Getting Started

If you are considering a web site it may help your decision making and determination of your budget if you review the steps below. It is meant as an easy guide to the more popular methods of gaining access to the Internet. It is far from exhaustive in it's content and Eureca Solutions do not endorse any of the organisations mentioned on this page nor have influence on their costs or working practices.

1. Do you have broadband access to the Internet?

If not, seek out an Internet Service Provider(ISP) that will suit your pattern of Internet usage e.g. broadband speed and download limitations. Of course if you do not wish to view the web you can still register a site but you will not have ready access to view it's use and content.

2. Do you want to register your own Domain Name e.g. www.yourname.co.uk?

No - Does your ISP offer you web space for your own use? Normally your ISP will offer free web space, measured in megabytes, which you can use for your web pages. (If not it may be necessary to change your ISP.) This means you can register your name and a password but it will not be unique to you as it will always be part of the ISP's name i.e. www.yourname.theinternetprovider.co.uk. As mentioned above this service is normally offered free but you may need to check this out with their user support team or from their web site.

Yes - If you want a unique web site address it is necessary to register your domain name and then purchase hosting facilities. To check if the domain name you want is available there are various sites that will search the net for you at no charge (try the search engines for Domain Checker). When you have chosen a domain name e.g. www.yourname.co.uk it must be registered so nobody else can use it The cost for this is normally a nominal charge, £10-£20, for 2 years (it will need re-registering after this time) but to be able to use the website it needs hosting. This means that an ISP will give you room on their server and all the necessary support for a fee, depending upon the type of site. (see below for types of site) This charge varies according to the ISP but usually starts at around £130 per annum.

3. What type of site do you want?

Once you have decided from the above it is time to choose the type of web site for your own circumstances. There are various options available to you from having a go yourself to employing professional designers. There are several types of web site, static, dynamic, E-commerce etc. with varying costs. Below are just some of the more popular descriptions.

STATIC £400 + - This is usually the type of site most people are familiar with and consists of any number of pages offering information in text and illustrated form.

ACTIVE £800 + - This type of site usually employs a database in the background and allows the operator greater access in providing material to the site e.g. listing items for sale, showing photos, search fields and rolling dispalys etc.

E-COMMERCE £1200 + - Usually associated with purchasing items on-line through credit card transactions etc. Costs are likely to be in their £000's. This can consist of complex costing systems or simple pick lists. See samples in our Solutions list (Home page).

4. What will my designer require?

The designer will need to know the type of site and what type of information you are providing. How many photographs, how many different sections etc. It is worth writing down the various areas you want to cover and list them in order of priority, this gives an idea of the navigation links needed to go round the site. e.g. Homepage, Contact Page, Staff Page etc. Pages can be of any length but imagine yourself looking around the site and make it as interesting as possible (a picture is worth a thousand words!) Have you a logo?
Keep clear of personal home addresses, use the e-mail facility for feedback or contact.

5. How will people contact me from the site?

Your web site host will normally offer at least 5 e-mail addresses with each site. These can have individual passwords e.g. sales@, enquiries@, person@ etc. Your site will also have it's own Username and Password allowing you to access the information in order to upload, alter, delete pages as time goes on. In order to do this it is necessary to use an FTP (file transfer program) which can be obtained from various places on the Internet, sometimes free of charge.

6. How popular is the site and how do people find it?

Your site can be submitted to the various search engines such as Google, Yahoo! etc. normally free of charge and by using key words or phrases your site may be found. Alternatively the more traditional methods such as letterheads, adverts, word of mouth are equally if not more effective in letting people know about your web presence. Web site statistics are also available which will register the number of 'hits' the site is receiving.

7. The next step?

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Remember to ask questions and be fully aware of all costs before committing.