Your website questions answered

Because the requirements for each business differ, it's not possible to come up with an accurate cost for a completely bespoke website without prior discussion. It would be pure guesswork otherwise, which could easily lead to over or under pricing.

Variations in cost:
It would be reasonable to expect that a website containing 5 pages would cost more than a website containing 3 pages, and less than a website containing 10 pages. But that's not always the case... Styling and functionality will also play a huge part, but there is much more to consider when having a website built.

For example, if you're approaching this with a budget of £300-£400, you can certainly get a website built, but you might find that it will be built by a part time web designer with limited technical and design skills, limited business or industry knowledge. They might not be able to provide ongoing support, SEO work, competitor analysis and other forms of analytics work either.

At the other end of the scale it's not unusual to find web designers and agencies charging upwards of £1000 for a single page website, and £2000-£3000 for a 4-5 page website.

So you might be wondering whether those who charge more are ripping you off, or are cheap websites not very good?

Cheap Websites:
A cheap web designer is more likely to cut corners which could result in your website being slow, poorly displayed on mobiles, difficult to find in search engine results, and if it goes wrong you might need to hire someone with experience to fix it.

That might cost you more than your cheap website cost you in the first place, and in the mean time you might be stuck with a website which doesn't work, which could be losing you business.

Read more about web design costs before you commit. You might be glad you did!

Fixed Price Packages:
A fixed price option can work well, because you'll know in advance what the cost will be, and what you'll get for your money.

Targa offer fixed price website packages, but feel free to check out our web design cost calculator and explore a wide range of options without any pressure.

Try pricing up your own website:
Feel free to check out our web design cost calculator and explore a wide range of options without any pressure.

There are many factors that it is almost impossible to say how long a website should take to build. For example:

Size, purpose and features:
How many pages will the website contain? Will it be used to promote your services or to sell products and handle secure online payments?

Will it require a CMS (content management system), or a searchable database of content. You might require a list of subscribers to be generated which will grow as more people fill out their details on your website?

Will you be providing your own website content and images, or will you be relying on the web designer to do source suitable images on your behalf?

Will you require your website to tap into your social media feeds such as Twitter, so it displays your latest or selected Tweets?

Average time period:
There are many other variables too, but websites for the average small to medium size business can typically take between 1 and 8 weeks to produce.

You can certainly find some web designers who will produce websites quickly and cheaply, but that's another story! Cheap websites often have many corners cut in order to speed up the process and keep costs down, but the results, performance and reliability can be poor, and many such website owners end up having their websites rebuilt. In the mean time it could be costing them money in lost businesses and brand reputation.

What about AI?:
You might have heard that websites can now be built using AI. That's true, but you need to anticipate the lack of control, styling, editorial input, the ability to update content, add or change images, and make it mobile friendly.

What if it goes wrong? Can it be fixed? Who will fix it? How much will that cost?

So bearing those points in mind, just be careful and do some research before diving in!

1: Introductory call:

• We can arrange a short phone or Zoom call to enable us to learn about you and your business, and what objectives you have for your new website.
• Phone and Zoom calls can be very effective, but there may be good reason to meet face to face.

2: Down to detail:

• We can discuss the details of what each page of your website needs to contain, as well as styling, colours, and other visual aspects of your website.
• If you have any content for your website, whether it be paragraphs of text describing your business and services, photos, logos, etc., you can send them over by email or via DropBox.

3: Content for your website:

• Your website needs to have relevant quality content for the benefit of your customers and also for success with the search engines.
• It is advisable to give serious thought to your website content, but we understand that not everyone has the time or feels comfortable producing website content.

4: The design stage:

• If you already have some ideas or can suggest some existing websites that you like the look of, that would be great.
• Maybe you would like us to put forward some suggestions. That's fine too.
• So before coding starts, we'll discuss some visual ideas with you, get your feedback, and then we can begin developing your new website.

5: Keeping an eye on things:

• You will be able to check in with us to see how your website is shaping up, and you will be given access to each page for your feedback and approval.
• Your new website will only go live when you give us the approval to do so, and we will work with you until you're happy with it.
• Of course there may be the need for us to meet a specific deadline that you have, and so we will work to a project plan to meet that deadline.

No, your website doesn't have to be built using WordPress. Let's explain...

Website builders such as WordPress and other tools can be really good to get to online cheaply, and even allow you to make some of the updates to the website yourself. But there are limitations, many of them can be slow on mobile phones, and depending on your needs and what you want to achieve with your website, you might find those limitations hold you back or cause problems.

WordPress is a very well established platform which has made it far easier for people without any knowledge of web code, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. However, despite WordPress being known as a no code tool, that is from the perspective of the user, but in many respects its own codebase can make the final product... the website... very code heavy.

There is also a reliance on 3rd party plug-ins to perform certain tasks and add features, and some of those can introduce reliability problems which are outside of the actual WordPress platform.

Pros and Cons:
The up side to using a platform like WordPress is that it can make the process of building a website quicker and easier, but it can be at the expense of flexibility, scalability, functional limitations, and slow websites.

Slow websites can be especially problematic for mobile users, and with the proportion of mobile v’s desktop users on the increase, it is becoming more and more important to have a fast loading website.

In the right hands WordPress can be great, but there are many web designers out there who use WordPress to fill the gaps in their skillset, and that can... and does... lead to problems which they’re unable to resolve without further help from someone with more experience.

Another thing which made WordPress popular is that it can also provide the option for the website owner to make their own content updates via it’s CMS (content management system).

Other options:
Alternative no code options to WordPress include tools such as Wix, SquareSpace, Ionis, and others. They all provide a means of building websites without having to employ the expertise of an experienced web developer, but all have their limitations which you ought to be aware of before making a choice.

Does Targa use WordPress?
No. We did try WordPress but found that the skills and knowledge which has been acquired over 28 years (since 1996) meant that for us the benefits of using WordPress, Wix, etc., did not outweigh the downsides. In fact many people have approached Targa with problems on their sites which had been built with such website builders.

You can read more about the pros and cons of website builders, but another option is to get a quote from an experienced web developer, such as Targa.

