Frequently Asked Questions Q: Will building our website be expensive? A: Our prices are very reasonable, starting at around $500.00 you can have a great looking website visible to the world and of course your local area. Each website is quoted based on the requirements of the site owner. Q: What is the process of getting started and the payment terms? A:  A 50% deposit is required to start along with the requested information about your business, images, brochures, testimonials, etc. We will forward to you an agreement outlining the specifics of what will be accomplished for your approval and signature, prior to starting any work. We will then build the site and submit it to you for your approval. Once the site has been developed and approved by you, we will then require the remaining 40% prior to launching the site. The final 10% will be due within 10 days. It’s during this time we will “tweak” the site and make any required minor changes. We accept payment by Google Checkout, PayPal or through ProPay (MC/Visa/Amex) all methods are secure and convenient. Q: Who develops the site content or descriptions about products and services? A: You will provide all information for the website, if you require assistance in developing the content we are happy to help.  Additional charges will apply. Q: Where do I obtain images for my website? A: Normally suitable images for your site can be obtained from quality photographs of your products either taken by you, a photographer or provided by a supplier. We offer stock photos for purchase from Fotolia and Istockphoto. All images are subject to copyright law; please ensure you have the right to use an image before doing so. Images purchased can vary in price depending on the resource, use fees and time spent manipulating the image for use on your site.  Generally these are very reasonable and using professional images will have a significant effect on the professionalism of your website. Q: Will my site be effective? A: We will design your website to be attractive, easy to navigate and useful to your visitors. We will spell check all text and ensure the site will load in all browsers. Just because you aren’t spending thousands of dollars for your site doesn’t mean your site has to look “cheap”. We want you to be happy and refer us to others!  Your site will be an effective part of your overall marketing campaign.  As a matter of fact, most of our clients are by referral! Q: What features can I have on my site? A: Standard features are included such as email addresses, original and creative design, images, links, keywords and more. If you need additional features just bring them to our attention and we'll include them for you. Features such as customer response forms, editable text blocks, blogs, animated graphics, mailing lists, photo galleries, etc., can all be added for a modest additional cost per feature. Our goal is to design a site for you that is complete, attractive and functional. We won’t “nickel and dime” you for every little additional feature however due to the complexity and time involved with including some features we may need to charge an additional fee. Q: Will my site appear on the major search engines? A: Please keep in mind that there are millions of websites on the Internet and your site probably will not appear at the top immediately or even at all. Appearing on the top shouldn’t be your goal, developing a useful website for your visitors should be. We focus on what is referred to as the organic search which concentrates on the content of your site, not gimmicks. Search engines are complex and base the ranking of your site on many factors. It may take up to three months or longer for your site to begin its climb. If you place your web domain on business cards, brochures, and other advertising your customers will be able to find you right away. We do not use nor encourage the use of coding methods that try to evade the search system, they typically are ineffective and could get your site banned by some search engines.  Most of our clients however see their site on the first few pages of the major search engines within just a few weeks. Q: Why doesn't my website appear right away on the Internet when I type in my keywords? A: It takes time for the search engines to "crawl" your site, recognize it, rank it and go through all of the other processes involved in bringing your website to the top pages. There are literally millions of web sites and these things take time, consider putting your web address on everything you print from business cards to yellow page ads to letterhead or menus. The journey begins with the first step and you're taking it! Q: Can 54 Design Group | Xpress-Sites develop an ecommerce site for us? A: Yes we can however due to the complex nature of an e-commerce site we will discuss your needs with you and then develop a quote. Ecommerce sites have more requirements such as the establishment of a payment gateway, inputting inventory and images and other factors which involve more time.  We have experience in developing and operating ecommerce sites and can advise you as to the feasibility for your business. Q: What about domain name registration and hosting for my site? A: We offer low cost hosting and domain registrations for all of our design clients. If you already have a web domain we can make the arrangements to have your site pointed to your new site with us. We can also upload the site to your host’s servers for display with them, all with minimal hassle for you.  All hosting companies are different with their own policies and procedures, we will do our best to assist you however we cannot make any guarantees.  Q: What are META Tags? A: META tags are HTML codes that are inserted into the header of a web page. In the context of search engine optimization, when people refer to “meta” tags, they are usually referring to the meta description tag and the meta keywords tag. The meta description tag and the meta keywords tag are not seen by users. Instead, their main purpose is to provide site information and data to search engines about your website. Don’t worry if this is confusing, you won’t need to worry about this when we design your site, we’ll take care of it!  Some developers do not include META tags within the code of your website, we include them simply because it’s a best practice and we’re not lazy.  Q: What are Keywords and Keyword phrases? A: A keyword or keyword phrase is a word or group of words that forms all or part of a search engine query—the word or phrase that your visitors type in a search box when they are seeking information in a search engine such as Google. We will combine keywords that are relevant to your business and location to maximize your search results. Keywords and keyword phrases should be carefully selected and placed throughout your website to attract web traffic. We are experienced at developing quality keywords and placing them effectively throughout your website.  There’s no substitute for sticking to the basics and paying attention to content details.  At 54 Design Group, we aren’t about gimmicks, just doing the job right the first time. Q: What is an Organic Search? A: An organic search is a process by which visitors find web sites that appear in the body of the search engine, not in the sponsored links. We believe more people find what they need in this area than in the paid links. This is because sites located there are positioned based on the relevancy of the site to your visitors search. As a side note, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), focuses on those factors that will help a site appear higher in the organic search results. A properly optimized site doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles, just solid content and thoughtful design. Do you have a question that's not answered here? Just give us a call 1-888-255-9604 or email! 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