FAQs

FAQs: Common Questions

How much does the service cost?

Please visit our prices page where the costs are clearly outlined.

Can I have a .com or .net address?

We can only register a .co.uk, .ltd.uk, .me.uk, net.uk, org.uk, plc.uk domain name for you. You can register as many domain names as you like through us and each domain name will cost you £19.99 for a 2 year period. If you set up your website with us we will include one domain name for you at no charge other than what you pay for the service.

If you want to use a domain name that you already own or one that we cannot register then contact us as this is straightforward. You can use a .com address that you already own with your website.

I have a general question about this service. Who can I talk to?

If you need help setting up your website or have any questions about how you can market your website then please contact us. We will do our best to help you and we have experts with a great deal of experience in web design and internet marketing that will be happy to help.

I want to learn more about web design, internet marketing and doing business on the Internet. Can you help me?

Yes! We run events across the UK so please register your interest by emailing us and we will get in touch when we have one in your area.

Can you show me some example websites that are built using this system?

Yes! You are actually looking at one now. View more sites here.

FAQs: I'm Not Sure

I'm not interested in selling anything online. Why should I bother with a website?

Not all websites offer products or services for sale. A website is a great way of just telling people about your business and how they can contact you. Whilst some businesses have made a fortune doing business online others benefit from just having a website so that when people are researching a particular product or services you don't get left out.

How do I keep my site up to date and make changes?

You simply login to your control panel and use the administration interface to make changes. You can add new sections, change the design or make little changes. The control panel is also packed with marketing tools so you can see your website analytics, view leads generated through any web forms, send marketing emails using our bulk email sender and read a series of guides that we have produced to help you get more from your website. You can update your site for free and from any computer, whenever you like.

What if I am not happy?

There is no contract so if you want to stop using the service you simply stop paying for it. We hope you don't but you can stop using the service whenever you wish.

If you are not happy please contact us and we will do our best to listen to your issue to see what we can do to help.

How long does it take to set up a website?

To set up your website yourself should take about 20 minutes. Perhaps a little longer if you spend more time writing quality content for each page. If you don't want to set up your website yourself and you want us to design it for you then from you giving us an instruction you are probably looking at between one and two weeks until the site is live. Some of this will depend on you though as we need you to approve bits of the site before we mark the job as complete.

Please note that setting up a new domain name can take up to 48 hours until it is fully registered. Until then you can view your website using a temporary address.

Do I need any technical knowledge?

You don't need to know anything about computers, code or anything like that. It's really straightforward and we have a website wizard that will guide you through the process. Once your website is set up you can update your site for free and from any computer, whenever you like.

FAQs: Creating Your Website

What is a website address?

A website address is the unique location of your website on the internet. This is also often referred to as a domain name. The website address is unique to you.

How do I pick a web address?

Your website address is unique to your business and cannot be changed. You can set up additional addresses if you like but it is important to get this right from the outset. Try to include your company name or brand and shorter names are easier to remember but often the very short domain names will have already been registered.

If you are a local firm it is often worth adding your location into your website address; for example a florist in Bristol may want to register themselves as www.bristolflowers.co.uk. Not only does this show people where you are based but it can also help people find your website in Google. It is worth thinking about your long term plans as well as if you plan to be a national firm then you may not want to restrict your business through the choice of domain name.

Can I have more than one web address?

Yes. You can have as many as you like.

At the moment we can only register a .co.uk, .ltd.uk, .me.uk, net.uk, org.uk, plc.uk domain name for you. You can register as many domain names as you like through us and each domain name will cost you £19.99 for a 2 year period. If you set up your website with us then we will include a domain name for you at no charge other than what you pay for the service.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements as it can be a bad idea to have lots of domain names as not only will this incur an ongoing expensive for your business but it can sometimes damage your ability to rank well within search engine results pages.

I'm not a business. Can I still use your service?

Yes. Anyone can use our services to set up and maintain their website. We have sports clubs, charities, social clubs and local towns that all use our service to manage their websites.

I'm not based in the UK. Can I still use your service?

Yes. Anyone can use our services to set up and maintain their website.

Can I have a .com or .net website address?

Yes. Although at the moment we can only register a .co.uk, .ltd.uk, .me.uk, net.uk, org.uk, plc.uk domain name for you.

If you want to use a domain name that you already own or one that we cannot register then contact us as this is straightforward.

What if my preferred website address unavailable?

Sometimes the website address (or domain name) that you want will not be available as someone else will have registered it. If this happens for you then try different word combinations, add your geographic location or thinking about using '-' to separate the words in your preferred website address. It is difficult as many of the shorter addresses have already been registered, however it is often better if your domain name is not too long.

FAQs: Managing Your Website

Do I own my website?

Yes! Every aspect of your website is yours. You are only paying us to provide the hosting and the tool that lets you make changes and market your website. If we have designed your website then it is still yours as you have paid us for our services.

If you register a domain name through our service your web address will be your sole property, legally owned under the details you enter during the sign-up process.

How will my website address be registered?