With our website packages starting at just £595, and with a wealth of other experience in SEO and website management, it’s definitely worth checking out what this level of experience could provide in addition to the actual website itself. You thought it would be more expensive, right?

Yes, provided that it has been designed correctly.

The term Responsive Website is often used, and this refers to websites which are designed to work on all screen sizes and devices, including mobile phones.

More information can be found in this article about mobile friendly websites.

It depends. Let’s consider this from two perspectives...

In one respect we could say that to update a website involves changing content, adding or removing sentences or paragraphs, correcting spelling mistakes, and other similar non-technical updates.

We could then make a distinction between these kinds of minor updates and those which require adding new pages, making structural changes to existing pages, adding or changing functionality, etc. Those would be considered major updates

Minor Updates
To make content updates on a website which Targa already manages for you, provided that you’re able to help us easily identify the page and content which needs to be updated, AND provide us with the new or revised content that you want it to be replaced with, we might even be able to handle those updated free of charge.

Of course if there are multiple minor updates, there would likely be a small charge based on the time it takes to do them.

Photos/Images
Image updates usually take a bit more work, because besides getting the image to the right size, we also need to consider other variations suitable for use on mobile, tablets and desktops. But costs can be kept to a minimum due to the efficient way we're able to use tools such as PhotoShop.

Major Updates
If the changes are extensive or require us to physically type new content on your behalf, then a reasonable charge would apply, but we can discuss the detail beforehand. The same would apply if we are required to actually produce new content for you.

If you need require new pages, structural changes, etc., the cost of that work can only be determined after prior discussion.

Some people feel that because they’re paying someone to build a website for them, the web designer should also produce the content. After all, that's part of building a website, right?

Well let’s look at what’s important here...

Knowledge of the subject:
Your website content needs to represent your business and the services or products that you sell. So if you want that content to look like it was expertly written, and indicate to potential customers that you and your company are worth doing business with, then you as the expert are going to be far better placed to produce quality content for your website.

As a web designer, I have been asked to write something along the lines of... or been instructed to come up with a few words to describe what we do etc.

Well if I’m currently building a website for a window company, and my last few websites were for plumbers, electricians, and an accountant, how much of an expert in those professions would I need to be in order to produce acceptable website content?

In fact, if you want to differentiate yourself from your competition... which, ideally, you do... is your web designer the best person to produce the content to show why you're THE go-to business in your field?

So it makes complete sense for you to prepare your own website content, but if you’re not sure what to write or feel uncomfortable writing content, your web designer might be willing and able to read through your draft content, identify spelling errors, ask you about anything which looks ambiguous, and collaborate with you until you’re happy with the final result.

What about using AI to write web content?
You could, of course, use AI to produce your website content. But you need to give that process the attention it deserves.

Some people will openly admit that they're no good at writing, or their spelling is rubbish, and so when they see what AI can produce for them at the press of a button, they might think Wow, that's far better than I could have come up with myself!

But what does that mean? AI knows more about your business, products and services than you do?

By all means use AI to generate ideas, but make sure you personalise and verify the content before using it on your website. After all, you wouldn't want your website to be making false or exaggerated claims about what you do, and nor do you want to look like your competitors who have taken the easy path to use AI to write their website content.

You might find either of these two articles about writing quality website content and creating content that your customers want useful.

It is a legal requirement that any business which processes personal data must have a privacy policy.

If you are a website owner you will need to provide access to a copy of your privacy policy at the time you collect people's personal information.

If your website does not have a privacy policy page, speak with your web designer.

Even if your web designer insists that you do not need one, if you capture and process personal data it will be your responsibility to provide a privacy policy.

MVP stands for minimum viable product.

In website terms this could apply to a large project which will take a long time to build, but very often the company cannot wait before every requirement has been implemented and all fine tuning has been done.

So to answer the question Can we at least get something live in the mean time? we can consider the minimum we would accept... the MVP.

Some of the functionality, styling, sections, integration with other systems, etc., may all be required on completion, but those may take time and might not all be ready for the target launch date.

Decisions:
To enable you to get the project live sooner, discussions can be had to determine which features of the website are launch critical and therefore MUST be in place before the first version of the website can go live.

Other features can therefore be assessed and prioritised, and the project can be broken into phases. These phases may or may not have critical dates to go live, but the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the version of the website containing the features essential for the initial launch.

Budget:
Budget management may also be a reason to split a web development project into phases, as this could not only spread the cost, but it could allow the first version of the website to start generating income whilst the overall project development continues.

What about testing?
Testing is not only carried out to ensure that the new website, page, feature or function does what it is supposed to do, but also to ensure that there are no bugs (errors) in the new feature, or which have been caused by the introduction of the new feature.

So even though deadlines are usually tight, it is advisable not to risk cutting corners on testing, because it could turn out to be a costly mistake. Read more about website testing for an idea of what things should be included.

A tricky one to answer in general terms, but think of things from a customer's perspective...

What would a customer want or expect when they arrive on your website? Do they want to buy a product, find a service, research a subject, make comparisons, be educated or entertained?

Once you have a clear idea of why people would come to your website, then ask how easy it is for them to find what they're looking for. In fact do you actually have what they're looking for on your website?

What you want to avoid is making people leave your website due to a lack of quality content. The general feeling is that if a potential customer wants to find specific information, they'll find it. If they can't find it on your website, they'll go elsewhere to find it.

This article on creating content that your customers want could provide you with some useful ideas.

Until quite recently, Targa used similar methods to many other web designers, which involved the CAPTCHA method. This often required the user to follow instructions to click on all of the squares containing a bicycle, traffic lights, bus, etc., in the photo which was displayed when the user submitted the form.

It was a pretty good way of ensuring that a real person was completing the form, but it could lead to frustration for users of a website who were being asked to carry out additional tasks, some of which were slow or didn’t work properly.

A different approach:
Targa decided to use bespoke method which generates a random 4 character code each time the contact form is loaded. This code is then represented on the page as an image, making it harder for automated screen readers to identify the code.

The user then has to simply enter that 4 character code into a field before submitting the form, which makes it far less likely that a robot (or non-human visitor) can enter the correct number.

