Web Site Design and Hosting Guide

The world of web site design can be baffling unless you know what the terms mean and you know the costs involved. This guide should help you get to grips with some of the basics when you're dealing with web site design companies. The prices shown here are only examples of what you should expect to pay, design companies will have their own price structures which often (but not always!) reflect the quality of the work they do. Always ask for references to their previous work to see if their style suits what you have in mind.
   If you're really getting bogged down trying to find a suitable designer, contact us. We can put you in touch with skilled designers and web programmers who will deal with you personally to ensure you get the result you want - and at the price you want.

See below for an explanation of terms used.

Explanation of Terms Used in this Document

Scanning is the process of transferring slides, photographs and other images from paper into a computer file.

Preparation for text and images is required to convert the files from a raw state into a size and format suitable for insertion into a web page. This process is always required for images but not necessary for text if you can send the files on disk or as an attachment via email. If you're sending your own text you should save it in your word processor as either 'text only' or 'rtf'.

An email form allows visitors to your page to enter information, such as their personal details or orders for your services / products, into a web page form. (See the Free Listing page for an example of what this could look like.) This information is sent to your email address automatically.

A host is a group of computers connected together which store web pages and send them across the internet whenever someone clicks on a link. Small hosting companies may only have a few computers in a group, whereas a big company will have hundreds of computers and possibly thousands of web sites on them. The services they provide range from almost nothing except providing space for a web site, to web page design, full technical support and search engine registration (this makes it easier for people on the internet to find your site).

A virtual domain name can be any name you choose to represent your site, with the proviso that the name isn't currently being used by someone else. Payment is sent to InterNIC who administer the registration of domain names on the internet. A name which ends in ‘.com’ means the host is in the U.S.A. For Thailand, hosts usually end in ‘.co.th’. We recommend using an American host, because the maintenance, security and speed of their computers is of a higher standard. (Australian hosts are now gaining very good reputations and have fast connections throughout East Asia.)

A sub-domain is a cheaper alternative since you don't have to pay the InterNIC fee. You simply rent some space from another company with their own virtual domain name. Some companies in the U.S.A. offer this facility free (Tripod, Geocities, Angelfire), but you don't get much space, technical support is zero and they can remove your site whenever they want.

Host rental is sent to the company who provide the hosting service. Payment is usually made every three, six or twelve months. Although there may be a price advantage in paying for twelve months at the outset, this is not recommended unless you are sure you will stay with that company for the whole period. Paying for only three months initially will enable you to switch hosts after that period if you are dissatisfied with the service you receive.

Site setup is the process of sending your web pages to the host. In addition, some design companies will activate search engines so that internet users will be able to find your site using a searcher (or 'portal') such as Yahoo!

There is a charge for site maintenance which is used to cover the costs of checking your site and to make small adjustments that may be required from time to time to ensure it continues to work as intended. This varies greatly from one design company to another, so this should be carefully considered when you're weighing up the costs because it has a huge impact on the total cost of the site.

Additional maintenance charges will be incurred if you want to make modifications to your site, such as updating price lists, contact details, or changing images or text.