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Websites – Frequently Asked Questions

May 2, 2017 | Websites | 0 comments

Are you looking to get a website? Do you have Questions?
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.

Here are the topics, scroll down or click  to jump to the answers:

What is a contact form?

A contact form is a form on your site that people can fill out. The information entered into the form will automatically be sent to your chosen email address. This is preferable if you need specific information sent to you, areas can be added that people need to fill in. An example is on our contact page – see here.

What is a widget and sidebar?

A sidebar is an area to the left or the right of your main content on your website, sometimes especially for artists its good not to clutter the page with extra information and just show the art! However, for the sake of your visitors its also good to have a sidebar on SOME pages to direct them other important information on your site, whilst keeping your gallery clutter free. Sidebars are typically used on a blog or shop page to make the site intuitive to use.

A widget is what is referred to as the components of information that are visible in the sidebar for example you can have a Signup for email widget, a social media widget (where it displays all of your social media icons) or a Recent posts widget where it displays the most recent posts on your site. Widgets are also sometimes placed in the footer (a section of information along the bottom of every page such as on this page) or specific widgets just on your homepage.
As part of this demo we have chose the most relevant and commonly used widgets that most sites use, all are optional and will depend on your practice and visitors as to which ones you can use.
Please visit the blog page to see the sidebar and widgets on this site, these are located on the right hand side of the page.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Basically the search engines ie. Google, would like for your site to be optimized so that they can easily search &  store the information about your site and deliver it to people when they search on google. There are many degrees of specialisation and strategies that can happen with SEO on your website, and it can be really really involved particuarly if you have specific campaign or product you want to launch.
When your just getting started, we recommend that your site be search engine optimised and we apply basic SEO bits and bobs on your site where we can and then if you would like more in-depth strategy that can be worked out later. Ofcourse, if you have specific search engine need please discuss that with us first.

What do I need to know about hosting and domain names?

> Read our post about hosting and domain names here.

What about colours and images on my site?

Some clients are suprised to know that it doesn’t “cost extra” to have lots of colours on your site, but that doesn’t mean you should have every colour of the rainbow either! Your colours and branding will be determined by your logo, corporate colours, feelings that you want the visitor to feel when viewing your site and all about the customer experience. It unfortunately has nothing to do whether you as the owner like a colour or not, if your customers identify a colour with your brand that that should be part of your design somewhere! 🙂

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I can’t write or I don’t know what to write so what about the text?

I am not a copywriter, if you require copywriting services I can put you in touch with some people I know who are excellent at this service. If you are writing your own content or if you are engaging a copywriter yourself, make sure they are writing for a website rather than a booklet or flyer. The style of writing is different on the web, people will read on a screen rather than printed out, they are bombarded by information so writing a website has to be something that is engaging as well as informative, as well as that we like to get little chunks on your topic written regularly to help out those people at Google and help your site become “known”.

Can I add photos/text to the website myself?

YES! Our goal is to supply you with the system setup and ready to go, a guide is supplied on completion of your site to help you step by step on how to add a blog post, add links and text etc. I can connect with you on Skype in a training session to  through it and if your local we can even walk you through it on your computer so you are confident in doing it all yourself. A
Ofcourse, if you would rather not have to think about it and just send it for us to do, we can do that also!
Just check out the Service Agreement Packages and i can take care of all that for you!

How do I organise my artworks and photos?

I love to work with Aritsts as I am one too, and i know all to well the headache that can be in having all of your photos of artworks and details in an easy to use format. Please take a look at Artwork Archive by clicking the link, its one of the best things I ever did the hours i would take everytime there was a exhibition in finding details, finding photos, printing labels… this system does it all for you at a very affordable price.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is the software that is used to run your website, in short its the engine that allows you to update your site without the need for all the code bits and holds the structure for the widgets etc detailed above.

It’s slightly confusing because you can have a wordpress site on wordpress.com servers (hosted by them ie. they control it ) OR you download the software that you put on your own server ie. wordpress.org that you can control it. Again I can’t stress enough it really is best that you have control over your own website, there are a number of  “free” websites that you can get over the internet, it seems simple at the time to go for one of those, but they will commonly place ads on your site in replace of their “free” service, or if they decide to change or upgrade their system or just remove the site completely you are at their mercy.

WordPress software is widely used throughout the internet it can be place on most webservers and there is much support, that why we recommend it. For info visit: http://wordpress.org

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What is Google Analytics and why do I need it?

In basic terms Google Analytics is a tool that you use to track your visitors to your website. Its a very comprehensive tool there is much you can do. You need it on your website as it allows you to see who is coming to your site, where they have come from, what pages they are visiting how long they have been there and what they do when they are there. You want to know this because it allows you to spend time or change things on your website that may not be working for you or see whether people have come from facebook or from google itself and what words they have typed in to get there. Its important if your trying to get more visitors to your website – afterall what is the point of having a website if no one is visiting and you don’t know what they are doing when they are there.

It seems very technical and lots to it and i won’t lie it is, people do whole strategies and campaigns about this. As an artist or any website owner, you want it setup, so that it captures this information. Whether you decide not to look at the info every month, every quarter, every year – Knowlege is power and without it you are going in blind.  I can set this account up for you when creating your website or on an existing site.  Ongoing review of your data  can be done with an SEO report which can be done as a one off fee or as an ongoing arrangement.

What is a theme?

A theme is the look and structure of your wordpress website, there are 100’s of themes available. Themes can include various functions as well as colours, styles etc. We have chosen a very basic theme as most artist websites don’t need to be too funky and tend take away from the art, there is alot of visual elements going on and they can be quite cumbersome to maintain if your not a graphic designer able to create your own graphics. We recommend a basic theme to  start off with such as the one we have provided in this demo. You are able to update your theme at a later date should you decide you wish to vamp up your design. Ofcourse if you have a special request for your website design just discuss this with us before starting sometimes its really easy to tweak a few things before we start, but can be harder to implement later on.

What is a slider?

A an example of a “slider” is shown on our homepage, it is the large rectangles area where photos are sliding in an out in an moving motion.
Having a slider on your homepage is optional, you can have up to 6 “slides” as part of our package which are graphics created at set height and width that will slide in and out. It can be a good idea to have a slider to show off key pieces in your gallery and then directly point people to information about those. Or if you have an event or workshops coming up one of your slides can be a promotional graphic directing people to more information about that.
You will be able to easily add your own slides to the slider if you so wish when your site is live.

What is a mailing list, and why do I need one?

A mailing list is a list that people subscribe to receive further information about you or your art. Not everyone will remember they have visited your website, a mailing list is a way for you to keep in touch with your visitors and for people who are interested stay connected to what you are up to. Mailing lists are really important and there is a bit more than just having a list.
At the minimum to start with, a list where people can subscribe and unsubscribe without you having to do manually add them is an important asset to have. Strategies about how to grow your list and sending information can come later. As part of our package we setup a list for you with Mailchimp. There are other facilities for doing this but Mailchimp is a free service and we setup the account (to your details) send you the login information and add the bits of code to your website so your visitors can signup.
Then when you wish to do more with your list we can talk about that when the time comes. More about mailchimp is at http://mailchimp.com

078-Gray-64Still have more questions?

 Pop on over to my contact form and shoot me an email, happy to help!

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