Malicious content:
Obviously not all human visitors who submit forms on websites are legitimate. Some will manually submit forms with links, code, scripts, or obscene or malicious content, and others will use robots to automatically complete and submit forms in seconds.

This, of course, can be really frustrating to the website owners, and also concerning considering some of the malicious intent behind these submissions.

Targa's response:
Targa has applied steps to handle such activity, which includes a sanitisaton process. This will identify and treat links, prevent certain characters and code from being submitted, and identify and filter out obscene language.

Very importantly we are able to identify the IP address of the computer which was used to submit the form, and add that IP address to a blacklist, thus blocking that same computer from making further form submissions.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

It’s a fact that there are some very unscrupulous people out there who will try by all means possible to spam and scam any target they choose, whether it’s a bank, social media platform, clone an account, or target the phones or laptops of individuals like you and me.

Where online contact forms are concerned, Targa takes many steps to reduce spam and malicious communication by people who attempt to send things through web forms which could be potentially harmful.

Our methods include ways designed to stop malicious robots trawling websites to find online forms and automatically filling them out and submitting them, often with junk, links and scripts added to the fields.

Capturing IP Address:
Behind the scenes, the forms on the websites of Targa clients also discretely capture the IP address of the sender.

Each web form on ALL websites produced by Targa is checked against several hundred IP addresses which are known to have previously been used in a suspicious or malicious way, and if the IP of the user’s computer matches an IP address in our blacklist, the form will be disabled on their computer to prevent them using the form.

Sanitisation:
Certain types of web form content are monitored and sanitised if necessary before being delivered by email to the owners of the website. We make it an ongoing policy to continually improve the security, functionality and stability of all new and existing forms that Targa creates and manages.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

A responsive website is a website which has been designed to display and function correctly on a range of screen sizes and devices.

Whilst it may be possible for a desktop monitor and laptop to display the same layout of a web page, a smartphone is usually viewed in a vertical (or portrait orientation), and therefore typically requires a different layout of each web page.

Likewise, a tablet such as an iPad is likely to need a slightly different page layout when in portrait orientation compared to when viewed in a landscape orientation.

Besides different layouts for smartphones, a well designed responsive website is also likely to use smaller versions of images on mobile phones, to make web pages load more quickly by not having to download larger quantities of data over a mobile phone network.

Yes, provided that it has been designed correctly.

The term Responsive Website is often used, and this refers to websites which are designed to work on all screen sizes and devices, including mobile phones.

More information can be found in this article about mobile friendly websites.

There are many factors that it is almost impossible to say how long a website should take to build. For example:

Size, purpose and features:
How many pages will the website contain? Will it be used to promote your services or to sell products and handle secure online payments?

Will it require a CMS (content management system), or a searchable database of content. You might require a list of subscribers to be generated which will grow as more people fill out their details on your website?

Will you be providing your own website content and images, or will you be relying on the web designer to do source suitable images on your behalf?

Will you require your website to tap into your social media feeds such as Twitter, so it displays your latest or selected Tweets?

Average time period:
There are many other variables too, but websites for the average small to medium size business can typically take between 1 and 8 weeks to produce.

You can certainly find some web designers who will produce websites quickly and cheaply, but that's another story! Cheap websites often have many corners cut in order to speed up the process and keep costs down, but the results, performance and reliability can be poor, and many such website owners end up having their websites rebuilt. In the mean time it could be costing them money in lost businesses and brand reputation.

What about AI?:
You might have heard that websites can now be built using AI. That's true, but you need to anticipate the lack of control, styling, editorial input, the ability to update content, add or change images, and make it mobile friendly.

What if it goes wrong? Can it be fixed? Who will fix it? How much will that cost?

So bearing those points in mind, just be careful and do some research before diving in!

1: Introductory call:

• We can arrange a short phone or Zoom call to enable us to learn about you and your business, and what objectives you have for your new website.
• Phone and Zoom calls can be very effective, but there may be good reason to meet face to face.

2: Down to detail:

• We can discuss the details of what each page of your website needs to contain, as well as styling, colours, and other visual aspects of your website.
• If you have any content for your website, whether it be paragraphs of text describing your business and services, photos, logos, etc., you can send them over by email or via DropBox.

3: Content for your website:

• Your website needs to have relevant quality content for the benefit of your customers and also for success with the search engines.
• It is advisable to give serious thought to your website content, but we understand that not everyone has the time or feels comfortable producing website content.

4: The design stage:

• If you already have some ideas or can suggest some existing websites that you like the look of, that would be great.
• Maybe you would like us to put forward some suggestions. That's fine too.
• So before coding starts, we'll discuss some visual ideas with you, get your feedback, and then we can begin developing your new website.

5: Keeping an eye on things:

• You will be able to check in with us to see how your website is shaping up, and you will be given access to each page for your feedback and approval.
• Your new website will only go live when you give us the approval to do so, and we will work with you until you're happy with it.
• Of course there may be the need for us to meet a specific deadline that you have, and so we will work to a project plan to meet that deadline.

A tricky one to answer in general terms, but think of things from a customer's perspective...

What would a customer want or expect when they arrive on your website? Do they want to buy a product, find a service, research a subject, make comparisons, be educated or entertained?

Once you have a clear idea of why people would come to your website, then ask how easy it is for them to find what they're looking for. In fact do you actually have what they're looking for on your website?

What you want to avoid is making people leave your website due to a lack of quality content. The general feeling is that if a potential customer wants to find specific information, they'll find it. If they can't find it on your website, they'll go elsewhere to find it.

This article on creating content that your customers want could provide you with some useful ideas.

It is a legal requirement that any business which processes personal data must have a privacy policy.

If you are a website owner you will need to provide access to a copy of your privacy policy at the time you collect people's personal information.

If your website does not have a privacy policy page, speak with your web designer.

Even if your web designer insists that you do not need one, if you capture and process personal data it will be your responsibility to provide a privacy policy.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer

Having a valid SSL Certificate for your website will provide that level of security you need, and will allow your web address to use https instead of http

Cross site scripting, also known as XSS, refers to malicious activity carried out by unscrupulous visitors to a website adding JavaScript to form fields or search boxes.

