A Website of your own lifts your horizons. The limit is your imagination.

Savings in costs and convenience
Promotion
Support your existing clients
Expand your customer base
Reach new markets
Access up to date information
Improve your communication
Improve your image

Savings In Costs
You will undoubtedly find savings in costs and convenience over traditional methods, especially in communications.

• Email:
  Cheaper than a letter. Cheaper than a fax. Often cheaper than a phone call. Save costs and send information world-wide to 100 people simultaneously for less than the cost of just one stamp.
• Promotion:
  A global window on your organisation, your products and your services at remarkably low cost, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Effectiveness:
  Update your catalogue or price list once on your website, and ALL your customers or sales force have access to the new information. Instantly. Reduce expensive mailings of catalogues, technical specifications and price lists. Why not have your customers get the information they need? At worst it only costs them a local phone call.
• Convenience:
  Send and receive messages without leaving your desk. Get replies in minutes. No more “engaged” tones, or “Sorry they’re out” stories. Make it easy and immediate for customers to request information. Send an order form or newsletter with each enquiry at virtually no additional cost.

Promotion

• Promote your business or organisation 24 hours every day.
• Advertise to a regional, national or even international audience
• Reinforce your brand.
• Get your name out there.
• Project your values.
• Build customer loyalty.
• Build relationships with customers as individual web users.

Support Your Existing Clients

• Strengthen customer loyalty by interactive communication.
• Generate additional business opportunities online.
• Project a pro-active, customer orientated image.
• Make technical product information and user product experiences marketing tools.
• Disseminate your product news or your achievements world-wide, instantly.

Expand Your Customer Base

• 56% of companies with online access use it to obtain information about companies and products.
• 47% use it for research.
• Enable new customers to find you simply by typing your name or product into a search engine.
• Provide a “Frequently Asked Questions” section to support new customers

Reach New Markets

• Find previously unreachable markets.
• 35% of Indian companies report increased enquiries and publicity from outside their traditional geographic markets via the web.
• You can conduct business on-line, take orders, and receive payments.
• You can even deliver digitized information like typing, artwork, music and video over the phone line.
• Do away with the delay. Get the orders from website visitors

Access Up-to-date World-wide Information

• Source new suppliers yourself.
• See their product specifications and costs at your leisure.
• See what your competitors are doing.
• Research their latest news, their newest products.
• Survey the needs of your customers as individuals.
• In short, your web connection can help to stay ahead of the competition.

Improve Internal Communication

• You can improve the internal communications of large organisations via the Web.
• You can create non-public sections of information, so where better than your Website to store information for use by your staff, your dispersed sales force, or by management, and even shareholders.
• Could you benefit and build employee unity from a centralised, readily accessible source of information available to all your staff on: policies; procedures; news; internal career opportunities; training promotions, and so on.

Improve Your Image

• Above all, you will be seen as an up to date, technology aware, organisation.
• A Website will help to reinforce an image of your organisation as a leader in its field. Failing to do so simply reinforces the idea of a firm lacking in potential.
• Your Website says more about you (and to more people) than a boatload of glossy brochures.

The future is digital. — Be part of it.

The cost depends on the package of services you require. There could be several parts to the cost, sometimes provided by different people. Consequently, there are several charges that can arise.

To help you to make informed judgments about value for money, we produce a Project Agreement for you to consider.

This sets out a very clear specification of what we will undertake for the price we give, and you will find that unlike some companies, our price is fully inclusive.

To avoid having to pay the “extras” charged by some companies, you need to be sure that you are getting a full service when apparently bargain prices are given. Some companies attract businesses by quoting very low charges for services and only after you sign up do you find that you are asked to meet additional costs.

As with most things, you get what you pay for, and free lunches are hard to find.

We appreciate that you want some broad guideline costs even before you get a quotation for your particular project, so we have set out a rough idea of the sort of costs likely to be involved.

Please remember our policy of providing inclusive prices, so where we give a web design cost per “typical” page, it includes a very personal, bespoke service, and all the work involved, such as creating your page heading banner from your logo or other image. It also includes scanning the photographs for you, and image enhancement on all scanned items to give an image quality far better than just a scan. The price also includes putting the links in, uploading testing, basic training for you and so on. We have also set out what we mean when we say a “typical” page.

