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1. Can't I make my own website?It is most certainly possible to make your own website if you have the time and the software required. However making a website isn't like producing a word processing document. There are programmes which you can use which allow you to produce webpages without having any knowledge of HTML (hypertext markup language - the language many sites are written in) but usually the code is poor which may affect the way the page looks in the various browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera etc) and can also affect search engine positioning.
If you want to learn HTML this is again possible but time consuming. The other consideration is the images and graphics to use on the site. The overall design is important and the quality of the images vital. Download times are important to remember - graphics which have been incorrectly optimised can slow down a site considerably.
We regularly have clients who have either made their own site or have let their brother/cousin/great aunt do it, and have found that the site is not doing anything for them. We normally have to start again from scratch. |
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2. If Pole Position makes my website for me can I maintain and update it afterwards?There are different solutions to ongoing maintenance. If you have a very small number of updates over the course of a year we usually recommend that the most cost effective method is that we make the changes as and when they are needed. We then charge on an hourly basis and will give an estimate before we commence the work - if it is a very quick job we do not charge.
If there are sections of the site that you want to be able to change more regularly we can set up a simple content management solution which is a one-off price of £85 plus VAT. This enables you to update your content through your browser with no special software necessary.
For more demanding sites which need constant updating (for example Estate Agents or Art Galleries) we can produce a bespoke system with the ability to sort and search the data.
For more information see the Custom Scripting page. |
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3. I have been contacted by a company saying that they have a client who wants to buy a domain name which is very similar to the one I own. They tell me that I have the opportunity to buy the domain name (at an inflated price) before their client does. Should I buy the name?This is a common scam. There is never anyone about to buy the name, and even if they did they would have no hold over your own, similar domain name. If you are really worried buy the domain name from Pole Position - it would almost certainly be cheaper. We never try to get people to buy domain names they don't need. |
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4. I have received a letter from the Domain Registry of America saying my domain name is due for renewal. Should I renew my domain name with them?No. Again this is a scam. Always check with the company who first registered your domain name as to who you should be paying. If your domain is purchased through Pole Position, you will be asked a few weeks before renewal if you want to renew and then invoiced once the domain has been renewed. |
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5. My computer is running slowly and doing strange things.We are not experts in computer repairs and for this we recommend Alex MacDonald from Gaelforce Computers. However the first question we would ask is do you have any anti-virus protection? If you do, is it up-to-date? It is very foolhardy to have any kind of connection to the internet and not have anti-virus protection. A firewall is also essential if you are not running Windows XP (which has a firewall built in) and especially if you have broadband. The most well known anti-virus software is Norton anti-virus. We use Systemsuite which is excellent. It is cheaper to buy from Amazon. A free anti-virus programme is AVG. We have heard this is a good programme but cannot vouch personally for it. |
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6. I would like to buy online but am worried about using my credit/debit card over the internet.This is a common worry. Basically if you buy something from a SECURE site you are very well protected. You can tell if a site is secure as the address at the top of the page will change from http:// to https://. Also a small padlock icon will appear at the bottom right of the page. Buying online is much safer than giving your credit or debit card details over the phone or even handing your card out at a restaurant for example. Use common sense - try to buy from reputable companies, although sometimes you have to use a bit of trust! We have been buying goods and even paying bills online for years with no problems. If you are still worried you can open a special bank account solely for online purchases and never keep very much money in it, or use a credit card with a very low limit. |
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7. I have heard about Broadband but am not sure if it is for me.For business (especially small business) Broadband is becoming essential. With more and more business being conducted online, it is important that you can reply to enquiries quickly (internet users are notoriously impatient!). Broadband allows you to be online at the same time as being on the phone so your phone line is not tied up while you are replying to email enquiries. Your PC can be connected 24 hours a day ensuring that emails, sales enquiries or orders are received in real time.
Now that most places in the country can get broadband and the price has become more affordable, it is accessible to a large number of people and it is more than likely that your online customers will be using it and assuming that you are too. |
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8. My new website is not showing up in Google.We cannot guarantee when your site will be listed in Google or any of the other search engines. There is a theory that brand new sites sometimes start out in what is known as 'The Sandbox' where they languish until such time as Google decides to rank them according to their useful keywords. Pole Position take great care to launch sites that are 'search engine friendly' but even so it may take days, weeks or even months for a new site to do well in a search engine. Incoming links, especially from sites which are already well established in the search engines are an important factor in being indexed. |
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