This JavaScript can subsequently cause things to happen, usually with harmful intent.

Passwords and personal data can be stolen, computers can be hijacked, analytics may be gathered, and many other malicious actions could be carried out.

If you're asking if you can have an email address based on your domain name, sure.

The general feeling is that an email address based on your domain name looks more professional than, say, a Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail email address.

What looks more professional to you?

  autumnglaze@gmail.com
  autumnglaze@hotmail.com or
  info@autumnglaze.com

So whilst it isn't mandatory to have a business email address, the general opinion is in favour of them, and Targa can certainly set business email addresses up for you.

You might already be aware that many computers provide a very simple way to set up access to their Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo emails. All you usually need is your email address and password, then the set-up widget does the rest for you.

However, for email addresses which are based on your domain name, there are some additional details required, because those emails need to be sent and recieved through via your hosting company.

The precise labelling of these fields may differ based on your machine and operating system, but the additional information required will be something like these examples:

Incoming email server: imap.ABC-hosting.co.uk:993:1
Outgoing (SMTP) email server: smtp.ABC-hosting.co.uk:465:1

Your web designer should be able to help you with the exact information you need, or you can contact your hosting company directly.

Your website will always be backed up. It will obviously exist on the hosting server, but the latest version will always be backed up separately in case anything goes wrong.

Yes. Actually Targa does this once a month for all clients. It will give you peace of mind to know that you will always be in possession of the latest version of your website, in case you either need or decide to transfer to another web designer.

So far Targa hasn't had anyone move to another web design agency, but it is a perfectly understandable What if question that many people have.

As a client of Targa, you wouldn't need to do anything with the monthly Zip file, other than keep the most recent version safe in case you ever need it.

Exactly what happens if your web designer stops training will depend on that web designer, and the steps or procedures (if any) that they have in place.

If Targa ceases trading, or the dreaded hit by a bus situation occurs, you have no need to worry about what will happen to your website.

As a regular procedure, every month you will receive an up to date version of your website by Zip file. This will give you the peace of mind that if you need to find another web designer to manage your website, you can simply send them the latest Zip file and they can proceed from there without the complications of having to access the files on the original web servers.

Yes, of course. If ever you either need or choose to have your website managed by a different web designer, Targa makes this as easy as possible, even in the event of Targa ceasing trading.

As a regular procedure, every month you will receive an up to date version of your website by Zip file. This will give you the peace of mind that if you need to find another web designer to manage your website, you can simply send them the latest Zip file and they can proceed from there without the complications of having to access the files on the original web servers.

It’s important to remember that not every web designer or web design agency is the same...

Some may have limited experience but can produce a nice looking Wix or WordPress site; some may be very experienced in design, user experience, page structure and website architecture, and some may have excellent technical skills in specific coding languages and database management.

There are some businesses who offer web design as an additional service to their core business of, for example, logo design, business cards and stationary printing. But does this make them experienced and dedicated enough to build and manage your website to the level you expect?

It depends how serious you are, how important your website is to you, what you want your website to do for your business, and the level of involvement you're going to need from your web developer.

Whatever their level of skills, knowledge or experience, one of the most important aspects of selecting a web designer is to find one with good communication skills, who seeks to understand your business or goals, and can provide the solution you need.

You are also going to need ongoing support, and maybe someone to handle SEO, Google Ads and Google Analytics, besides development and general maintenance of your website.

So if you can find someone through recommendation, or have a chat with them to get a sense of what they might be like to work with, that would be a good starting point.

If you find the conversation difficult and come away feeling uncomfortable because you haven't understood half of what has been said, move on and try someone else!

Some people feel that because they’re paying someone to build a website for them, the web designer should also produce the content. After all, that's part of building a website, right?

Well let’s look at what’s important here...

Knowledge of the subject:
Your website content needs to represent your business and the services or products that you sell. So if you want that content to look like it was expertly written, and indicate to potential customers that you and your company are worth doing business with, then you as the expert are going to be far better placed to produce quality content for your website.

As a web designer, I have been asked to write something along the lines of... or been instructed to come up with a few words to describe what we do etc.

Well if I’m currently building a website for a window company, and my last few websites were for plumbers, electricians, and an accountant, how much of an expert in those professions would I need to be in order to produce acceptable website content?

In fact, if you want to differentiate yourself from your competition... which, ideally, you do... is your web designer the best person to produce the content to show why you're THE go-to business in your field?

So it makes complete sense for you to prepare your own website content, but if you’re not sure what to write or feel uncomfortable writing content, your web designer might be willing and able to read through your draft content, identify spelling errors, ask you about anything which looks ambiguous, and collaborate with you until you’re happy with the final result.

What about using AI to write web content?
You could, of course, use AI to produce your website content. But you need to give that process the attention it deserves.

Some people will openly admit that they're no good at writing, or their spelling is rubbish, and so when they see what AI can produce for them at the press of a button, they might think Wow, that's far better than I could have come up with myself!

But what does that mean? AI knows more about your business, products and services than you do?

By all means use AI to generate ideas, but make sure you personalise and verify the content before using it on your website. After all, you wouldn't want your website to be making false or exaggerated claims about what you do, and nor do you want to look like your competitors who have taken the easy path to use AI to write their website content.

You might find either of these two articles about writing quality website content and creating content that your customers want useful.

It depends. Let’s consider this from two perspectives...

In one respect we could say that to update a website involves changing content, adding or removing sentences or paragraphs, correcting spelling mistakes, and other similar non-technical updates.

We could then make a distinction between these kinds of minor updates and those which require adding new pages, making structural changes to existing pages, adding or changing functionality, etc. Those would be considered major updates

Minor Updates
To make content updates on a website which Targa already manages for you, provided that you’re able to help us easily identify the page and content which needs to be updated, AND provide us with the new or revised content that you want it to be replaced with, we might even be able to handle those updated free of charge.

Of course if there are multiple minor updates, there would likely be a small charge based on the time it takes to do them.