Apart from the cost of the time that you spend, the main Website elements that may have a cost are:

A Typical Page
Different Website design companies offer varying degrees of service, so comparisons are not always easy.

We offer a quality, made-to-measure, rather than a budget “off-the-peg” service, and one that passeswhat we call the “Oh Yes!” test. You will experience it when you ask the question “Does the price you gave me include …..”

Furthermore, the time needed for the work (and therefore the cost) depends a great deal on what you are having on your site. Original graphic artwork, or original video footage or music score will be more costly than a primarily text site.

For these reasons, we prefer to price specifically for your needs, but you need at least a very general idea of what is included in a “typical” page, and what that would cost.

By “typical” we mean any combination of or, if appropriate, all of the following:

1. All the advice and help you need to design and set up your website initially, including help to choose an ISP or webhost that meets your needs, together with an aftercare service second to none. We make it a worry-free experience for you.
   

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2. We provide an original header graphic based on your scanned logo or trademark and modified to suit, or we will design one from scratch if you don’t yet have one.
   

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3. Up to two additional custom scanned or stock images as appropriate per page.
   

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4. Headers, rules, bullet points and decorative features as appropriate according to design, and made specifically for your site.
   

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5. Buttons and image bars as appropriate made specifically for your site..
   

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6. Text that you provide on CD. We can handle most formats.
   

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7. Providing a background colour or colours or creating an original background graphic made specifically for your site if necessary.
   

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8. Sizing and enhancement of all graphics and photographs to suit the design.
   

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9. Tables to position features or tabulated data with up to 40 cells in total.
   

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10. Links to other sites or pages as appropriate.
    

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11. Content links and page navigation graphics on long pages.
    

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12. A text based navigation map at the foot of multipage sites.
    

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13. An image map or system of image maps as appropriate on very large sites.
    

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14. Email address and contact data supplied by you incorporated on each page if appropriate.
    

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15. A Local Domain name
    

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16. Testing of all links, both off and online.
    

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17. Uploading to your Webspace.
    

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18. Registering with all the main search engines.
    

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19. Up to 4 hours “get you going” training if you need it to setup and learn how to use email and how to surf the web and use search engines.
    

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20. Provide template pages for you to update information on your own website if you want to do it yourself.
    

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21. A security copy of your website on CD or floppy disk.
    

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22. Code that you can give to others so they can link to your site from theirs.
    

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23. Links from our websites to your own.
    

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24. Prominent listing in www.amitbindals.com – our own portal website.
    

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25. Minor alterations to the pages for three months after completion of the work.
    

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26. Your being delighted with the result.

• That’s what we call an inclusive service.

The sort of costs involved in designing and building a typical site as set out above are:

The sort of costs involved in designing and building a Designer site (Corporate Look

You already passed first base – you have become aware of the need. Perhaps you saw the www. names and the @ email addresses and wondered what they are all about, or you have been speaking with colleagues or competitors who have Websites, or read an article about how the web is going to change both society and business.

Either way, you want to find out more about getting your business or organisation on the Internet. OK,This is how we do it.

Forming initial ideas
Checking the details
The draft Project Agreement
Registering your domain name
The final stages
Post-sales support
Future developments

Forming Initial Ideas
One of the first issues you will need to consider, is what you want to achieve with your website, and whether you want to be able to sell directly from your web page and take money in real-time.

If you do, then see our section on e-commerce for more details about selling direct and taking money over the net.

Our Website Design Checklist raises a number of issues that you will want to consider, like what you want the website to do for you, how big you expect it to be, and so on.

You will probably want to talk to your friends or colleagues about it. You might even want to check some points with us by phone or email, perhaps to get an idea how long it would take, and when we could start.

Having assembled your initial thoughts, you will be able to complete the Website Design Checklist, then send it back to us.

Remember, there is absolutely no commitment to engage us at this stage.

