Frequently Asked Questions About Web Design
Q: I've never had a web site before and don't know anything about it. What do I do first?
A: We realize how confusing obtaining a website for your business can be. There are so many options and the pricing among web design firms vary greatly. It's hard knowing which way to turn. Listed below are a few steps that has to be taken:
- Obtain a domain name. A domain name is simply the name you wish for people to type into their web browser to find your website. Most people use their company name (www.mycompany.com), but you don't have to. If your company name is unusually long for example (Rogers, Edwards and Montgomery Attorneys At Law), you wouldn't want someone to try and type that in a web browser. You may instead wish to get something that can be remembered easily for example, (Lawyers4u.com). The first step would be to see if the domain name you want is available. At NC Web Pros, we can research the best domain name for your business based on your products or services, your location and target audience and purchase it for you at no extra charge other than the cost for the domain name ($15 a year).
- The next step is to pick a good web designer. The web designer you choose should have experience in web design and should be able to show you a list of web sites they have developed. At NC Web Pros we use the latest coding standards and in most cases, web sites can be up in 48 hours or less.
- Once the domain name has been secured and the website developed you will need to obtain web hosting to put your site on the internet. With web hosting you are basically paying a hosting company monthly or yearly for space on their web servers to put your site up for the world to see. Pricing varies for hosting depending on the size of your site and bandwidth needed. At NC Web Pros we can host most web site for $12.95 a month (payable annually).
Q: How long will it take to get my site on the Internet?
A: That depends on several factors.
- The number of pages that are needed to develop your website.
- Whether you choose a template (pre-designed) site or a custom site
- Whether your site is static (just "show and tell") or database driven (e-commerce).
- How quickly you can get us all the content for all of the pages (photos, text, etc).
- The number of revisions needed to finish the site.
The majority of our sites are static sites that are five to seven pages in length. In most cases, if you choose a pre-designed template, we can have your site on the Internet in less than 48 hours - providing we have all the content you want to use on the site. A five to seven page custom site can usually be completed in about a week or two at the most. E-Commerce, dynamic and database-driven sites are more complex and will take more time.
Q: Can I "borrow" pictures or text from other websites to develop my own?
A: Absolutely not. In most cases you would be infringing on copyright issues and it could land you in a wealth of trouble. At NC Web Pros we can either come out to your place of business and take digital photos, you could take them and send them to us, or we could use stock photography. We charge anywhere from $2 - $10 for each web quality stock photo.
Q: Can I use someone else's web hosting services if you design it?
A: All new accounts must use NC Web Pros hosting for one full year. AFTER ONE YEAR, you may choose to move your site to another web hosting company if you desire and we will do everything we can to help in this transfer.
Q: What about Intuit® and other companies that offer sites for next to nothing?
A: As is the case with most of these companies, you choose from a narrow list of "cookie cutter templates" - the same web templates that thousands of others are using. Their expense in these simple templates has been covered long ago and trust me - they have been paid for many times over.
Additionally, they expect YOU to build your own site. If you need technical help (and you will), be expected to pay handsomely for it.
Watch out for "hidden surprises" such as limited bandwidth, and limited storage space for your site. Go over the allotment, and you'll soon find out where they make their money.
In most cases, you are simply paying for the "service" of using their software to create your own site. Quit the service - and in most cases, they own your site and in some cases, your domain name as well.
If the "unthinkable" happens and your site goes down, or a "hacker" breaks in a wreaks havoc - good luck. Oh, rest assured, their technical representatives will fix it for you . . . but at a cost that will leave you spinning.
The old adage still hold true. "You get what you pay for." and "if it looks too good to be true - it probably is."
