FAQ

For your convenience we have composed answers for common questions related to web design. If you have any questions which are not answered below, please do not hesitate to call us.

How long will it take?

Depending on our current workload a small website can be ready in a couple of weeks.
Larger sites take longer obviously depending on how large they are!
We can tell you how long to expect your site to take when we know in more detail what is involved.

How much will it cost?

We scale our prices depending on the size of the site and the numbers of additional add-on options.
We also offer a number of standard packages.
Please see the web design services page or ask for a quote.

Are there any additional or hidden costs?

All costs are included in your estimate.
There are no unmentioned hidden costs.
Any features or work incurred additional to your estimate is charged at a flat rate of £30/hour.

Are there any on-going costs?

Renewal of domain name and hosting must be done usually on an annual basis.
Look Lively will take care of these for you as the costs are included in the annual mangement fee.

What is involved in managing my site?

Once it has gone live your website will need ongoing management.
Without proper maintenance, a site can become riddled with broken links and missing files.
There will be content updates - you simply email us any changes or additions to the current content and we do the rest.
There are various house-keeping jobs like making sure the site does not go over its quota of webspace or bandwidth and that any email/spam build up is deleted.
Keywords may need updating.
Broken links need finding and fixing.
Additional email addresses may be needed.
The domain name and the hosting plans will need renewing, usually annually.

We offer a number of packages and can also scale our prices depending on the size of the site and the numbers of additional add-on options.

How would I collect my email?

You can collect your email using one or both of two methods;
via the web using an address we can supply to you (this is best when you are away from home/office and using someone else's computer).
or via an email programme such as Thunderbird or Outlook Express (this is best to set-up on your own home/office computer).

What is 'Search Engine Optimisation' (SEO)?

The term used to describe the marketing technique of preparing a website to enhance its chances of being ranked in the top results of a search engine once a relevant search is undertaken.
A number of factors are important when optimising a website, including the content and structure of the website's copy and page layout, the HTML meta-tags and the submission process.

This is a complex area with many ins and outs affecting results. It's not an exact science and no guarantees of success can be honestly made. Having said that, Look Lively have the knowledge and experience to put in place the necessary foundations for good placings in the major search engines.

What is 'Hosting'?

Hosting is an internet service that allows individuals and organizations to provide websites accessible via the World Wide Web.

Any website needs hosting and we can offer you top quality hosting at very good rates.

What is 'Standards Compliance'?

Ignored for a long time by many developers, standards such as HTTP, HTML or XML are at the very core of the success of the web. The current trend of stressing standards compliance on the Web is not due to chance: they are a win-win for all participants.

By using standards, your website's foundation is built upon technologies that have been developed and tested by leading experts in the Web community.
Standards organizations, like the W3C, build a consensus among these groups and experts to maintain and develop consistent architectural principles.

Look Lively works hard to produce valid standards-compliant code to ensure your website is as widely available as possible.

What is 'Accessibility'?

In the context of a web site, accessibility refers to the degree that a Web site can be accessed by people with disabilities.
information and services should be accessible despite physical, sensory or cognitive user disabilities, work constraints or technological barriers.
content should be presented in a clear and simple manner, and should provide understandable mechanisms to navigate within and between pages.

What is 'Open Source'?

Open Source describes practices in software production and development that permit access to the end product's source code.
It's software by the people for the people, as it were.
Firefox is an open source alternative to Internet Explorer.
Thunderbird is an open source alternative to Outlook Express.
Open Office is an open source alternative to Microsoft Office.
Linux is an open source alternative to Windows and Mac operating systems which comes in a variety of different versions to suit all needs.
Ubuntu is a popular, and our favoured, version of Linux.
Please follow the links for free downloads.

Open source software is usually free or very cheap and often better than its commercial counterparts.
Anyone who knows how can adjust it or add to it as they see fit, without restrictive licensing limitations.

All our websites, including this one, are made exclusively using open source software keeping costs, and so prices, down.

What is a 'Content Management System'?

A content management system (CMS) is a program used to create a framework for the content of a Web site. The majority of cost of a website is usually in the functionality and the CMS approach is often significantly more cost effective. It often facilitates user/group upload and editing of content, so for example everyone at a particular company or club could access and alter content such as images, webpages, text files and so on.