Checking The Details
When we receive your completed Checklist, we will then arrange to discuss your site with you. Depending on your location, this can be in person, by phone, or by email.

This is where we go through your decisions and preferences from the Website Design Checklist, agree the number of pages, how they link to each other, and so on.

We also make sure that we both understand what you want from your site, and decide some of the more technical matters – like checking what domain names are available; the initial site layout; and what the best file structure will be for the future.

The Draft Project Agreement
At the end of this process we will be able to prepare a written project plan setting out all the points we have agreed, and advising you of the likely the cost of the work. Two copies of this will be sent to you, and if you want us to undertake the design, you are asked to sign and return them.

You will be asked to enclose a cheque/cash for 50% of the total project cost at this stage, and to begin to send us the text you want to use on each page, or at least a draft what you want to say, (preferably on a CD), together with any other materials that you want included (photographs etc.).

We will sign and return your copy of the agreement. Returning the signed project agreement and part payment to us signifies your decision to engage us, and when you receive your copy, the agreement forms the contract between us.

Registering Your Domain Name
The next stages are:

• To register your domain name
• To host the website.

Now we can begin work to build your website according to the Project Agreement.

When we have something prepared, you will be able to view the draft on screen. At this stage, we can incorporate minor design changes to suit your preference.

You can also begin to plan changes to existing stationery (letterheads, invoices, brochures etc.) to include your new email and www addresses

The Final Stages
In the final stages, your Website construction becomes completed, and is tested off-line. Then we upload the pages to your service provider/website host & test all the links to full working order.

You approve the final site, and provide the final payment

Post Sales Support
We troubleshoot any problems via telephone or email support for the next three months, and will check with you from time to time to see that everything is just as you would wish it.

During this time, any minor changes to your site, (perhaps a change of someone’s name, or phone number etc.) will be made without additional charge.

New pages, or more significant alterations will be charged at the rate shown on the current price list.

Future Developments
We are of course, always available to extend, or further develop the site, or to provide other services in the future.

Our aim is to exceed your expectations, and encourage you to suggest us to your colleagues and friends when they are considering having a website made.

There are lots of reasons why you should at least consider having a website, and a few of them are set out below to spark ideas for you. Mostly they provide a more cost-effective way of communicating, and widen your horizons to a global community

To Use Email
To generate awareness
To improve communication
To receive information
To improve competitive advantage

To Use Email 
Most people get connected to be able to send and receive Email. With email you can send an electronic note or letter to someone at 9.00 am and get a reply by 9.30 the same day.

Sending an email takes only seconds.

You can send the same email letter to say, 100 customers, for less than the cost of one ordinary letter, and if you send it at after 6 p.m. or at weekends, that one letter will cost no more than 5p (with BT). Daytime rates for email are the same as a minimum rate local phone call, but you can send to hundreds of addresses for the same cost as the one.

The cost is no different if you want to send an email to Australia, America, Amsterdam or Accrington. It costs next to nothing.

Not only that, but you can send software programmes, sound files, photographs and even video files with the email at the same speed.

To Generate Awareness
The next most important reason is probably that a website of your own will promote your organisation 24 hours every day, seven days each week, and to the whole world.

Nothing else offers this flexibility.

If your business relies on the acquisition or distribution of information, you can’t afford not to be online.

Your customers can have a current parts list or delivery schedule or price list for your goods or services at any time, just by looking up the relevant page on your website. Just imagine, one price list alteration and the whole world can see it, instantly. No reprinting and distribution of expensive catalogues.

To Improve Communication 
Some of the larger businesses use a website to keep employees such as sales representatives around the country, or even around the world in touch with head office.

As teleworking grows, this is likely to become increasingly important.

To Receive Information 
You might also want to get connected so that you can receive information from the Internet.

Using a Web browser programme, finding new suppliers, comparing prices, and getting product specifications are all quite easy.

You can even plan your train journeys from an interactive Railtrack website that asks you to type where you are gong from and to, and what time you want to leave or arrive.

It then provides a list of train times and connections for the journey that you can print and take with you.

It is as up to date as to-day.