Your website address ("domain name") is registered by us with Nominet. Nominet keep a record of address ownership (in the same fashion as the DVLA and UK car registrations). Your chosen address will be legally owned and controlled under the name and details entered during the sign-up process. We are simply acting as an agent with Nominet on your behalf.

Am I responsible for the content of my website?

As the sole owner of your website, you are entirely responsible for the accuracy and legality of the content upon it. Please refer to our terms and conditions for more details on what you can not include within your website.

How much does it cost to maintain my website?

Please visit our prices page where the costs are clearly outlined.

What if I am not happy?

There is no contract so if you want to stop using the service you simply stop paying for it. We hope you don't but you can stop using the service whenever you wish.

If you are not happy please contact us and we will do our best to listen to your issue to see what we can do to help.

Will my site appear in Google?

Yes. As we aim to help you with your internet marketing as well as your website we take Search Engine Optimisation very seriously. We will help you get your site indexed as quickly as possible and then optimise pages on your website for the individual phrases that you would to appear against. Whilst we cannot make any guarantees we will do our best to help you. We can also help you set up Pay Per Click campaigns to get traffic from Google and the other major search engines.

I have another question, who can I speak to?

What if I want a more advanced website?

We have produced a series of guides to help you get more from your website. Find these within your control panel and also here. We will also be putting on a number of events across the UK so please register your interest here and we will get in touch when we have one in your area.

We do also offer a bespoke solution to larger firms and have internet marketers and web designers that can help with pretty much anything, if you think that you may be more suited to our bespoke solution then please get in touch and we will be happy to discuss your requirements in full.

FAQs: Technical Questions

How do I point a domain name that I already own to my new website?

You have a couple of options here. If you are unsure which is best for you then please contact us as we can advise and help ensure that this update happens smoothly.

Option 1: Change the agent who controls your domain name on your behalf (only for UK domain names)

This is our suggested option if your existing domain name is a UK domain name (.co.uk, .ltd.uk, .me.uk, net.uk, org.uk, plc.uk).

To take up this option you need to contact the company who registered the domain name for you originally and ask them to change the TAG to “SMARTERWEB”. This will allow us to administer the domain name on your behalf by acting as your registrar.

Please contact us before you instruct your current registrar so that we can help ensure the process happens smoothly.

Note that some registrars will charge you an administration fee to change the TAG and after we become your registrar you will then pay us to renew your domain name when your current registration period comes to an end. We charge £19.99 for 2 years to register or renew UK domain names.

Option 2: Change the Name Server that your existing domain name looks at (only for non UK domain names)

You can use our Name Servers if you have an existing domain name but first you need to contact us to tell us so that we can set up the correct records.

After contacting us ask the company that controls your domain name to point the domain name at:

ns.rackspace.com

ns2.rackspace.com

You can often do this yourself if your domain registrar has an online facility where you login to make changes.

Option 3: Domain name pointing

Domain name pointing will also let you point an existing domain name to your new website, however you will not be able to use the email account and email marketing options as we will not be able to connect you to our email server.

To use domain name pointing ask the company that controls your domain to point it at our IP address. Don’t worry if this sounds a bit technical as they will understand exactly what you are asking.

What is meta data?

Meta data is information that the people looking at your website won't really see but search engines will record the information and you can also use meta data to help create lists of pages within your site.

Search engines: title, descriptions and keywords

Title tags. These are displayed in the browser title bar and in Google as the top of the search result. They should be 60 characters long and be unique for every page within your website.

Description tags. This is displayed under the title in the search results and should be 250 characters long. Like the title this should be unique and reflect both the search phrase that you are trying to target as well as the page content.

Keyword tags. Although ignored by Google we suggest you still list a number of keywords for each page within your site as some other search engines will still look at this list.

Can I have an email account using my domain name?

Yes. For example if your new website is www.yourcompanyname.co.uk and you want to set up yourname@yourcompanyname.co.uk it is easy to set up.

We give you up to 5 email addresses as part of the service and each mailbox can be up to 50 MB in size. If you want more then that’s no problem at all but there is a charge. For every additional mailbox that you require we charge £2 a month.

To set up email you login to the control panel, navigate to the settings section and then set up email accounts. Within this section are the details that you need to connect to your email server but if you get stuck just contact us and we will talk you through any issue that you may be experiencing.

How can I update my contact details?

Login to your control panel and you will see a settings section where you can update your details. There is also a users section where you can set up other users to securely edit your webs pages. This is often required by larger firms who have more than one person who needs to update their website.

What is an SSL certificate?

A SSL certificate allows a website to securely collect data from a visitor by encrypting the data that is passed between the browser and the server. You will most most familiar with them from online banking from the padlock that you will see in your browser when you login.

We collect data from you when you sign up and login using a SSL certificate but if you want one for your individual website then there is a charge for this from the people that issue the certificates. Charges for a certificate vary but they start at around £200 per year. We also make a charge subject to your individual requirements. Please note that you should not collect any bank or payment details on your website unless you have a SSL certificate.

If you are unsure then get in touch with us and we can advise the best solution for your business objectives.

What if I have another question related to my web address?

Please contact us and we will do our best to help.