Answers to the nine most common questions asked by clients who are planning their web presence:
What constitutes a small website - and how much does one cost?
For purposes of pricing a site, we refer to a small site as a collection of eight or fewer pages. The main pages could consist of Home, Overview, About Us, Contact Us, and a premium content page. Supporting pages might be a copyright, privacy, terms of use, and form success pages. The small site would have an interactive navigation bar (mouse rollovers), and the Home page would be static with images. The cost for a small website is $1,499.00. Additional charges borne by the client would include annual fees from the Hosting Company for hosting and providing email. This site is an example of a small website.
How long is a page?
A page should scroll no more than two to three times the height of the browser window. Many visitors won't scroll down a page, and information "below the fold" or out of view when first loaded may never be seen. A page should also not be weighted down with content that is slow to load over a phone connection.
How do I find a place to put my website?
If your webpage is a personal page, you may want to consider using space provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Many ISPs also provide tools for you to maintain your site. If your site is a business site, you should consider utilizing the services of a company that specializes in hosting sites. They are extremely dependable, offer a suite of options that can be customized to your needs, and are very affordable. We are happy to assist you with choosing the right hosting company...and which options you should choose.
I already have a website - can you just add to it?
Most likely, there are considerable differences between the pages you already have and the site you desire. Generally, it's quicker for us to create your new site from scratch than it is to rewrite code from your old site.
How do I obtain my own web-name (i.e., my_name.com)?
A business domain name is often in the form of www.MyName.com The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages and coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS). They ensure that every address is valid, and they oversee the distribution of Domain Names (and associated IP Addresses). We are happy to assist you in choosing your Domain Name - and getting it registered with ICANN.
I own my own digital camera, can I send you digital images?
In a word, yes. However, we will most likely edit the images in order to obtain the best color balance and to speed the process of loading in browsers. We will compress the images to reduce the number of colors and/or pixels per inch to reduce the files size of the images. This process can greatly increase the speed with which your pages load - which is important in order to keep people from "clicking off."
How much would it cost to add a Shopping Cart to my site?
Depending upon your requirements, shopping cart programs vary from free to very expensive. We'll be happy to assess your needs and then make recommendations of e-commerce vendors who best suit your needs.
Once my site is created on the Internet, why would I need to update it?
In order to encourage return visitors, your website must be updated from time to time. In addition, old pages fall out of the search engine databases - in order to ensure that your site shows up in search engine results, it must be updated from time to time.
How do the search engines find my site?
The Internet now supports millions of websites, and each search engine has its own rules for how it collects data about your site. To make matters more confusing, these rules change often. As sites are created and submitted to search engines, the engines will either index the site immediately...or it could take up to several months depending upon the waiting list. If you wait for the search engines to find you, you'll be missing out on potential hits. So, we will submit your site to the search engines at no additional charge.