Should we use the Existing Web Site / Web Shop or Create a New One?

We will need to look at the existing site to make sure its designed well and its up to SEO. There is no point investing lots of time on SEO if the website is bad to navigate, is unreadable to search engines and does not keep the visitors. We will look at the design, layout and links.

Your existing site should be OK we just make this point in case we feel its better longer term to just change it. Or maybe as part of the plan in 1-2 years time the site is redone at that point as it becomes a limiting factor. If your site is 3 + years old then it may be in need of a refresh anyway.

Please note that should you employ separate designers then before any changes occur to the website we should be notified as it could affect the SEO. Any work to redo any SEO work will use time in your plan. Its important no changes are made without consulting us as it could have detrimental affects on the SEO work and then take longer to get back to where we were. Broken links and page changes, flash images etc can have an affect. It should be OK its just that designers need to know the site is optimised and we need to keep each other informed. i.e. for items or pages we optimise we may not want you to change anything without notifying us first.

In reality the whole point of any website or web shop is new customers and sales. Your web shop or site may be the best ever but if no one find its what’s the point. 

We need access to your existing site via ftp (File Transfer) or RDP (Remote Desktop) so we can edit the code etc. If you have Google Analytics then we also need access to this information.

It should be noted that Portal is an SEO company who also provide websites and web shops and this should not be confused with a web design company who also does a bit of SEO. There is a big difference.

We specialise in SEO and provide web sites for SEO purposes. Our goals are a well designed website to keep users on the site, be logically structured and have calls to action to encourage enquiries. The goal of the website is to produce leads, enquiries and orders and not to just get design awards.

New Web Site Information

This would be based on a standard layout format and using your existing content, logo and images from your existing site or digital brochures you give us. Any deviation from this will incur extra costs. What we recommend is that we get a new site done and operational so we can start the SEO process properly and then look at any additions, features and changes that may be needed. These can be quoted for based on a specification and fixed cost.

Please look at the www.interprise.co.uk site as a good example of what a new site could look like with the same functionality.

Also have a look at www.hwglass.co.uk.

We will complete a full questionnaire to gather the basic information we require to get the web site operational.

Web Site - Basic Order of Events

1. Fill in the Website Questionnaire & Review
   This is information that is required in addition to the SEO questions.

2. We Provide a Website Mockup
   This is an example of the layout, colours, skin of the site. This is to make sure you don’t hate it. Remember though the layout should be logical and no flash images etc. Its all about SEO and keeping users on the site not design awards.

3. Demonstrate Test Site
   This is where you can see the site running but it has not been switched to your main Domain url.

4. Release the Site
   We would move or change the website part of the DNS record to point to its new location.

The above is an example of a more detailed bespoke website we have done for a client. Sites like this would be quoted for on an individual basis as the level of work is significantly more than a normal website. This particular site has a back office admin section that allows villa owners to enter their own villas for rent or sale. This site also has complex searching criteria. Take a look at www.livethedream.com.