To Improve Competitive Advantage 
One of the reasons that small businesses go online is that a well designed website for even a one man business can have just the same presence on the web as a multi-national corporation.

Communication, marketing and printing costs are lower too, as is the cost of using full colour.

Larger businesses see it as a way to reinforce not only their brand (which is becoming increasingly important), but also as a way to reinforce an image of leadership and potential.

All businesses see it as the key to keeping ahead of the competition.

There are other reasons, too numerous to go into here. Don’t think the web is not for you, it is the future.

It will change society, it will change our entertainment, and the way we do business.

It will also reshape our town centres as financial organisations, brokers, agencies and other businesses first merge, then abandon their overhead-laden town centre shops, and opt for access to a bigger market with lower overheads direct and live on-line.

As someone said of the web,
“In the coming days, Web is going to be the best way of communication, as what is a phone today”.

A web page is a “screenful” of information. It can be physically many times the length of a A4 sheet of paper, or only a few lines.

Different lengths of page are used for different purposes and in different circumstances. When we speak of a web page in terms of design, we generally consider it to be on average, one screen wide and, typically, about half a paper A4 page or a bit longer.

Pages can have coloured backgrounds, or textures, so it is possible to carry themes through a multi-page site by the use of colour. Care needs to be taken however, because not all viewers will have the latest high tech equipment capable of seeing more than 216 colours, and in some circumstances, it will be necessary to limit the number of colours to avoid confusion for users. This sort of quality experience and attention to detail is our hallmark.

Pages serve different purposes. For example, on a small multi-page website, the first page is likely to be a sort of summary, contents or menu page, from which other pages may be accessed.

If it is a huge site, there may be cascading layers of contents pages, or an “image map” of the site on each of the pages, to make navigation around the site easier. A popular vogue at the moment is a coloured panel on the left or top of the screen to locate the sitemap and navigational controls, as on this page.

Some pages will be mostly information, and therefore biased toward text. Others will be a mixture of text and photographs or computer graphics, perhaps even animated, and some pages could be mostly images.

Usually, pages would have “banner” perhaps incorporating the logo of the organisation at, or toward, the top of the page, and contact details at the foot.

Page Furniture

Page furniture can improve the layout of your web pages. Decorative features such as bullet points or attractive section divider lines may be used as appropriate for emphasis, or to make it easy for viewers to find what they want.

Most website pages have interactive links that allow users to move from page to page (and even from site to site if you wish) without wasting time having to go through multiple layers of menus like teletext.

Where required, a response form can be created in a page. This is useful where you want to collectinformation from your visitors in a standard format.

A Website is space on a computer where anyone who subscribes can say “This is me, this is what I do, or what I am interested in, what I know, or what I can sell you”. An electronic brochure and source of information available to the whole world 24 hours a day.

Within the website, each screenful of information is called a page. Pages may contain text, or graphic images, or even photographs, sound and video.

A main feature are the “links” embedded within a page that can be clicked with a computer mouse and which transport viewers to other pages. To continue with the brochure analogy, you would normally open a brochure at the front or the back and browse forwards or backwards a page at a time. With a website, the user decides the order they want to see the pages in by clicking the links that interest them.

This interactivity generates a sense of ownership and participation in the user, binding them to the information much more tightly than a traditional brochure.

To maximize this benefit, it really needs someone with an understanding of interactive programming to get the best out of creating the electronic pages and links that build the website.

What sort of websites are there?

There are many sorts of Websites, ranging from a single page “This is us” offering, through to mammoth Websites like the Indian Railway site which has several thousand pages full of information about reservation, train timings, schedule, and so on, together with links to all the government departments and agencies.

Websites may be provided by individuals (in which case they are usually called homepages), special interest groups, such as “The Association of Widget Collectors”, educational establishments like universities, or science and research centre, Governments, voluntary organisations, individual retailers, banks and businesses, manufacturers and importers, news, media and financial organisations and multinational corporations. Although the size of the organisations may differ, each has the same opportunity and scope.

A small businesses can have the same presence and create the same image as a multinational. Each chooses the style and content of its own pages.