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Design Process
Question: Do all your projects go through a formal process?
Answer: Yes. Every website we design goes through a specialized process to
determine exactly how you want your site, and how to make your site as
effective, attractive, and user friendly as possible.
Question: What role does the client play in the development process?
Answer: We strive to become a virtual department of your business. This
enables us to work together in the design, development, and deployment
process, and prevent misunderstandings that can cost you thousands of
dollars.
Question: How will you provide constant communication to me on the status
of my project throughout development?
As soon as you choose us as your design firm, we will add a
password-protected section to our web site (Status Page) that will enable
you to follow the daily progress of your website, and, while your site is in
the development stage, view your site at its current state (updated daily).
Question: Do I own the code used to create my website?
As soon as we receive your final payment for design, all files on the server
are your property. We keep any and all files that were used in the
development of your site, and are not needed for the final site. If you need
these files we can negotiate special terms for those files.
Question: Will I be able to make changes to my site myself?
Answer: Absolutely. This is discussed before the design process begins. If
you would like to update your site by yourself, we will design your site to
work with the appropriate software. We prefer side-by-side updating, in
which we and the client work together to keep the web site updated.
Note: On e-commerce shopping cart pages and other types of application
driven web pages, standard content management programs cannot be used. In
those situations the appropriate application will be used to provide an
interface for editing content.
Question: What happens after I decide I want you to build my website?
Answer: We will send you a work contract, typically by email. This contract
will include your down payment amount and due date, payment schedule, and
dates that information needed in the development are due. You may also view
your contract on your Status Page.
Question: Do you keep track of costs during development?
Answer: Yes. After each day of work we update your status page with your
sites’ projected cost (the estimated cost), current value, percentage of
projected cost used, and percentage of projected cost remaining. Example:
Question: How long will it take to develop my site?
Answer: That is dependent on a variety of variables. If your site is a very
simple site, it may take less than a month. For more complex sites, the
development time may take months.
Question: Will I be required to provide materials based on a schedule you
provide for me?
Answer: Yes. Your contract and Status Page will contain the dates that
certain materials are needed. If you are unable to make a deadline your site
may take longer to develop. You will not be charged for down time. We will
work on another aspect of your site, or work on a different project. As soon
as the needed information is received we will continue on your web site.
Question: Will I be able to ask questions and comment on the site before,
during, and after my site is designed?
Answer: Yes. There will be contact information on your Status Page and a
form for submitting any questions or comments.
The Price Tag
Question: How much will my website cost?
Answer: That varies entirely on the type of site that you want. A simple
site will cost only a few hundred dollars, while a large site can run into
the thousands. Our goal is to keep everyone involved in the design process
debt-free. That is why we charge a down payment before your site development
starts. This enables us to register your domain(s) and open a hosting
account at the appropriate time. If you are unable to pay the remaining cost
of your site in one payment we can make a payment schedule for you. To
further cut costs, we can place advertising on your site, with proceeds from
the advertising going to your design costs. After all design costs are paid,
we can either send all proceeds directly to you, or use the proceeds to
further cut your hosting, domain registration, and maintenance costs.
Question: What are the other costs associated with my web site?
Answer: We charge for maintenance by the hour, with the option for a flat
rate after two months. Our hosting and domain registration costs are
strangely low. You may choose to personally update your site if you wish. If
you find that you do not have enough time to update your site by yourself,
we can take care of some or all of the updating. We generally prefer
side-by-side updating, where we both update your site. You can reduce
maintenance costs by updating frequently updated portions of your site,
while we handle the larger, more complex updates, and whatever you don’t
have the time to do.
We STRONGELY recommend that you determine an advertising budget for your
site. You can personally handle the advertising, or we can handle all
advertising, following guidelines set by you.
Question: What is the payment plan you offer for websites?
Answer: We work with you to develop a payment plan that will not negatively
affect your business.
Question: How can I be assured I won’t be hit with hidden charges?
Answer: We state in the contract what exactly your money will be paying for.
If we incur any other costs, you will be notified of the exact amount and
what it is for.
Web Page Development
Question: What web page development software do you use?
Answer: We use every available piece of software that we can get our hands
on that will help us design the best web sites at the lowest possible price.
Question: Is your code optimized using open standards?
Answer: Yes. During development we test our sites to comply with all
accessibility guidelines.
Question: In what browsers do you design and test your sites to view
correctly?
Answer: We test our sites using all major browsers and operating systems to
ensure compatibility.
Question: Do you build your websites to be search engine friendly?
Answer: Yes. We use programming that search engines are able to understand.
This includes utilizing keywords, descriptions, and simply using text. We
can also prevent search engines from indexing certain pages, it they contain
private information.
Question: Are you able to provide Flash animation?
Yes. We can design virtually any animation you would like using flash.
Question: Are you able to integrate streaming audio and video into your
websites?
Answer: Yes. We can integrate media players into your site, use an external
player, utilize multiple formats, and more. Visit our portfolio for
examples.
Question: What other digital mediums are you proficient in?
Answer: We can provide you with pay per click ads, email marketing
campaigns, banner ad development and management, search engine optimization
and submission, and web site consultation.
Hosting
Question: Do you provide hosting? Is it in-house or do you outsource to
another company, and if so, why them?
Answer: Our default host is Lunarpages. Lunarpages offers industry leading
infrastructure built with the best equipment, including: Dell, Sun and Cisco
Network Devices. All the equipment is located in a state of the art
datacenter, located in Los Angeles, California, and provides the highest
level of security, safety, redundancy, reliability, scalability and
technology. Lunarpages’ BGP4 routed gigabit fiber network is multi-homed
with over 150 carriers, such as, Mzima Networks, Level3, NTT/Verio, Global
Crossing, Genuity, SBC, Microsoft/MSN, AOL/TimeWarner, Japan Telecom,
Hurricane Electric and Savvis. Lunarpages has also implemented their
proprietary Active Response Protocol. Their Active Response Protocol not
only monitors the system for attacks and outages, but it continuously
benchmarks the system for web, ftp, and email performance - 24 hours a day,
365 days a year - and their expert staff addresses the issue before it is a
problem. Lunarpages’ protocols and infrastructure ensures that your web site
stays on line! We do offer other hosts, if needed.
Question: Do I have to pay for hosting or will you?
Answer: This is for you to decide. Before determining your estimate we
decide who will pay for hosting. If you decide that we will pay for hosting,
the hosting cost will be included in your estimate. We highly recommend that
you have us pay for the hosting, so we can ensure that your account is paid
for on time.
Question: Does your hosting offer a control panel to allow me to manage
all my web services?
Answer: Yes. Not only is a control panel supplied, but many other features
are included also. Click Here to view basic features.
Question: Can you handle my domain name registration or transfer? Do you
charge extra for this?
Answer: Under the basic plan, we can register or transfer one domain for you
for free. All other domains are extra.
Question: Do I own the domain name used for my site?
Answer: Yes. We will register your domain with you as the owner.
Marketing
Question: Will you help me advertise my website?
Answer: This is up to you. If you decide to have us advertise your website
we will utilize a variety of methods of getting your message out to target
audiences. We will also offer you tips on how to advertise your site at your
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