Frequently Asked Questions



DO I NEED A WEBSITE AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO HAVE ONE?

  • What can a website do for me?

    • The answer to this question is neither short nor easy. With a little research and thought you can find hundreds of reasons, but there are a few general statements that may help you realize your needs. First a website can reach millions of people that might not otherwise be available. Second, customers can view products, services, or whatever you want to share from the comfort of their own home. No matter what type of business you are in, their are ways to grow and make money on the web for you.

  • I don't think a website will do anything for me, am I right?

    • No, many people overlook the various products, services, or business processes they can include on a website. Any communication or interactions that happen within your business can be made easier and more effecient by the web. Your business will save money and time while appealing to a much greater audience, the world.

  • Why does it matter how it looks as long as it works?

    • When you recieve a visitor to your site, they will instantly percieve the quality of your services or products. The first impression a customer or potential customer gets depends on the appearance of your website. A visitor will be interested and explore your site if it is appealing and easy to navigate. You are marketing yourself and your business to the world over the Internet and it is important to show your best.

  • Does my business need a website?

    • Ask yourself, "Does my business need 24-hour exposure 7 days a week, 365 days a year?" The answer is obvious. What other media allows you to expose all the benefits of your small business to your target market at their convenience and provide a source of direct correspondence from them to you? The benefits of a website are innumerable.
      Over 50% of the population who are online from home or the office are doing so to research about businesses that provide services or products. Your service-oriented business can provide samples, references, location, hours of operation and more right away from your website.

  • I am out of state/country! Can you still design a website for me?

    • Yes. While it's always nice to work with a web design company you can meet face to face, it is not required. Many of our clients are nationwide (some are located outside USA) and we communicate with them easily via phone, email, and messaging (from project start to finish). Based on our experience, email is the most preferred method for communication by the customers.

  • Do I need to hire a "local" web site designer?

    • Stefig Design creates web sites for clients who are local as well as out of state and the country. By using the Internet, email and the telephone, it is possible to communicate effectively with clients in any location.

  • Will we need to have a meeting in connection with the website design?

    • In the majority of cases a meeting isn't necessary and most of our websites are generally completed with contact via email and telephone only. We place suggested website designs onto the Internet in a private place where only yourselves and us can view the content. We then liaise with you regularly to discuss the web designs in order that the website design and functionality is exactly as you wish. Using the latest technologies we also offer real time presentation and discussion. Via an open channel you will be able to see directly what happens on our screens and have option to make annotations, comments, etc.

  • Do I have to know anything about the Worldwide Web and HTML to have a web page?

    • No. In fact some of our clients do not have much knowledge of the web or HTML, however are aware of importance of having a web presence. While it is recommended that you at least have internet browsing capabilities to view and manage your website, it's not required. We offer assistance in every phase of development, support, monitoring and maintenance services once your website is live.

  • How long does it take to have a web site designed?

    • The time frame is determined by the size of your web site, the complexity of your site design, and our current client design schedule. The estimated completion of your website will also depend on client communications as well as website technologies being developed/implemented for your site. Our estimated completion dates are generally accurate however third-party content and material delay's can push estimated completion times to a later date. The timescale of a website design project is often dictated by the client. If you have a deadline in mind we will endeavour to meet it for you. The most common delay in the creation and completion of a new website is waiting for content (text/images) to be sent to us by the client.

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WEB SITE CONTENT

  • How many pages do I need?

    • This all depends on how much content you have. Every business website should have an 'About Us' page (or something similarly titled) to tell your visitors about your business, you should also have Contacts page. After that, it depends on what type of business you have. A good rule of thumb is to not overwhelm your audience with too much information on each page. Disperse the information and break it up into digestable pages and paragraphs. Long pages of text tend to overwhelm the reader. Break content up to truly get your audience's attention.

  • What Do I Put On My Site?

    • That would depend on the goals of your web site. If you run a business website you would include as much information about your products or services that your customers would need to purchase from you.

  • What is a protosite (mock-up)?

    • A "protosite" its just a preliminary drawing of your future website. It helps both you and us to establish the way your website will look. Elements such as page layout, colors, item position, navigation, etc. can be mocked up to speed the design process. If changes (colors, moving things around the page layout, adding columns, text, images, etc.) are needed they can be made before actual coding begins. Once you approve your protosite, we move forward and we will code the protosite you approve into your new website.

  • What is a website architecture?

    • It's something that will help us visualize all your website sections and also helps the development process. Being the owner, you will know what areas your website must cover and our web designers and developers will know exactly what pages are needed to build for each specific areas.

  • Why we need to define website architecture?

    • Building a website without the website architecture its like building a house without a blueprint. We need to write on paper your ideas with our knowledge and suggestions before we start coding. We'll then code as planned. Otherwise imagine how difficult it might be for an architect to add or remove columns to a house and how expensive it might also be for you to pay for materials and resources each time the architect add or remove a new column. When we keep things organized it helps the process to get it complete quickly.