Photos/Images
Image updates usually take a bit more work, because besides getting the image to the right size, we also need to consider other variations suitable for use on mobile, tablets and desktops. But costs can be kept to a minimum due to the efficient way we're able to use tools such as PhotoShop.

Major Updates
If the changes are extensive or require us to physically type new content on your behalf, then a reasonable charge would apply, but we can discuss the detail beforehand. The same would apply if we are required to actually produce new content for you.

If you need require new pages, structural changes, etc., the cost of that work can only be determined after prior discussion.

It is a legal requirement that any business which processes personal data must have a privacy policy.

If you are a website owner you will need to provide access to a copy of your privacy policy at the time you collect people's personal information.

If your website does not have a privacy policy page, speak with your web designer.

Even if your web designer insists that you do not need one, if you capture and process personal data it will be your responsibility to provide a privacy policy.

It’s a fact that there are some very unscrupulous people out there who will try by all means possible to spam and scam any target they choose, whether it’s a bank, social media platform, clone an account, or target the phones or laptops of individuals like you and me.

Where online contact forms are concerned, Targa takes many steps to reduce spam and malicious communication by people who attempt to send things through web forms which could be potentially harmful.

Our methods include ways designed to stop malicious robots trawling websites to find online forms and automatically filling them out and submitting them, often with junk, links and scripts added to the fields.

Capturing IP Address:
Behind the scenes, the forms on the websites of Targa clients also discretely capture the IP address of the sender.

Each web form on ALL websites produced by Targa is checked against several hundred IP addresses which are known to have previously been used in a suspicious or malicious way, and if the IP of the user’s computer matches an IP address in our blacklist, the form will be disabled on their computer to prevent them using the form.

Sanitisation:
Certain types of web form content are monitored and sanitised if necessary before being delivered by email to the owners of the website. We make it an ongoing policy to continually improve the security, functionality and stability of all new and existing forms that Targa creates and manages.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

Until quite recently, Targa used similar methods to many other web designers, which involved the CAPTCHA method. This often required the user to follow instructions to click on all of the squares containing a bicycle, traffic lights, bus, etc., in the photo which was displayed when the user submitted the form.

It was a pretty good way of ensuring that a real person was completing the form, but it could lead to frustration for users of a website who were being asked to carry out additional tasks, some of which were slow or didn’t work properly.

A different approach:
Targa decided to use bespoke method which generates a random 4 character code each time the contact form is loaded. This code is then represented on the page as an image, making it harder for automated screen readers to identify the code.

The user then has to simply enter that 4 character code into a field before submitting the form, which makes it far less likely that a robot (or non-human visitor) can enter the correct number.

Malicious content:
Obviously not all human visitors who submit forms on websites are legitimate. Some will manually submit forms with links, code, scripts, or obscene or malicious content, and others will use robots to automatically complete and submit forms in seconds.

This, of course, can be really frustrating to the website owners, and also concerning considering some of the malicious intent behind these submissions.

Targa's response:
Targa has applied steps to handle such activity, which includes a sanitisaton process. This will identify and treat links, prevent certain characters and code from being submitted, and identify and filter out obscene language.

Very importantly we are able to identify the IP address of the computer which was used to submit the form, and add that IP address to a blacklist, thus blocking that same computer from making further form submissions.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

It’s important to remember that not every web designer or web design agency is the same...

Some may have limited experience but can produce a nice looking Wix or WordPress site; some may be very experienced in design, user experience, page structure and website architecture, and some may have excellent technical skills in specific coding languages and database management.

There are some businesses who offer web design as an additional service to their core business of, for example, logo design, business cards and stationary printing. But does this make them experienced and dedicated enough to build and manage your website to the level you expect?

It depends how serious you are, how important your website is to you, what you want your website to do for your business, and the level of involvement you're going to need from your web developer.

Whatever their level of skills, knowledge or experience, one of the most important aspects of selecting a web designer is to find one with good communication skills, who seeks to understand your business or goals, and can provide the solution you need.

You are also going to need ongoing support, and maybe someone to handle SEO, Google Ads and Google Analytics, besides development and general maintenance of your website.

So if you can find someone through recommendation, or have a chat with them to get a sense of what they might be like to work with, that would be a good starting point.

If you find the conversation difficult and come away feeling uncomfortable because you haven't understood half of what has been said, move on and try someone else!

Yes, of course. If ever you either need or choose to have your website managed by a different web designer, Targa makes this as easy as possible, even in the event of Targa ceasing trading.

As a regular procedure, every month you will receive an up to date version of your website by Zip file. This will give you the peace of mind that if you need to find another web designer to manage your website, you can simply send them the latest Zip file and they can proceed from there without the complications of having to access the files on the original web servers.

The key aspects of front-end web development include:

HTML
HTML provides the basic structure and content of a web page. HTML is used to define the various elements on a page, such as headings, paragraphs, images, links, etc.

CSS
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets which is used to style the HTML elements and control their layout, appearance, and presentation. It allows developers to define colors, fonts, spacing, and other visual aspects of the website.

JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language that adds interactivity and dynamic behavior to web pages. It is used to create features such as image sliders, form validations, and interactive elements that respond to user actions.

Responsive Web Design
Front-end developers need to ensure that websites are accessible and usable across various types of devices and screen sizes. This involves using responsive design techniques (mainly involving CSS and HTML) to adapt the layout and design based on the device being used, such as desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.

Front-end Frameworks and Libraries
Developers often use pre-built frameworks and libraries to streamline the development process. Examples include Bootstrap, React, Angular, and Vue.js.

SEO efforts, when done correctly and methodically, should be able to show measurable results within a 4 to 12 month period.

Your website needs time to establish itself, and search engines will need to determine how your website and the individual pages it contains compares to the vast number of websites already out there and currently ranking for keywords that you intend to rank for.

So you'll need patience, but also an SEO strategy.

Let’s be clear what this means, using a fictitious plumbing company in London called DripQuick Plumbing

A search for DripQuick Plumbing is likely to place that company at the top in Google, with little effort or SEO strategy required. This is because there aren’t many companies called DripQuick Plumbing around the globe, and even fewer in London.

