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FAQ's
- Do I really need to hire a web design professional?
- What is a domain name?
- Can you setup my domain name registration?
- What is web hosting?
- What is a URL?
- Can I choose isiteweb to design my site and use a different web-hosting provider?
- What does a web designer typically charge?
- How much will it cost to design my web site?
- Do you offer any discounts?
- What is included in the price?
- What is your payment plan for web site design and development?
- How many changes can I make to the drafts?
- Can I view my web site design as it is in progress?
- Can I make changes after I approve the design?
- Once the site is complete, can I make changes or updates to it myself?
- Who owns the completed Web site?
- Why should I hire a professional copywriter or can I do it myself?
- How long will it take for my site to be professionally built?
- What kind of guarantee do you offer?
- What are my options for e-commerce?
- What is the difference between a “static” and a “dynamic” site?
- What is CMS, or a content management system?
- What is SEO, or search engine optimization?
- What are keywords?
- What are Meta Tags?
- How do I get my website listed on search engines, like Google?
- How do I get more traffic from search engines?
Do I really need to hire a web design professional?
Absolutely, and here’s why. 1) Web design is a unique design medium
that demands in-depth knowledge of the Internet. Since all of the
search engines change algorithms and indexing methods constantly, the
optimization of each page for the search engines requires continuous
education. In addition, marketing and promoting an online site online
is a long-term process that could take you away from other more
important things. In the long run, hiring a web design professional
will save you both time and money. 2) The advent of do-it-yourself HTML
software has made it relatively simple for anyone to create a
functional web site. This is not a good thing. It does, however,
explain why there are so many badly designed web sites out there. (A
paintbrush does not make the person holding it a Van Gogh.) If you hire
an amateur to do your site, chances are you will get an amateur-looking
site. Your website won’t have the same professional look as your other
marketing pieces, leaving a not-so-positive first impression.
Additionally, your site could be cumbersome for web site visitors to
navigate and the pages might take too long to load, causing people to
leave your website without contacting you.
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What is a domain name?
A domain name is your web site's unique address on the Internet. For
example, ours is "isiteweb.com". Every site must have a domain name,
and it can only be used by one person/company at a time. (For
example, no one else can use "isiteweb.com".) Click here to check if
the domain name you want to use is available. All registered
domain names are managed by one international organization called ICANN
(pronounced "I can"). ICANN stands for the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers. The tasks of ICANN include managing the
assignment of domain names and IP addresses.
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Can you setup my domain name registration?
Yes. Isiteweb handles that service free of charge as part of your new website development
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What is web hosting?
Web hosting is your presence on the Internet. It is where your unique
domain name directs traffic to, and where you store your web files,
allowing access to your site 24/7. Web hosts are companies that provide
space on a server they own for use by their clients, typically in a
data center.
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What is a URL?
URL stands for universal resource locator. It is your web address as it
is typed in to access your web page on the Internet. For example, the
URL for our home page is http://www.isiteweb.com
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Can I choose isiteweb to design my site and use a different web-hosting provider?
Yes. We can utilize any hosting provider as long as the company
has the required functionalities or server structure needed to complete
your website development.
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What does a web designer typically charge?
Most web designers will estimate their cost at between $60 and $125 per
hour. The proposal you receive will be a "guess-timate" at best, and
you will probably end up paying more at the end of your design project
than first proposed. At isiteweb, we don’t estimate jobs on an hourly
basis. Instead, we quote all of our projects at a package price. This
allows you to know in advance exactly what your project will cost you.
After your site has gone live, all maintenance will be billed at our
current hourly rate.
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How much will it cost to design my web site?
Your site cost will depend on a number of factors, including:
- the number of pages on the site
- the types and number of graphic images on the site
- how much programming is required
- whether you’re writing the site
- if online sales are needed, and if so, for how many products
- whether the site is dynamic or static
Based on all these factors, isiteweb will be glad to put together
a project estimate once we understand the scope of the job.
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Do you offer any discounts?
Yes. We discount our services for schools and non-profit organizations.
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What is included in the price?
Our price includes the web design layout, all image optimization
(for fast loading of graphic content), the transfer of your pages to
your web host server, setting up your email accounts, and much more. Of
course, many other options are also available depending on the extent
of your project. We will detail everything completely in your final
package price.
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What is your payment plan for web site design and development?
For smaller projects we require a 50% deposit before starting. Final
payment with all adjustments is due net 15 days after completion and
receipt of the final bill. Larger projects require 1/3rd down at the
start of project, and another 1/3rd due three quarters through the
project. Final payment with all adjustments is due Net 15 days after
completion.
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How many changes can I make to the drafts?
We'll make as many changes as necessary to the design until it meets
with your approval. We do ask for a signoff on the design before adding
text and content to the pages.
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Can I view my web site design as it is in progress?
Yes. We can put your web site pages in a directory on our web server so you can view the final product before it goes live.
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Can I make changes after I approve the design?
Yes. However, changes performed after you have approved the approved design will be charged at our current hourly rate.
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Once the site is complete, can I make changes or updates to it myself?
