgloss to ensure that the website continues to exist on the Internet. We would expect 6 months hosting fees in advance from the new owner and Webgloss will then upload any notices or new pages that they wish to be displayed or leave the site as it is, if that is what is required. If a new account is not opened by the new owner then the site will be removed from the Internet.

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