Website Design FAQ
The overall time to design and build your site will be determined by the complexity and size of the site, our current workload with other clients, and most importantly, YOUR turnaround time when asked for decisions, feedback, and content. If you have a deadline in mind please let us know immediately – before we give our proposal – and we will do everything we can to accommodate you. However – please remember that the most common delay we encounter while designing and building a site – is waiting for you – so you’ll have to move as quickly as we do.
No. In fact, in most cases, we build your site using a Content Management System and then train you to update the site yourself! But if you wish to have someone else update your site, that’s also your option. Once we’re done and your site is launched, it is owned by YOU and you may do as you wish.
A Domain Name is the address that is associated with your website – such as “www.wiltwyck.com”. It is basically a “pointer” that directs people to the files that make up your website.
Hosting is the act of storing the files that make up your website on a “server” that is connected to the internet – so that other people can view your site from anywhere in the world – simply by typing in your domain name, or clicking a link to your site.
We handle all of this for you. We will help you choose a domain name, register it, and point it to your hosting server – and we will set that server up for you. We then, of course, provide you with the userid and password – because it’s your site – not ours. But basically, you don’t have to do ANYTHING.
Please Note: if you do NOT yet have a domain name, please contact us and let that be one of the first things we help you do. Your domain name is the single most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a search engine friendly website!
A Content Management System (CMS) is a tool we use to build your site, which then allows YOU to easily update the site and write in your blog – keeping your site dynamic and fresh, and keeping your costs down in the long run. We provide training for all CMS sites we build. Some major modifications will still require a professional website designer, but most updates will be easy enough that if you have the skills needed to send an email or create a document in a word-processor (such as Microsoft Word) – you have what it takes to update your site once we’ve built it.
Generally, no. If you insist – we will – but we can do most things using other tools and methods, and we strongly advise against the use of Flash. Websites built using Flash are more costly to build, more costly to update, do NOT work on certain platforms (such as iPad) and RARELY get very good search engine results. Talk to us about what you really want to accomplish, and let’s see if we can build you a flash-less website that gets the job done. We bet we can.
We have a specific design methodology that we use, but to sum it all up it goes like this:
- we talk (face to face or over phone) to discuss your business, your goals, your target markets, and your needs for the website
- we give a proposal, which we hope you won’t be able to refuse
- we “mock up” a design and deliver to you a couple images that show you what the homepage and one or two other pages will look like
- once we have a mock-up you like – we get to work building what we call the “skeleton” for the site. The “infrastructure” if you will.
- at the same time, we perform the necessary Search Engine Optimization research and analysis so that we can build your site to be Search Engine Friendly from the start.
- we present you with the working “skeleton” with fake photos and text – to show you how the website will look and function. This will be a “back-and-forth” process until we get it exactly as you want it
- we assist you with creating content, and put it into your website
- we launch the site, and train you on how to update it.
That’s a simplified version of course – but that’s basically how it works.
We like to answer this with another question: “How much does a house cost?”. No, your website will NOT cost as much as a house – the point is that the price of both houses and websites vary depending on exactly what your needs and wants are. Our target market is not the guy that wants the mansion on the beach – nor is it the guy that wants the lean-to in the woods that he built himself. We design sites that are in the middle of the road as far as costs – but set you apart and make you look like you spent more. Give us an opportunity to give you a FREE analysis of your specific needs, and provide you with a fixed-price proposal.
First – you reap the rewards of increased business. Then, as you need updates, you either rely on your well written user manual that we provided at the time of the site launch, or you contact us and we make the changes you need.
We also provide services on a regular basis such as ghost-writing your blog or social media updates, and even offer maintenance packages if you know you’re going to be updating your site quite often (monthly or more, perhaps), and would like to save some money in the process. Basically – we’re here for you if and when you need us.