So yes, I could probably get you to the top in Google for something, especially if people are specifically searching for your business name.

But it depends what you want to be at the top for...

A search for plumber in london or london plumbers is a much tougher one to get to the #1 spot in Google for compared to DripQuick Plumbing.

In fact getting on pages 1, 2 or 3 is really tough because there are some very well established plumbing companies out there who will be competing for position, and some of those will be using paid search to get a prominent position above the organic (unpaid) search results.

In summary

Getting to the top in Google is a competition. You need to earn the right (or pay in some cases) to achieve a high position, and your competitors are also putting in the effort to be #1 too.

So let’s be honest here... Nobody can guarantee that they’ll get you to the top for all of the search terms you want to be found for, but without a focused SEO strategy you are unlikely to get even close.

SERPs is a term which you may or may not have come across, but you use them a lot... probably every day.

SERPs simply means Search Engine Results Pages

Google it then look at the list of search results displayed on the pages in front of you. Those are the SERPs!

A common mistake for many businesses is to think that every person out there is a potential customer.

In some cases that may be true, but in most cases it’s worth businesses targeting narrower groups or types of people.

This may be based on age, sex, location, interests, habits, people with children, people with elderly relatives, pet owners, cyclists, car owners, people going abroad, etc.

Do visitors to your website expect to find out enough information about you, your products and services so they can make a purchase?

Are they likely to carry out some research before making a decision?

To make an enquiry, are they more likely to call you, email you or complete an online form?

By knowing who your target audience is, you should then ask yourself what do they need or want from a visit to your website?

If you can satisfy their need with the products or services you provide, what is the best way you can you communicate that to your potential customers, and how can you make the decision and buying process as simple as possible for them?

Are your customers local, or do you reach out to customers right across the UK?

If they’re local, it might be worth considering targeting customers in specific towns and villages. That way you could get the edge on your competition by getting targeted landing pages to work well for you in search engine results.

You might be wondering why, when we ay that SEO takes time and patience, Google can display up to the minute sports scores or updates on major news stories which happened earlier that same day.

Google has a way of categorising certain search topics and search terms, and it can make use of different features based on industry and, in the above examples, news and sport.

This special ranking feature is called QDF, which stands for Query Deserves Freshness and aims to serve up to date information in its search results.

Most business websites are unlikely to get the QDF treatment, and therefore we have to compete in a much broader arena, where updates to our website content will take much longer to take effect.

Registering a domain is quite easy. Most hosting companies have a facility which will enable you to search for the availability of your intended domain, and they will return a list of results, prices and alternative suggestions.

From there it is as simple as adding the domain(s) to a shopping basket, answer a few questions, and pay. Costs can vary widely.

This special ranking feature is called QDF, which stands for Query Deserves Freshness and aims to serve up to date information in its search results.

You might be offered the option of registering your preferred domain for 1 or 2 years, and subsequently renew it prior to expiry if you want to continue using it.

You can tie your new domain to a hosting package if you want, or you might want to park if for use in the future.

Domains are usually registered for 1 or 2 years, and they can be renewed prior to expiry if you intend to continue using your domain name.

To find out when your domain expires, you can simply go to Who Is and enter your domain name in the search box.

Amongst other information displayed, you should find the expiry date under the Important Dates section.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer

Having a valid SSL Certificate for your website will provide that level of security you need, and will allow your web address to use https instead of http

If you can see a locked padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar, or you can see that your web address (your URL) uses https instead of http then your website is secure.

If you don’t yet have a website or are looking for someone to host your website, look for a hosting package which will include an SSL Certificate.

SSL (or Secure Socket Layer) provides that level of security you need. In some cases your hosting package will include SSL, and other cases you’ll need to pay for SSL.

Because the requirements for each business differ, it's not possible to come up with an accurate cost for a completely bespoke website without prior discussion. It would be pure guesswork otherwise, which could easily lead to over or under pricing.

Variations in cost:
It would be reasonable to expect that a website containing 5 pages would cost more than a website containing 3 pages, and less than a website containing 10 pages. But that's not always the case... Styling and functionality will also play a huge part, but there is much more to consider when having a website built.

For example, if you're approaching this with a budget of £300-£400, you can certainly get a website built, but you might find that it will be built by a part time web designer with limited technical and design skills, limited business or industry knowledge. They might not be able to provide ongoing support, SEO work, competitor analysis and other forms of analytics work either.

At the other end of the scale it's not unusual to find web designers and agencies charging upwards of £1000 for a single page website, and £2000-£3000 for a 4-5 page website.

So you might be wondering whether those who charge more are ripping you off, or are cheap websites not very good?

Cheap Websites:
A cheap web designer is more likely to cut corners which could result in your website being slow, poorly displayed on mobiles, difficult to find in search engine results, and if it goes wrong you might need to hire someone with experience to fix it.

That might cost you more than your cheap website cost you in the first place, and in the mean time you might be stuck with a website which doesn't work, which could be losing you business.

Read more about web design costs before you commit. You might be glad you did!

Fixed Price Packages:
A fixed price option can work well, because you'll know in advance what the cost will be, and what you'll get for your money.

Targa offer fixed price website packages, but feel free to check out our web design cost calculator and explore a wide range of options without any pressure.

Try pricing up your own website:
Feel free to check out our web design cost calculator and explore a wide range of options without any pressure.

Understandably you won't want to spend more money than you have to, but it could be wise to avoid entrusting the design and management of your website to inexperienced or part time web designers who can only attract business by being the cheapest.

Here are some of the things to be aware of when choosing a web designer based mainly on price...

Corner Cutting
Undercutting the competition usually means cutting corners on the work they do.

To build even a small professional website properly can take time, because the needs of the business will need to be discussed and understood, and the needs and expectations of their target audience will need to be given sufficient attention. Those needs will also need to be met... and tested... on desktop, tablets, and mobile.

Search engine success
SEO success usually doesn’t happen without analysis, tweaking and monitoring, which can take time, effort and experience. In addition there might be Schema markup used on each page to enhance search engine results, and also Open Graph tags. These all need to be set up and tested properly.