What is a 'site map'?

This term can refer to two things;

• a visual outline of a Web site showing links to the entire content of the website.
• a protocol recently developed by search engines such as google to allow them to more effectively search a website.

Look Lively can employ this protocol for you to get the best searches for your website.

What are 'keywords'?

Words that may be used by viewers searching for information.
All well built websites have relevent keywords in the head ( hidden from view for helping search engines identify the purpose of your site).
To achieve a high search engine placement for a relevant search, a website must contain the appropriate positioning and density of keywords or phrases related to the search terms used. This is a critical part of the search engine optimisation for any website.
You will need to think about these for you website.
So if you are a yoga teacher in weymouth, yousr key words are likely to be; yoga, Weymouth, Dorset, yoga Weymouth, yoga Dorset, yoga teacher Weymouth and so on.
Think about what words, and combinations of words, people are likely to be putting into a search engine to find you.
We will help you to do this effectively.
It is also a good idea to work your keywords into the body text of your site. This aids search engines in finding you.

What is a 'server'?

A server is a computer where your website 'lives'. It serves the pages of your website to your website visitors. You get a server, or space on one, as part of your hosting plan.

What is a 'domain name'?

The "address" (or URL) of a particular Web site.
Domain names have two or more parts separated by dots. For example www.looklively.com.

What is a 'browser'?

A web browser is a software application that enables its users to view a web page at a website on the World Wide Web. You are looking at this webpage with a browser.
The most common ones include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Netscape, and Opera.

What is a 'search engine'?

Internet search engines (eg Google, Yahoo and AltaVista) help users find web pages on a given subject.

What is 'search engine submission'?

The process of submitting your Web site URL to a search engine or search directory with the intent of getting it listed on the search site.

What is 'spam'?

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same unsolicited message.
Electronic junk mail.
Look Lively takes every effort to minimise any spam which may be 'attracted' to your website.

What is a 'database'?

You can think of a database as an electronic filing system;
information stored in a computer in a structured way, so that a computer program, in our case a browser, can consult it to answer questions.
On your website it allows you and your visitors not only to get information from the site, but also to add to it.
eg forums, blogs, etc.
Any database we use is driven using PHP and MySql.

What is a 'dynamic website'?

Web sites can provide an interactive experience that is termed "dynamic".
Content (text, images, form fields, etc.) on a web page can change, in response to different user requirements, inputs,contexts or conditions.
You website is dynamic if you have database-driven features such as a forum or a blog.

What is a 'forum'?

An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions and posting user generated content.

What is a 'blog'?

A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject.

What is a 'web form'?

A web form allows the user of the webpage to send feedback to the site owner via the webpage itself.
An example can be seen on the contact page of this site.

What is 'Software'?

Software, or programmes, enable a computer to perform specific tasks.
Named as opposed to the physical components of the system - hardware.

What is 'downloading/uploading'?

To download is to receive data from a remote system, such as a website, or other similar system.
To upload is to put data onto a remote system, such as a website, or other similar system.

What is 'HTML'?

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the predominant markup language for the creation of web pages.
It provides a means to describe the structure of text and image-based information in a document which can be viewed on the World Wide Web.

It is defined and continually added to by the W3C.
It is being superceeded by the use of (X)HTML which is a more precise version of the same language.

What is 'CSS'?

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a coding language used to describe the visual presentation of a web document.
Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML.

It is defined and continually added to by the W3C.

What is 'PHP'?

Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a programming language designed for producing dynamic database-driven web pages.
PHP is used mainly on web servers and can add enormous functionality to your website.

What is 'MySQL'?

MySQL is a program that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. MySQL is very popular for web applications such as content management, blogs and so on.

What is the 'W3C'?

World Wide Web Consortium, the governing body for web standards.
It was established in 1994 to lead the web to its full potential by developing common standards.
The organization's purpose is to develop open standards so that the Web evolves in a single direction rather than being splintered among competing factions.
The W3C is the chief standards body for HTML and CSS.

What is 'Flash'?

Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, various web page components and to integrate video into web pages.
Although it can look very pretty, Look Lively are reluctant to use flash for the following reasons; poor search engine results, poor usability, large file-sizes, not everyone has it loaded into their web-browser, the annoyance-factor and it's not open source.