For static sites the answer is yes. However, you’ll need to invest in
web publishing software and learn how to use it. You’ll also need to
learn how to transfer files to and from the web. We recommend using
Macromedia Contribute. Contribute allows you to make text changes to
your Web site at your convenience, while maintaining site standards for
style, layout, and code.
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Who owns the completed Web site?
Once we receive your final payment, you will have 100% ownership of
your web site. You will also own your domain name. Other web
design firms keep themselves as the owner and administrator of a
completed site’s domain name.
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Why should I hire a professional copywriter can I do it myself?
Your web site copy is your salesperson. It is the most persuasive
element of your site. Words trigger our emotions, and are the defining
factor in most of our decisions (especially our buying decisions). A
professional copywriter understands how to blend emotion with what your
target customer wants to hear about the advantages of doing business
with you. If written properly, copy is what reaches your customers on a
personal level and convinces them to trust you.In addition, if search
engine positioning is important to you, the selection of effective
keywords and the balance of keyword saturation in your copy are
absolutely vital to your site’s success.
So the answer is yes. If you feel you are able to accomplish the things
listed above, you can certainly write your own copy. However, we
strongly suggest enlisting the talents of a pro!
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How long will it take for my site to be professionally built?
The time frame is determined by the size of your web site, the
complexity of your site design, and our scheduled workload. If the copy (text)
for your site is written before the design process begins, it generally
takes 2 - 4 weeks for a static website of 8-20 pages. If you write the
copy, it should be submitted to us in electronic format, preferably MS
Word format. For your convenience, we do offer professional copywriting.
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What kind of guarantee do you offer?
We offer a money back guarantee on our design work. After viewing the
initial draft(s), if you are not satisfied with what we’ve done and
wish to discontinue work on the site, we will refund 100% of your
deposit.
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What are my options for e-commerce?
There are a number of ways to structure an e-commerce site. The first
is Pay Pal. This an inexpensive way to start taking payments quickly,
especially if you don't have a merchant account. With Pay Pal, your
visitors can pay you with a credit card or by sending a payment from
their checking account (echeck). Pay Pal provides a shopping cart
(which reduces development time) and many other free services
that are helpful to sites that are starting out. Pay Pal charges 2.9%
and an additional $.30 per transaction with no start-up fees. The
downside? Pay Pal is not a very customizable solution. However, many
mainstream sites are now accepting Pay Pal as more and more people
create Pay Pal accounts.
Finally, there is the option of creating a full e-commerce solution.
This involves many different components - a merchant account from a
bank, a payment gateway service that allows you to accept payments into
your merchant account from your website (this is often bundled with the
merchant account), a shopping cart or payment script that integrates
with your payment gateway, and certain requirements of the server environment like having an SSL certificate
and a static IP. There are some shopping carts that are available as
pre-packaged scripts
such as X-Cart. In addition, Os-Commerce that can be customized
for your site, or alternately, a custom payment script can be developed
that exactly matches your needs. While full e-commerce is much more
expensive and time-consuming to develop than Pay Pal or Mal's, it can
be integrated into your site for a truly seamless payment experience.
It can also save you money in the long run if you are doing a high
volume of sales.
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What is the difference between a “static” and a “dynamic” site?
-A static site is one that is written in HTML only. Each page is a
separate document and there is no database that it draws on.
Functionally this means that the only way to edit the site is to
manually edit the HTML for each page. You'd either have to make the
changes yourself using a webpage editor like Dreamweaver, or pay a web
designer to go in and edit the site each time you wanted something
changed.
-A dynamic site is written using more complex code and can do a lot
more. For instance, it allows you to log in and change various parts of
the site, i.e., adding information or products. This is because each
page is constructed based on the information in a database, and the
information in that database can be changed via another interface. If
you don’t want the hassle of changing a site yourself, or the expense
of hiring a webpage editor to work with the HTML, dynamic sitess can
reduce ongoing maintenance costs. They do usually cost more to develop,
as they require more complex coding and a content management system
(CMS) more needs to be developed to help you manage your website’s
information.
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What is CMS, or a content management system?
Click here to learn more.
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What is SEO, or search engine optimization?
Click here to learn more.
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What are keywords?
Keywords are words or phrases that might be used by visitors searching for information
on your site.
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What are Meta Tags?
Meta tags are information placed in a web page in order to communicate
with search engine spiders. Meta tags usually consist of meta title,
meta description and meta keywords. Typically metatags cannot be seen
by site visitors.
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How do I get my website listed on search engines, like Google?
Modern search engines are designed to find your site through links from
other sites. Google especially relies on incoming links to determine
your site’s popularity and relevance.
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How do I get more traffic from search engines?
There is no fast or easy way to grow traffic from search engine
positioning. To be really effective with search engine marketing, your
site needs to carry the right keywords and keyword phrases. If you want
to boost your traffic quickly, I would suggest checking out Google
AdWords or other paid advertisement options. (Search engine positioning
is a complex process and it does take time, but it can yield very good
results over the long term, without spending a dime.}
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