Quirky

Whippet

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

How Do Websites Work?

For you website to work you will need a few different things in place. We can help you get it all set up though for some of it you will need to use a dedicated provider.


You will need:

  1. Domain Name
  2. Website Hosting
  3. Email Hosting
  4. The website itself

We can provide all of this except the purchase of the domain name itself. Read on to find out more about each of these…

Your domain name is the website address that people will use to find your site. for example, QuirkyWhippet.co.uk is the domain name that led you here.

You can purchase a domain name from a number of providers such as 123-reg.co.uk.

Your Domain Name provider is where you can change your ‘DNS’ (Domain Name Server) settings. This is basically the settings that tell the internet where to look to find your site.

 

We are happy to take care of all of this for you but we always advise that YOU purchase your own domain name regardless of who is hosting your site.

We recommend 123Reg – click the banner at the bottom of the page to find out more.

A website host is where your website is ‘stored’. When someone types your domain name (eg: quirkywhippet.co.uk) the DNS settings will then point to your website host. If you have a website with Quirky Whippet we include the cost of hosting for you as part of our maintenance package.

A good host will include extra security, firewall, regular back-ups and, of course, plenty of ‘space’ for your website data to be stored in so it can be accessed online.

Just as your website takes up space and needs to be stored somewhere digitally, so too do your emails.

You may already have an email hosting package in place and that’s great. We can integrate your email with you website if required.

We also offer email hosting as an optional extra for a very small monthly fee. (from just £1/month)

The website itself. You know what this bit is. This what people see when they visit your domain.

This is the bit that you know you need but without the domain name and the hosting nobody would be able to access the site.

Quirky Whippet will create and build the site you want and can show you how to add to and edit the site yourself if you wish to do so.

What Do I Need To Provide?

We will give you a form to complete with all the information we need and will gladly walk you through it and help you if there’s anything you’re not sure of.

The main things we would like (but we can work around not having them in some situations) are…

  1. Copy (written content for the site)
  2. Images
  3. Brand guidelines
  4. Logo
  5. Access to some accounts or API codes
  6. A privacy waiver or agreement

We are NOT copywriters. We ask that you provide the written words you want on your site. We are happy to discuss with you what would be worth including on your site and can share some templates and guideline on how to create your copy but the words on the site are down to you.

 

We may be able to refer you to someone else for copywriting if that’s something you are looking for. Good copy on a website can make a huge difference for your audience.

 

Sometimes our clients deliver great copy to us in a very plain format and we pick out key phrases and elements to present in a more visually appealing way. Other times they send it to us broken down with titles, quotes, sections and everything as they want it laid out. We can be flexible on either approach though the latter will, of course, be faster.

Websites don’t need to be full of images (Unless it’s a photography website – then it really should be.) but they do generally work better with images to space out the text and break things up.

 

We can provide some stock photos and icons that complement your site but it’s always best to capture you and your brand with your own images.

Often we will create a site layout and design with space for inserting images of you choice so don’t worry if you’re not sure where to start we can cover this with you too.

Ultimately the more you can provide us with at the start and the more idea clear you are on what you want on which page the sooner we can create the site that you want.

Don’t worry if the term ‘Brand Guidelines’ is a little off putting. Some clients present us with a full document with all their brand guidelines. Others don’t even have a logo yet and just tell us what colours they like. We can work either way but, of course, the more specific you are the easier it will be to create what you are looking for.

If you don’t really know about all this stuff but do already have a logo or other designs we can work from them to create a colour palette for you or discuss it together before we being.

In order to set up some of the integration (eg: linking your site with your email system) we will need some codes referred to as APIs.

If you’re not very techie this could be a little confusing and we don’t want you to waste your time messing about with it so we can do it for you.

 

You should NEVER share your passwords with anyone. We use Lastpass as a simple solution that will allow you to give us access without needing to share your actual password with us and you can remover our access at anytime.

Having a Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy in place is essential these days but it can also be expensive to get it set up. We have a simple and affordable solution that we can offer you for a small additional cost.

 

However, it’s your website and we are just here to offer support and create what YOU ask us to.

 

 

If you wish to provide your own privacy agreement and/or choose not to have one on your site, that’s up to you. We will just ask you to sign a waver to agree that you take responsibility for it.

 

We can also discuss solutions for cookies etc as required.

(NOTE: we are not legal experts and can’t offer legal advice – we can just refer you to our partners who are experts).

Looking for a domain name?

We use 123Reg and are pleased to recommend them too. Click the image to find out more.