  • What is a page layout?

    • Page layout is the geometry of a page. It will help us to define how many regions will appear and how they are visually organized.

  • Can you use my business's existing logo, brochure design, and other materials for my website?

    • Certainly. If your logo and promotional materials are not in electronic format, we can convert them to a format appropriate for your website. We can accept almost any type of file. If your materials are printed, we can scan and convert them to cd-rom. Our designers will help you establish your online image to be consistent with your existing image that your customers already know & remember.

  • I've made my decision - I want you to design my web site. Now what do I do?

  • What will you need from me to get the web design project started?

    • You may provide us with any ideas you may already have for your website including rough sketches, photographs, existing branding, and text. Please note that there is a list of formats and recommendations we will send you in order to provide the best possible quality results for your website. If you don't have anything to provide, we can offer professional stock imagery, logo, and copywriter services for you. Whatever your web design needs are, our web design team can help you every step of the way.

  • Do you use stock images where I cannot find my own?

    • Yes. We have a library of stock imagery that we can use throughout your design to depict your business. Our library is limited and specific image requests may require the purchase of a third-party image.

  • Why are Privacy Policies and Terms of Use important for a website?

    • People who visit your website deserve to know what you're doing or what you will do with the information you ask from them online. Respect that privilege and tell them why you're asking for some personal or business information on your website. Serious people do serious things. Terms of Use are the rules people should know to navigate your website. It usually contains information about price and/or content changes on your website, it must advise people that information on your website might change without having to inform all your visitors about those changes and that you're the owner so you set the rules.

  • What does website usability mean?

    • It means the ease with which users can perform the tasks associated with your web site. Think of it as the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system. When we're developing or creating a website, we try to keep things simple for your clients/prospects, if we keep it simple for them, then it will become a good website and it will invite people to contact you. Simple doesn't mean low quality, it means doing all that is possible to make it better and understandable.

  • Do you do Flash? How about drop-down menus or rollover images?

    • We do. Please check here for details.

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DOMAINS AND HOSTING

  • What is a URL?

    • It stands for "universal resource locator". This is the address typed in to view your web page on the Internet. For example, you would type in http://www.stefig.com to access our home page.

  • What is a domain name?

    • A domain name is a specific web site address that you choose and register with Network Solutions (the official registrar of domain names ending in .com, .edu, and .gov). Our domain name is "stefig.com".

  • What domain name should I choose?

    • This depends on how you are going to use it. If you are going to be telling people over the phone, choose one that is easy to say and spell out loud. Above all, I would choose one that is memorable and not confusing.

  • Can I choose you to design my site and use my own web hosting?

    • Yes, you can use any web host you like. Once your website has been completed you will have to provide us with your web hosting ftp login username as password so that we can upload your website for you.

  • What is web hosting?

    • Web hosting is a monthly fee that you pay to have your site accessible on the Internet. We can provide web hosting for our clients or can help you to choose a provider.

  • What is FTP?

    • FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a method of transferring files (web pages for example) from your local PC to your web server. There are a variety of free ftp software programs available on the Internet and they enable you to update your website pages at any given time. When a hosting package is purchased 'ftp details', consisting of the host name, User ID and password are sent to us. Upon completion of the website and receipt of payment for any work carried out, we then send these details to the client.

  • What does it means CSS?

    • That's an acronym that means Cascading Style Sheets. CSS allows web designers to attach styles (fonts, colors, size, margins, etc.) to HTML documents. It works like a template allowing web developers to define a style for an HTML element and then apply it to as many web pages as they need. We can also use styles to display different elements for different media (screen, printers). It simplifies web site maintenance and also helps the way a page displays content for Search Engine robots on the Internet.

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SITE MAINTENANCE AND UPDATES

  • What is site maintenance?

    • Website Maintenance or Website Updates refers to changes made to your website after the initial design & setup. Keeping a website up-to-date is essential in having repeat visitors to your site. Updating the site with sales, articles, new products, newsletters, press releases, financial figures and links are all examples of website maintenance. Most good web sites have new content updated regularly. Fresh content is what will keep your visitors coming back. This is a service that we provide for our customers. If you want to maintain your website yourself you can do so.

  • I already have a website and I need it updating, can you help me?

    • Yes, we would be happy to look at you existing website and give you a quote for updating it.

  • Do you redesign existing websites?

    • Yes we do. We can redesign, retaining your company corporate style or we can redesign to give you a complete new image. Is your website up to date - let us provide you a Free of Charge Website Evaluation - we can redesign your website to take advantage of the latest web technologies.

  • Will I be able to edit my custom designed site once you have published it?

