Frequently-Asked Questions
Contents
Our Work
- What is your current rate? How does the billing process work, and how do I see results?
We charge $75 per hour for our work, which is quoted and billed by the number of hours it will take us to complete the project. The work is separated into 3 ordered phases: Content, design, marketing.
- Content deals with HTML structure and the content that fills it;
- Design, which includes both the static design and dynamic elements;
- and Marketing, which includes submitting to search engines, local search, directories, yellow pages, and much, much more. We advertise using avenues that provide free constant traffic, and can work with an advertising budget.
Typical projects work like this:
- We review your current web site and give you a questionnaire to fill out, then we create a quote. The pricing is grouped by the number of phases, showing you the number of hours required to complete each phase.
- If you sign off to have the work done, we will immediately bill for the first phase of the work. We'll take pictures of your business if it can be displayed on the site, and any marketing material you have there to aid us in the creation of content, and to help the web site fit any current theme you have. We'll finish the first phase of the project, and go over it with you and answer any questions you may have. We'll collect the money for the next phase, finish it and go over it with you, and so on until the project is complete.
- I have a great looking web site, but I can't find my site in the search engines. I want to keep the same look or possibly touch it up a little, and get better results.
- If your site is built entirely with Flash, you may not be easily found on the search engines. We can make a new template for your site that draws from the graphics and style from your current site. The new template will be optimized for search engines, and combined with quality content, will rank well with search engines, once indexed.
- What's your turnaround time for a web site?
- We can usually get small business web sites completed within two weeks or less.
- What kind of information do you need from your client to begin work on a site?
- A basic questionnaire form that includes the basics (business name, owner information, address, business hours, phone and fax lines, web site domain names, public email addresses) and some not-so-basic information (certifications, affiliations, mission statement, questions frequently asked by your customers, methods of payment you accept, etc.).
- Any relevant corporate promotional material;
- Pictures of your business; I'll ask for the basics, such as company name and address, names of the owner or owners, contact numbers, domain names, and so on.
- If using equipment, what brand names of equipment do you use/sell the most?
- Are you a member of any professional organizations? If so, which ones?
- What are your hours of operation?
- What payment methods do you accept?
- What is your company motto or mission statement?
- How long have you been in business?
- How many active customers do you have?
I also like to take pictures of the owner of the business, and any people who directly associate with customers. This builds trust in your visitors, as they can associate a web site with actual people.
Here are other questions I like to ask before getting started:
In short, I'm getting as much data as I can about your business, to answer questions any visitor to your site may have about you.
- Why should I choose you? I can hire my nephew who has Dreeamweaver/ FrontPage/Expression and Photoshop, he will do it for $100.
You'll find a lot of people on Craigslist who will do web site work for you for $100. You'll find even more people who want the work done for $50. For that price, you're not going to get a site that looks professional and isn't a template. The content won't be researched to get the most traffic from people searching for you and your services.
In short, you get what you pay for.
- My web host said they can get me in the first page of results in a month or less. Why can't you?
When we redesign an existing web site, there's a good chance the existing traffic will convert better than it did before. In this case you will see immediate results. If you're looking for immediate results, then yes, you may get immediate results.
If you're expecting to be king of the search engines for your given keyword terms within a month, forget it. It can take a minimum of a month to see improvements to search engine rankings. It's worse with new domains -- Google and other search engines "sandbox" the web site, watching to make sure you're not a fly-by-night, link farm, fraud or spam site. Once they're sure the intent of your site is legitimate, you will be added to the search engine result pages.
There are some ways of speeding up the process, which generally involve marketing the web site to reputable sources, and some stuff I'm not telling you unless you want to pay for my services. =]
- I'm not sure if I'll be happy with your work.
You will be happy with our work. We make your web site look slick by redesigning it, and entice and convert customers with well-written copy. You will get more business from your web site than ever before. Just ask Dr. Darryl Werner, from Orange County Wound & Hyperbaric:
"Since rebuilding our website, we're getting more new patients finding and contacting us through the internet than we've have ever had before in the history of our practice."
We're not done with his site. We constantly research new avenues of traffic, and market all of our sites constantly. You can't sit on your laurels and just expect the traffic to come from nowhere. He will see constant growth from his web site.
- How do you bill for your time?
- I bill by milestone developments. I collect payment beforehand for a section of work. Most of the time, this is approximately a third of the total bill. I complete that work, and then we review what is done. I then collect the next portion of the payment, and work continues. This process continues until the web site is completed.
Our Methods
- What makes your code better?
We use web standards - XHTML and CSS. Your web site will work in all browsers.
The HTML code-to-content ratio is very low. Search engines will get what they want - lots of content, with very little extra cruft; it is simple to make updates, and new page designs can easily be added. In addition, your pages load faster because there is less to transfer from the server to the end-user's browser. HTML code changes with each page, while most static elements such as CSS stylesheets do not and are cached, so they are only loaded once.
The HTML code handles the data that is to be displayed, and the CSS code handles all of the presentation. The separation of data and presentation makes it easier to maintain both sets of code, and allows for site variations such as a mobile version of your site, built using a separate CSS stylesheet.
Your web site will last years. Freshening and updating the content is easy for us to do.
- Do your web sites work in older browsers like IE6?
Yes, but they look even better with newer browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. We practice "progressive enhancement", where users of newer, better browsers get a better experience, but the site is accessible to everyone -- even screen readers for the handicapped.
Sometimes I think web retailers and web developers have forgotten that the blind, deaf and colorblind buy stuff online too.
I like to use the features in new browsers (like CSS3, and possibly webkit animations) that can support them. My designs shine in new browsers but still function in older browsers.
- Describe your design work.
We build simple, elegant, visually attractive sites that are pleasing and enjoyable to view, drawing new visitors in as well as keeping existing visitors engaged.
I like simple and concise. I guess I would consider myself a minimalist. I start by building the content for the site and end by building the design on top of the existing HTML.
- My old web design company designed the look of the site first. You're doing it backwards.
- Yes, it's the exact opposite of how many shops design their web sites. Why would I waste time designing a web site for a client, without knowing exactly what is going on the site? The content matters the most so that's the first item that goes up.
- What does your design have to do with getting visitors to sign up or buy from my site?
- My sites have clear navigation, with guided paths to direct visitors to take action, such as sign up for a newsletter, or complete a sale, all without being pushy or overpowering.
- Do you use templates?
- /Your web site is unique for you - we do NOT use templates. Cookie cutter web sites are a dime a dozen. My clients deserve better. Since you pay for the design, you own it.
- My son plays with Photoshop in his spare time, and he knows a thing or two about design, so he's going to want you to add some lens flares to the site. He said you should change the main font to "Comic Sans".
Leave your site in our experts' hands and we can make your web site work for you. Doing things like adding design elements just because you can, isn't going to make your web site sell better.
Ultimately we can service almost any request, but since you're already paying for our expertise, I will be sure to let you know if I agree with a change and why, especially if it affects your bottom line.
- Do you offer content writing services?
- We ask that you provide content for your web site. If not, I can write content for your site, researching terms people would use on search engines to find you.
I hope that answers most questions. If you would like to ask a question, or use our services, please contact us.