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Bad advice!
The purpose of this page is to give our response of some of the incorrect advice you may have heard.
Host your website on our in-house web-server so we get full control and we aren't dependent on some third party we don't know.
A web-server is the computer where your website is stored.
Our preferred web-hosting solution is to outsource the job to experts. It is they who ensure everything keeps working with technicians on-site 24x365. They lease us servers in their data centres. These servers are dedicated to our customers.
In contrast we have competitors who boast of their own in-house server.
Where would you prefer your site to be hosted?
- On a computer under the desk in a relatively insecure office, reliant on the normal mains for power and a broadband internet connection. Reliant for support on a single local technician (who presumably doesn't take holidays!).
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A tier 1 service provider, a member of the London Internet Exchange with high security duplicate data centres, 24x365 support by on-site technicians, daily backups, diverse mains power supplies (supplemented by short term battery backup before switching to in-house generators) and diverse internet feeds separately routed onto the high security data centres and peering with different providers.
I should add that the cost of both options is about the same, the large companies have the advantage of highly automated systems and economies of scale.
Host your website free - use the space your broadband or dial-up service provider gives you.
Commercial webspace is not expensive, it comes with service level commitments and a raft of useful tools on the webserver which a competent designer may need to use.
"Free" web space may become unavailable for days at a time, pages may be slow to load, support is unresponsive (or on a premium rate phone line), you may get advertising inserted in your pages by the provider and you probably can't use your own domain name (would you rather be known as www.acme-enterprises.co.uk or www.acme.bargain-hosting.co.uk ?). If you read the providers terms and conditions they often state that the "free" webspace is for non-commercial use.
Our advice is if you have some "free" webspace, use it to make an online photo album to share with your family and friends.
You don't need to pay a web designer it's easy to do it yourself
It's a bit like saying "don't buy a book, here's a biro and a pile of paper, write your own". One of the reasons why we set up Website Rescue is to "pick up the pieces" of failed DIY projects.
Similarly "I know this bright young lad who can build you a website for pocket money" - OK, fine, give it a try, but make sure you remember the name Website-Rescue.co.uk, you'll need us.
You must/must not use Flash
Pure Flash sites are a mistake but using Flash elements in a conventional web page can offer a cost effective way to deliver some desirable effects.
You must use a CMS (Content Management System) so you can make your own updates
All CMS provides will say "easy to use" - they are, for those prepared to learn how and if you are prepared to compromise on functionality and be constrained to a standard "look and feel". Our approach is to provide REALLY simple tools to update those parts you expect to need to change on a regular basis. For more complicated updates best pass the task on to an expert who can do it quickly and correctly.
Your website must look the same on an Apple iPhone as on a PC
Rubbish. iPhone represents only a tiny percentage of Internet usage and most of that is through dedicated applications for email, social networking or other Smartphone applications like a SatNav program. A conventional web site must primarily serve its biggest audience. If Smartphones are an important target market for you, you should commission a separate mobile app or web site with content tailored to that technology and userbase. A good example is http://www.barclays.mobi/, that is designed for a small screen for navigation by touch and giving access to information most useful to people on the move like "find a branch/ATM", "what's my balance", "How many pounds do I get for 100 US dollars" - it does work on a standard PC too but Barclay's main "standard" website provides vastly more depth of information. Also rather than just address iPhone you should design for use on a wide range of Smartphones including Android which, at time of writing, is overtaking iPhone sales.
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