    • As technology changes fast these days, its not common to have validated websites with clean code using frontpage extensions to update content on a website. There are a few new tools to help you edit some content on your website - however you must be sure that the WYSIWYG editor you will use to edit content directly supports the new standards to update content on your website. You might ask for more details if you're planning to update your website yourself. Depending your web design requirements, we can help you find "website updating solutions" that fits both your budget and needs.

  • How frequently do I need to update my website?

    • It depends on what you're doing with your website, but we definitely recommend you a plan for this. Content is critical for optimization and "fresh" or new content is an important factor for ranking. If you have a small business brochure website you might probably want to update twice a year some pages on your website, you might also have a page to display the latest news on your website and you can add a couple of notes once a month or every two months if you want. For e-commerce or database websites you might update or add content more frequently, those kind of websites are build to have those changes as need it. In any case if you're doing optimization, you might want to talk with us about the importance of getting new information on your website and what will be the best way to do it without having problems with the code and content to optimize your website.

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PAYMENTS

  • Are there any hidden rates on your web design quotes?

    • No. What we state in our contract is what you pay.

  • How much does a web site cost?

    • There are many factors that are going to affect the ultimate cost of your web site. These factors include how many pages you are going to have, if you will sell products on your website, the graphic work involved, need of database programming, what technologies will be utilized and how interactive your future web site will be. You will also need web hosting and domain name registration. It is important who will be providing the text for the site? Will you need copywriter services to create your websites content? Is the existing text you have in Electronic format. Are photographer services needed for your websites images? Or do you already have pictures for the new web design project? Is there any video footage, stock video, video conversion needed for your web project? We have prepared a short form where you can provide us with all that information, so we can estimate your cost. Visit our Free Quote Page.

  • Do you require any deposits or upfront payment?

    • Each site has to be treated on it's individual requirements. We request a 30-50% deposit, depending on the size of the project and resources involved in it's realization. The balance of payment is then due on completion of the project. Payment can be made by cheque, Bank transfer, via PayPal, or Google Checkout. The only ongoing cost after you pay for the entire project will be your annual hosting fee or maintenance fee if you sign up for site maintenance plan with us.

  • Do you offer any type of discounts?

    • Yes, we offer discounts for schools, some non profit organizations and other. Please contact us to check your eligibility for discount, or send email derectly to info@stefig.com.

  • What about payment gateway and shipping integration on ecommerce websites?

    • We can integrate the most common methods on our e-commerce websites, however you might have a specific request and it might take some time to study that specific case. We're open to talk with you and help you during the integration process but we work must together during the process. It may impact the amount of time we initially defined at the start of the project. So keep that in mind and try to keep shipping instructions simple and use common payment getaways providers. Common things make life easier.

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SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

  • Why can't I find my web site in the search engines?

    • Once your site has been submitted to the top Search Engines they may require several weeks, or even months to actually list your web site in their directory. How fast your site is listed depends on each individual Search Engine database update schedule. Watch your server traffic logs for visiting spiders.

  • Will my website be viewable in other web browsers?

    • Yes. We test all our websites on various browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Google Chrome), browser versions, and platforms. We guarantee every web design to be free from "design errors" or we'll fix it for free.

  • Should I pay for Search Engine Optimization?

    • Every website Stefig Design builds is submitted to the top search engines. However, simply submitting doesn't mean that your site will rank at the top of a search engine when a user searches for content related to your site. A lot of work and research goes into getting your website ranked high. At Stefig Design we are experienced and have had proven success in Search Engine Optimization.

  • Do Flash movies affects my Search Engine rankings?

    • In theory Google can index Flash movies, but we don't think Flash movies and other content gets indexed very well. With things being as competitive as they are right now for keyword/key-phrases optimization we don't recommend using them. However, if Flash annimation is important to you and you're up to the challenge, go for it - we will be more than happy to help.

  • Why validated code its important to design a website?

    • There's a lot of competition to get good spots in the search engines for some specific keywords or key-phrases, so proper html syntax and a clean code help toward better rankings. Let's say we have two competing sites, both are suitable for the top spot and the search engine has a tough time deciding who to put first. Chances are that the validated site with proper syntax will be the winner. Validation of the html code on your site alone will certainly not guarantee or secure you a high rating, but as with so many other things it will help and might even be the contributing factor to get you across the line.

  • Will I receive instant web traffic once my new site is launched?

    • No. While we do a basic submission to attempt an initial indexing by major search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo; it is not designed to boost traffic to your site. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Web Page Optimization (WPO) is needed to increase keyword targeted traffic to your website.

  • Will my website design be" Search Engine" friendly?

    • All our websites are created with Search Engines in mind and the website design is compliant with search engine guidelines. It is a good idea for your website to be re-evaluated in time as over a period of time the Search Engines do alter their rules and algorithms and you will want to be certain that your website is kept up to date and complies with new rules, etc.

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