Getting what you pay for
This is why professional web designers and developers charge more. But that's not unreasonable, given the skills required and the time involved. On the other hand cheap websites are likely to have been built very quickly. That could mean:

   • little attention to detail;
   • a That will have to do approach to getting the job done in the limited time available.
   • an increased chance of there being problems, technical issues and design flaws.

For example the website might look okay on a laptop but doesn’t work properly on mobile because of oversized images impacting speed, as well as width and other layout and design issues.

Problems
If anything goes wrong, how willing is the web designer likely to be to spend the time to investigate and implement a fix, and thoroughly test it afterwards to make sure that the fix hasn’t led to another problem.

The likelihood of you needing a more experienced web designer to fix those problems or even build you a new website is therefore quite high. Problem solving, testing and monitoring takes time, patience and experience, which are rarely top of the list for those web designers out there who can only attract business by being the cheapest.

Unless the web designer continually produces lots of cheap websites with a quick turnaround so they can move onto the next, and the next, and the next, they might not be able to stay in business for very long, and then what will happen to your website?

Let’s start by saying that Targa always seeks to provide great value... always!

But there is a difference between value and cost. To be the cheapest would mean that we would have to corners on quality, service, features, and attention to detail. That would certainly save you money, but you're unlikely to be happy with the results.

If you think that you'll be happy with a web designer who needs to rush through the design process so they can quickly move on to the next cheap website on their list, there are plenty of cheap and relatively inexperienced web designers out there who will put a basic website together for you.

What if something goes wrong?
Then they'll hope that you don't contact them when something goes wrong or some amendments are needed, because they are either likely to be busy building more cheap websites and can't (or don't want to) commit to any more time to your website, or they might have already gone out of business because they were charging prices which were unsustainable.

Look at the numbers
The reality is that for a web designer to survive by building websites for £200-£300, they would need to build several cheap websites every single week. Multiply 3-5 websites per week by 52 weeks and you can see that they would need to build an average of 200 websites per year, spending between 1 and 2 days for each website, and having little chance to manage and mantain them all to the satisfaction of most of their clients.

What you should expect to happen
Bear in mind how much attention a web designer should commit to making sure that the website represents your business and meets your objectives.

It will also need to be designed to look and behave correctly on all screen sizes and devices, with optimised images and code to ensure that the website loads quickly... especially on mobile... and includes all of the ingredients needed to be effective in search engine results.

Saving money often feels good in the short term, but corners cut on quality, service and attention to detail tend to bug you for much longer. Therefore if I’m building a website and feel that some tweaks are needs to make something look or work better, I’ll do it.

If those tweaks take 2 minutes, 2 hours or 2 days, I'll do it!

My objective would be to make your website the best it can be, without unnecessarily adding to your costs. The cheapest web designers won’t do that. But at least you have the choice to use them if you want to.

Remember... PRICE is what you PAY, but VALUE is what you GET!

The preferred method of payment is direct bank transfer. Details will be provided when an invoice is submitted.

Alternatively you can pay by PayPal.

When embarking on a web project for new clients, whether it be for testing, auditing or web development, if the total is less than £1000 we ask for 25% up front, and the balance on completion.

For larger projects in excess of £1000, we ask for 25% up front, 40% on completion, and the balance payable one month later.

For monthly website management and testing agreements, these can be paid on the first Monday of each calendar month for the duration of the agreement.

MVP stands for minimum viable product.

In website terms this could apply to a large project which will take a long time to build, but very often the company cannot wait before every requirement has been implemented and all fine tuning has been done.

So to answer the question Can we at least get something live in the mean time? we can consider the minimum we would accept... the MVP.

Some of the functionality, styling, sections, integration with other systems, etc., may all be required on completion, but those may take time and might not all be ready for the target launch date.

Decisions:
To enable you to get the project live sooner, discussions can be had to determine which features of the website are launch critical and therefore MUST be in place before the first version of the website can go live.

Other features can therefore be assessed and prioritised, and the project can be broken into phases. These phases may or may not have critical dates to go live, but the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the version of the website containing the features essential for the initial launch.

Budget:
Budget management may also be a reason to split a web development project into phases, as this could not only spread the cost, but it could allow the first version of the website to start generating income whilst the overall project development continues.

What about testing?
Testing is not only carried out to ensure that the new website, page, feature or function does what it is supposed to do, but also to ensure that there are no bugs (errors) in the new feature, or which have been caused by the introduction of the new feature.

So even though deadlines are usually tight, it is advisable not to risk cutting corners on testing, because it could turn out to be a costly mistake. Read more about website testing for an idea of what things should be included.

It’s a fact that there are some very unscrupulous people out there who will try by all means possible to spam and scam any target they choose, whether it’s a bank, social media platform, clone an account, or target the phones or laptops of individuals like you and me.

Where online contact forms are concerned, Targa takes many steps to reduce spam and malicious communication by people who attempt to send things through web forms which could be potentially harmful.

Our methods include ways designed to stop malicious robots trawling websites to find online forms and automatically filling them out and submitting them, often with junk, links and scripts added to the fields.

Capturing IP Address:
Behind the scenes, the forms on the websites of Targa clients also discretely capture the IP address of the sender.

Each web form on ALL websites produced by Targa is checked against several hundred IP addresses which are known to have previously been used in a suspicious or malicious way, and if the IP of the user’s computer matches an IP address in our blacklist, the form will be disabled on their computer to prevent them using the form.

Sanitisation:
Certain types of web form content are monitored and sanitised if necessary before being delivered by email to the owners of the website. We make it an ongoing policy to continually improve the security, functionality and stability of all new and existing forms that Targa creates and manages.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

Until quite recently, Targa used similar methods to many other web designers, which involved the CAPTCHA method. This often required the user to follow instructions to click on all of the squares containing a bicycle, traffic lights, bus, etc., in the photo which was displayed when the user submitted the form.

It was a pretty good way of ensuring that a real person was completing the form, but it could lead to frustration for users of a website who were being asked to carry out additional tasks, some of which were slow or didn’t work properly.

