FAQs

by | Oct 7, 2014

You may have some questions

There are usually some questions you have or things you want to know of before beginning the project. Hopefully many can be answered here.

THE REQUEST

How soon will I be contacted after I submit this request?

You will be contacted as soon as I can. Trust me, your valued business is what I thrive on. It’s usually within a couple of days. And in the chance I’m really busy, I’ll be get back to you within a week – I promise!

GETTING STARTED

I'm finally ready for a website, how do i get started?

So, you’re not sure how to get the ball rolling, so to speak? No worries, I’ll be more than happy to get you on the right track. We will have an initial consultation and I will help you target your goals. I will listen to your needs, your likes and dislikes, and come up with some sort of game plan.

If you really have no ideas, I can throw out some of my favorite ideas and designs, and try to get you thinking and inspired. Remember, I want to guarantee your complete satisfaction.

HOW LONG?

How long will it take for the website to be built?

This can vary depending on many factors. On average, a small 5 page basic site can take as little as a week or two. On the other hand, a large 10-page site built with an e-commerce store with a large inventory of products could take a month or two.

Some other questions you may want to ask: Would the client like to get some mockups designed to go over first? Are there any specific Content Management platforms desired like WordPress to be built? If there’s e-commerce does the online store have many products to sell and needs a dedicated store manager? Are there a lot of pages with heavy content? Will the site need to be setup and monitored for traffic reports like Google Analytics? All this will be discussed once the project is defined at the beginning.

Payments I accept are through Venmo, Zelle, Paypal or a personal check written out to my business.

WEBSITE COST

How much will a website cost? And what type of payment methods do you provide?

A typical simple website, of maybe 5-10 pages may cost between $900-$2000. All this greatly depends on a content management system, e-commerce, gallery sideshows, database.

DESIGN COST

How much for design work? Do you want a banner or a logo?

I usually charge a flat rate. This can run from $100-$500. All this depends on how many art works the client wants, is this for print and or web?

BRANDING

Do you do consulting on branding for a company, and can you define it?

Yes I do. I work very closely and do extensive research and provide close communication throughout the process to best help the company reach their goals.

DOMAIN ADDRESS

How do I get my own web address (aka URL or domain name)?

Getting your own website address (also known as a URL or domain name) is easy! You could even get one for free. Just contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider). They usually offer one through your service provider and can host your site too.

Also, many email and online companies offer them as well, like Yahoo. But, I don’t recommend this. They tend to give you a long and hard to remember domain name — that doesn’t look professional.

So with this said, I’d fork out the small amount to get your own personalized one. I can help you through this or you can do it on your own. Just contact a company or get a referral. I have a few companies I use, that offer very competitive prices. Just make out a wish list of names you want and run it by them. You can even do a search online to see if one is taken.

HOSTING

What is hosting and how do i get a host for my website?

Your ISP can sometimes setup your hosting. You can also contact companies eg., Godaddy, Bluenote. It’s not too difficult to set-up, but a bit more involved than getting a domain name. If you like, I can help you through this. I have a few companies I use, that offer very competitive prices.

As far as rates, it can be anywhere from $7 to $15 a month. If you need heavy security and firewall, or want your own server, the price can go up from here.

PRODUCTS

If I want to sell products how is this done on a website, and what do I need?

First, figure out how many products you have and how you will sell them (shipping deliverables or downloadable). Gather all pricing, shipping, details you have and will be displayed on the store.

Next what type of e-commerce solution do you want. Many cost money and are subscription-based, while some are free but can take time to setup. If you have WordPress (WooCommerce is a popular free plugin which I have a lot of experience and can set up for you.

Once you decide you will need to get a merchant account with a bank to receieve transactions. With this setup you will then need to secure your site for the transactions to take place. You need to contact your host or a third party to get an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which secures your site.

And finally, it’s time to figure out what Payment Gateway to use to accept payments. The most popular is PayPal. A couple other popular choices are other ones are Authorize.net and Stripe. If you want a customizable solution, this can be a bit costly. Through Paypal, it’s very secure, but only offers buttons.

FLASH

What is your opinion on having Flash?

Flash is “out the door”! Many devices including the iPhone, do not support it. Plus many effects you can do with programming these days.

SEO SUPPORT

Can you provide help with SEO (search engine optimization)?

Yes I definitely do. It’s so important to the business of your website and for people to find you. I code the site to be optimized and help the client with “keywords” for search engines to properly place you.

MAINTENANCE

Once my website is live, do you provide and maintenance?

Great question! First off, for my lucky and loyal client, i provide 30 days of unlimited updates (simple: image and content changes or updates.). Once the time is up, I can provide a payment plan, either an hourly or flat rate whichever one the client wants.