A Client asks …..

A client asks me “can you do …..?”

The usual answer is “yes”, which is why in the past few weeks I have:

  • Relocated a hotel website hosting (1 hr downtime)
  • Built a new hotel management system, live and taking bookings
  • Redesigned all the bar/restaurant menus, all printed ready for 17th May
  • Created a sandwich bar online store, launching in 2 weeks
  • Built an online gig ticket facility, launching this weekend
  • Built three other ‘shop window’ sites
  • Maintained other online stores, festival & ‘shop window’ sites
  • Building a training package for an online store

If you need a web presence, with full backend support, contact me, my rates are very reasonable.

Hosting costs

This is a rough guide to the cost of using me for your website/email hosting needs.

The standard first year cost for a domain, hosting, business email, security certificate is £160 for twelve months. This does not include any labour but does include basic maintenance and security support.

But:

  • the client will supply all text, photos and graphics for the site and should be able to give me an idea of how they want it to look in order for the site to be built. 
  • If I am required to conduct research, source images or create supporting text then that is chargeable.
  • The less I have to do the quicker the site is active!
  • Standard hosting is shared, this is appropriate for low traffic sites. If however a dedicated hosting server is required (necessary for e-commerce) then this may have additional costs

Having said the above, each client is different and a hosting/support package is tailored to each client’s requirements.

None of the above constitutes a contract or should be implied to be contractual terms.

Security certificates

It’s becoming more important for websites to have a security certificate – the padlock symbol shows when there’s a certificate – in order to help visitors confirm that you’re a genuine site.
In the past certificates were only required for sites that handled sales, but that situation has changed and most browsers will now advise website visitors that the site (they are visiting) is not secure, regardless of the site’s purpose or ownership, if no certificate is installed.
Time to put my own hand up here, I finally sorted out a certificate for this site https://paulturvey.co.uk this morning but that also (in my case) meant moving the website between suppliers.
For new sites that I manage adding a certificate is an option at setup time that adds a modest fee to the total charge for hosting. If you already have hosting it’s down to the hosting provider how much that will cost (which was one reason for my relocation 🙂)

Lockdown 3!

A reminder that I can build and support online shopping for businesses in the Harwich area for a very sensible price. If you operate a business and want to continue trading under the new #lockdown3 regs then I may be able to help.

The regs:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/949536/NationalLockdownGuidance.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1xcXCdKzzTPtCBckk-6UjRJsAVtBcZFDJn-gh-LE4A-7BlTCPUVx6wcAk

 

Contact me

New Year, New Approach?

As 2020 draws to an end (at the time of writing!) there’s a foreboding of what lies ahead as well as thanks that the global annus horiblis is almost gone.

Several businesses have had to radically redefine their customer facing services. Home delivery might be normal for some sectors, but who would ever have thought that pubs would have to go down this route?

So, are you looking at a new venture or making serious changes to your existing business? If a web interface is needed, contact me for a no obligation discussion. I can provide:

Publicity
Promotion
Shop window
Online sales
Mailing lists
Special Offers
Staff training & support

I can deliver a website for a three month project or all year around, for events/festivals or community groups. Just ask!

Shop Local!

A Harwich company came to me a few days ago and asked for an online shop, with the stipulation that it was available ASAP! It launches in a few days, watch out for it

The owner had a particular set of requirements:

☑️ Restricted to CO12
☑️ Major cards accepted
☑️ Cash on delivery
☑️ Large range of products
☑️ Easy to navigate
☑️ Simple backend
☑️ Emphasis on local!
If you have a bespoke/unique online need then talk to me about options. You may be surprised at the price!

Security

A part of my civil service career meant having a heightened sense of security, both physical and non-physical. It didn’t mean going around checking doors were locked (although I may have done that a few times) but I started looking at potential security pitfalls and how to help prevent them.

In my current position, I can apply that ethos to any project as a Value Added Service – some security advice comes with a price tag, much doesn’t.

On the internet it’s impossible to personally monitor social media accounts and web resources 24/365, even though the threat is ever present. I have assisted friends who have had accounts hijacked, normally only one person is severely inconvenienced. Corporate accounts are different, a reputation can be destroyed by a third party gaining unauthorised access or by a wayward employee/volunteer/

The usual single point of failure is a weak password, or re-used passwords, associated with one email address. The most common passwords on the planet right now are “Password”, “Password1” & “Password123”, if you use these anywhere CHANGE THEM!

Use of two-factor authentication (2FA) will help mitigate password weakness but shouldn’t be used to cover up poor password security. 2FA is now offered by many major platforms including Gmail and Ebay and can use your mobile phone to confirm you, and you alone, are connecting to the relevant web service. This can prevent rogue login attempts but it is often difficult to explain the benefit to an individual who only sees it an an incumberence.

How common are online attacks? I manage many websites but ensure a suitable security package is installed as part of the initial rollout. I built a site a week ago that has already attracted the attention of attackers; the security software pulls down the shutters and tells me, if possible, where on the planet the attacker is located. My home server has a preinstalled admin username of ‘root’ and this was being hit several thousand times a month. One website I manage suffered a Denial of Service attack following an onslaught over several days, users were seeing ‘site unavailable’ messages, I was seeing a hundred security advice emails per hour! And then there’s the huge data losses, including AOL, Linkedin and several hotel chains. There is an industry in stolen online credentials!

Having said that, the biggest single mitigation against online threats is common sense. Often a strong password is the ‘best’ solution.

Contact me if you’d like any advice.

 

About me …

I’ve been involved with IT since the 1980s and it’s fair to say somewhere in my history I’ve handled just about every IT issue! However, with 40 years experience, I have also heard many wild claims involving virtual snake oil. If you have an IT need but haven’t the time or skills to do it yourself, talk to me. There’s no commitment until you’re ready to move the project forward. I can provide short term or long term support and may have solutions that are not readily apparent.

The services I can provide include website management/building/hosting, social media integration & training, media promotion, photography, system maintenance and upgrades, advice, training and much more. For details see my services page.

One specialisation is taking a new project and assisting with the design from the bottom up.