Infrastructure

We use the word “infrastructure” to describe the essential nuts and bolts of operating online.

Firstly, you’ll need a domain name for a professional online presence and to set up a professional email address. How often have you seen a local business with a professional web address but a Gmail/Outlook/Yahoo email address? It’s so easy to set up an email address @yourdomainname.co.uk and there’s no additional cost (we include up to 50 email addresses in our hosting package).

We can register a domain name on your behalf, but we encourage clients to register their own domain name. We don’t make any charge to show you how, you’ll save money and, most importantly, you will have full control of this important asset. Expect to pay between £10 and £20 per annum, depending on the type of domain (e.g. .com or .co.uk etc), although it’s often possible to pay just £1 for the first year of ownership. Certain domain extensions can cost considerably more, so it’s worth bearing in mind the ongoing costs when deciding on your domain name.

Next, you will require web hosting. This is a server, stored in a secure data centre, which is permanently connected to the internet. It’s this which enables people to find you online.

Web hosting comes in all shapes and sizes. For the majority of small and medium businesses, what’s known as a “shared hosting environment” is all you need. Only if you’re going to be operating an exceptionally data-hungry website (e.g. multiple video streams) should you need to consider dedicated hosting. Dedicated hosting means that you’ve got the server to yourself, but it comes with a hefty price tag and is superfluous for most businesses.

We supply web hosting to most of our clients, but the decision is yours and you are welcome to have your website hosted wherever you like.

Our web hosting costs £120 per annum and includes everything you are likely to need:

• webspace
• database
• content management system
• SSL
• FTP access
• up to 50 email addresses (including webmail access)