A different approach:
Targa decided to use bespoke method which generates a random 4 character code each time the contact form is loaded. This code is then represented on the page as an image, making it harder for automated screen readers to identify the code.

The user then has to simply enter that 4 character code into a field before submitting the form, which makes it far less likely that a robot (or non-human visitor) can enter the correct number.

Malicious content:
Obviously not all human visitors who submit forms on websites are legitimate. Some will manually submit forms with links, code, scripts, or obscene or malicious content, and others will use robots to automatically complete and submit forms in seconds.

This, of course, can be really frustrating to the website owners, and also concerning considering some of the malicious intent behind these submissions.

Targa's response:
Targa has applied steps to handle such activity, which includes a sanitisaton process. This will identify and treat links, prevent certain characters and code from being submitted, and identify and filter out obscene language.

Very importantly we are able to identify the IP address of the computer which was used to submit the form, and add that IP address to a blacklist, thus blocking that same computer from making further form submissions.

For a more in-depth view on how Targa handles contact form submission, take a look at this article on web form security

I can't think of a single person who doesn't have to frequently look up their current passwords to gain access to various accounts.

Not only that, but password requirements vary from one account to another. Some have minimum or maximum lengths; some require the use of at least one special character, whilst others do not allow those same characters; some require a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as well as numbers; some will insist that when you change your password it must not be too similar to the previous one.

This means that using the same password for everything is not possible, but that’s not a good idea anyway. So how do you keep track on your passwords? Paper or a notebook in a drawer at home? A discrete file on your laptop, tablet or phone? Memory?

Or maybe a password manager has crossed your mind.

So how safe and secure are password managers? Can they be hacked? How secure is having several passwords securely protected behind a master password? Are password managers worth the time and effort to set up? Some require a subscription, so is that cost (albeit usually very small) worth it?

I’m sure we all have our opinions and many of us will pre-judge their value without doing some prior analysis, but if remembering passwords is a frequent problem and frustration for you, by far the best review of password managers I have come across is this one at PasswordManager.com

Whilst Targa doesn't directly handle social media for clients, we can link to your social media pages, and, if required, embed specific postings onto your website.

It's not an ideal approach for everyone, but it can certainly be useful for those individuals or businesses who want to display their latest Tweets on their website.

Depending on your type of business or location, there may be some social media experts we can recommend, so please feel free to ask.

When embarking on a web project for new clients, whether it be for testing, auditing or web development, if the total is less than £1000 we ask for 25% up front, and the balance on completion.

For larger projects in excess of £1000, we ask for 25% up front, 40% on completion, and the balance payable one month later.

For monthly website management and testing agreements, these can be paid on the first Monday of each calendar month for the duration of the agreement.

The preferred method of payment is direct bank transfer. Details will be provided when an invoice is submitted.

Alternatively you can pay by PayPal.

Targa will be happy to talk to you about transferring your website. Transferring a website to a different web designer is quite a simple process provided that your current web designer is co-operative. Some are, and some aren't!

If you would like us to speak or write to them on your behalf, just ask and we'll be happy to help you out.

Barriers to transferring your website
Bear in mind that some web design services... especially those who offer very cheap websites... do not allow you to actually own your website. So please check your contract or terms and conditions to make sure that you have the rights to take your website elsewhere.

If that isn't either contractually or technically possible, you might need to consider have a new website built, and then point your domain name to the new website when it's ready.

NOTE:
All advice I have provided elsewhere about selecting the right web designer to build your website should apply here too.

To save repetition, please read about selecting the right web designer before you start contacting a few.

A FREE website health check?

You could also take advantage of our free website health check. It is completely without obligation, and that way it will give us the chance to look at your existing website, and provide you with a report on anything which needs fixing or improving.

Whether you come back to Targa or go to another web designer to handle your website, at least you will have been made aware of the health of your current website.

Exactly what happens if your web designer stops training will depend on that web designer, and the steps or procedures (if any) that they have in place.

If Targa ceases trading, or the dreaded hit by a bus situation occurs, you have no need to worry about what will happen to your website.

As a regular procedure, every month you will receive an up to date version of your website by Zip file. This will give you the peace of mind that if you need to find another web designer to manage your website, you can simply send them the latest Zip file and they can proceed from there without the complications of having to access the files on the original web servers.

Let’s start by saying that Targa always seeks to provide great value... always!

But there is a difference between value and cost. To be the cheapest would mean that we would have to corners on quality, service, features, and attention to detail. That would certainly save you money, but you're unlikely to be happy with the results.

If you think that you'll be happy with a web designer who needs to rush through the design process so they can quickly move on to the next cheap website on their list, there are plenty of cheap and relatively inexperienced web designers out there who will put a basic website together for you.

What if something goes wrong?
Then they'll hope that you don't contact them when something goes wrong or some amendments are needed, because they are either likely to be busy building more cheap websites and can't (or don't want to) commit to any more time to your website, or they might have already gone out of business because they were charging prices which were unsustainable.

Look at the numbers
The reality is that for a web designer to survive by building websites for £200-£300, they would need to build several cheap websites every single week. Multiply 3-5 websites per week by 52 weeks and you can see that they would need to build an average of 200 websites per year, spending between 1 and 2 days for each website, and having little chance to manage and mantain them all to the satisfaction of most of their clients.

What you should expect to happen
Bear in mind how much attention a web designer should commit to making sure that the website represents your business and meets your objectives.

It will also need to be designed to look and behave correctly on all screen sizes and devices, with optimised images and code to ensure that the website loads quickly... especially on mobile... and includes all of the ingredients needed to be effective in search engine results.

Saving money often feels good in the short term, but corners cut on quality, service and attention to detail tend to bug you for much longer. Therefore if I’m building a website and feel that some tweaks are needs to make something look or work better, I’ll do it.

If those tweaks take 2 minutes, 2 hours or 2 days, I'll do it!

My objective would be to make your website the best it can be, without unnecessarily adding to your costs. The cheapest web designers won’t do that. But at least you have the choice to use them if you want to.

Remember... PRICE is what you PAY, but VALUE is what you GET!