Frequently Asked Questions
I need a website, what should I do?
Review our services page which gives details of what we can do for you and how to contact us to initiate getting your website built.
How much does it cost?
Depends on your requirements; if they can be met using our economy service then you can be up and running for just the price of your domain name and a low monthly subscription fee from £12pcm (ex VAT). See the prices page for more details.
How do I sell things from my website?
If you need to sell goods off your site then we will set you up with an E-Commerce site. We require a 12 month commitment from you but do not charge any set up fees. (NOTE: if you require changes to the standard layout of the E-Commerce style then we will need to charge additional fees, agreed in advance, depending on the amount of work that is involved).
I want to run E-Commerce. How do I take credit card payments?
You will need to have an account with a merchant such as Worldpay or Paypal. We can advise on setting up an account if required and can set up your website to interact with the provider of your choice.
I have an idea for an Internet venture, what should I do?
Use the contact form to describe your idea. We will give you a confidential and free assessment of your idea without obligation on your part.
How long does It take before I am up and running?
We promise to set up your account within 24 hours of you contacting us. Once your account is set up, you can request registration of a domain name. Providing you have deposited sufficient funds to pay for the registration (see prices page for details), and the domain name you requested has not already been taken then it normally takes less than 12 hours for us to register the name and have it available for use on our server.
Regarding the actual building of the site, we aim to get you up and running as soon as possible. If you provide us with all the information we require then we would aim to have you up and running within 72 hours (depending on our workload, hopefully less). NOTE: We expect you to answer any questions we have promptly (these will be sent using the ticket system.See the Website Design and Construction section for more information).
If I put my email address on a webpage will i start receiving lots of Spam?
It is very easy to write a program to trawl the Internet to extract email addresses (this sort of program is sometime referred to as a 'Spambot'). These email addresses can then be used to target the holder with a welter of SPAM junk mail.
To keep the amount of spam you receive to a minimum, we hide your email address on the page in an encrypted format making it virtually impossible for a passing program to extract your address but, at the same time, still allow genuine visitors to send you inquiries.
Do I need a Secure Certificate?
A secure certificate is issued by a company such as Thawte or Verisign (amongst others). These companies act as 'honest brokers' and certify you are who you say you are. If it is necessary to communicate secure information between your site and your visitors then you may well need a secure certificate. NOTE: If you merely want to accept payments of your page then you DO NOT usually need a certificate as when it is time to pay control is passed to the site of your merchant service provider(e.g. Paypal, Worldpay etc) who will have their own certificate. Control is passed back to your site once payment is completed (or cancelled).
How do I get search engines to show my site?
All pages we create are designed to be 'Search Engine friendly'. We have no control over when (or even if) your site will show in the free listings on Search Engines. For this reason we recommend using a service such as Adwords to stimulate immediate quantifiable interest in your site.
Can I use the SBS service as a bureau?
Yes. The only caveate is if you suddenly generate a lot of business then, depending on the resources we have available, we may not be able to turn it round within our usual timescales.
What do i do if i have a technical problem?
If you sign in using the control panel then you can report a problem using the Ticket system. If you cannot gain access to the control panel for whatever reason then email us at [email link]
Can I link two or more domain names to the same site?
Yes. You will need to pay for each domain name separately.
Can I add extra bits to my site at a later date?
All our sites are designed to allow additional features to be added later. Just contact us (using the ticket system) when you want to add new features. If the feature you want is not covered by our ECONOMY service then we will always agree a price with you before commencing work.
How Do I get a logo or graphic designed?
This depends on the quality of logo you need. If your requirements are quite simple then we will be able to create a graphic for you. If you require 'artist quality' graphics then you can commission a local artist to create them for you.
NOTE: If you have artistic ability yourself then you can create your own graphics using any of a number of packages. The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open-source, feature rich application which can be used for creating graphics and manipulating pictures.
- Gimp home page (opens in new browser window)
I have a question which isn't on this FAQ page so what should I do?
Use the contact form. We will do our best to answer your question and if relevant may add it to this page.
How do I receive mail sent to an address on my website?
It is easy to set up an account in outlook or we offer a webmail facility which allows you secure access to your mail wherever you are in the world.
Can I send and receive SMS messages (txt messages)
We have the facilities to process and send SMS messages to and from your clients. There is a small charge for each message that is sent or received.
Client Account
How do I register a domain name?
- Use the domain name lookup form (below) to see if the name you want is available.
- Open an account by using the Join page
- Check the price on the prices page and ensure you have at least this amount available in your account.
- Sign on to your control panel and create a ticket saying "Please register domain name www.yourdomain.com". NOTE: unless you tell us otherwise, we will register the name using the contact details we have for you on file
Alternatively, use the contact us page and we will be happy to assist
How do I tell if a domain name is available?
How do I stop Spam?
Spam is used as a generic term for unsolicited 'junk' mail usually sent indiscriminately to many email addresses simultaneously. The term comes from the famous Monty Python sketch, Spam with everything.
As an SBS client, we do everything we can to keep the amount of spam rubbish you receive to an absolute minimum:
- We will only set you up 'named' mailboxes. Many spam issuers guess at mailbox names (e.g. enquiries@yoursite.com, support@yoursite.com etc), having only named boxes (i.e. no 'catchall' mailbox) minimises the chance of them hitting on a correct address.
- Most sites like to have an email link on their page to invite inquiries from genuine clients. This leads the way open to spam as addresses can be harvested by 'spambots' off the page. We encrypt such links. Here is an example (Click to email me). Try viewing the source of this page ('view' > 'Source') you won't find the address in the page source so it cannot be detected by spambots.
- Mail arriving through our mailservers is screened using the Spamassassin software package. So rubbish that does get through can be easily identified as such (we cannot not deliver it to you - the software is pretty impressive and uses artificial intelligence to learn as it goes, but does occasionally get it wrong).
