What is the process (what do you need from me?)

Before we can get started building you a website there are a few things we need from you. We will start by asking what you are would like to achieve from your website, the type of website you need (informational, blog, store, services, etc.). Determining your target audience is a critical focus in the process too. Once we have a good idea of what you need, we can then start planning out the structure of your website. We will then ask you if you already have branding (logo, colours, theme, etc.). If you already have solid branding we can get started once we have access to you brand assets and content. If not, we are designers, let us build out your brand and cater it perfectly for your audience and then tailor fit it to your website. Content is very important and is often what slows down the timeline. This is often a huge part that gets overlooked, but without quality content to fill in your website, it is very difficult to get started because the layout of a page can change dramatically depending on the content supplied.

I need content for my website but am not good a writing, what do I do?

This is a question that we get asked a lot. Writing great content is very challenging and unless you do a lot of writing you may not know where to get started. We are here to help you with content development as well. If you can give us general ideas about what you are after, we will write content for you and structure it perfectly for your website. As we write the content, we are planning ahead to the website look to ensure the text is broken up effectively with headlines, subheads and a nice mix of paragraphs, bullet points and punchy blocks of text. Since we are designing, building and creating the content, there is one vision ensuring the final product will fit together seamlessly and communicate effectively. Content is really important, the stronger your content is, the more it will speak to potential customers, not to mention, help your Google rankings.

What is the timeline for web design?

This is a very important question to ask before you choose a website designer. The reason is because, many design studios have huge backlogs of projects that need to be completed and use old, slow methods for building websites. We believe that you should have your website completed in a timely manner. New website building tools can dramatically decrease the time it takes to build your website. Since we do not use code to build your website, we can completely bypass the prototyping phase. This is a slow process that allows you to see what the website will look like before it is built. When this method is used, the designer has to build the website twice in order to get the final product, which means your website will take much longer to be completed. We believe that web-based software is the way of the future. This does not mean that you are getting a template or unoriginal design when we build your website, it simply means you can see the website from start to finish in its final form. We provide a preview link that will allow you to view the website. You can interact and see the website exactly how it will look when it is live. This streamlines the entire process so that you can have your website faster without compromising creativity or quality.

How much does it cost? Are there recurring fees?

Depending on the design studio you choose there will always be a fee to build the website but there may also be some hidden fees. Make sure you ask about them. Often website designers will charge monthly ‘maintenance packages’ to keep your website running smoothly. Be careful about these because your website can get expensive, really quickly. We only charge for work that we actually do. If there are changes required to the website on a frequent or infrequent basis, we will give you a quote for the work to be completed so you know exactly what to expect. If you decide you would like to make updates yourself—no problem at all. Our back-end access for customers is super easy and looks exactly like the website to make this process crazy-simple. General maintenance is not needed as our web-based software is always updating their platform so that your website will be perfectly optimized for web browsers and Google. The only recurring fees for our websites are for hosting. Hosting is an annual fee. 

Can I see your portfolio?

Hopefully the design studio has recent work listed on their website so that you can see their style and quality of work, but if they do not, make sure you ask for some samples of their work so that you can find out if you like their style. Make sure you see more than the first screen of the home page. Too many web designers only show a super small snippet of their web design. That one item might look nice but how about the rest of the site? We believe every page of your website needs to look great, consistent, professional and on-brand. This is a very important aspect to not overlook. Websites are an investment into your business, with the world of the internet growing everyday, your website is often your first impression. If your website design is lacking creativity, your business will just blend into all the others. You can see our Durham Region website design portfolio HERE. 

Do you have any experience in my industry?

The more experience a website designer has in your industry the better they can help you curate your website to potential customers. However, a seasoned content writer can develop content for any industry with careful research and study. Industries that have detailed technical information will require the customer to give some insight into the content to ensure it is factual, relevant and specific to their services/offerings. The more the client can fill in the content with general information, the website content will be better.

I want to introduce a store to my website,
how does that work and who manages it?

Adding a store to your website is a great way to sell your product. Integration is very easy and you are able to manage all products, descriptions, images, payments, etc. very easily. The website designer will design and setup the store structure for a short list of products first to ensure the look and feel is consistent and professional. Once this structure is in place, it is most efficient for the customer to manage the store side of the website so they can populate all the store items and details and make any edits as needed. 

Can I make edits to my website?

Yes! This is just another advantage to using a solid web-based platform for web development and design. Making edits to your website is easy through our website platform. It is very visual and looks just like the actual website. With limited access, you are able to make simple edits such as text changes or blog posts. If you are more seasoned, we can give you full editing access to make complete updates, SEO changes and so-forth. We do recommend having the designer make edits if they are more intensive to ensure the design flow and integrity is maintained.

How often should my website be updated?

This is a bit of a loaded question, but we want to point you straight so that you don’t get ripped off. Your website should be updated if there is new content that needs to be added or old content that needs to be removed, but outside of that you shouldn’t need to update your website regularly. We do recommend giving your website a refresh every 5 years or so. Our reasoning behind this is because, your website might still work great but by giving it a refresh can update content to be more current to your business and keep up with current web design structures. Web design is always changing and you want your website to always look fresh and current in functionality and design. Styles change and keeping on top of your website will show customers that you mean business. Once your website is more than a few years old, the SEO techniques used will likely be out of date as Google is always redefining its value system. This is another big reason to refresh your website—ensuring your website is always optimized for Google. Sometimes the design and content do not even have to change, just a review of all the on-page SEO to ensure it is solid. 

Can I add a blog?

Blogs are becoming more and more popular. They are a great way to engage with your customers and help with SEO. We highly recommend adding a blog to your website. We can seamlessly integrate a blog into your website. You will be able to make blog posts and connect with your followers. Sharing snippets of a recent blog and then pointing to it through social media is a great way to reach new customers and ensure the hard work that you invested into the blog is not in vain. No matter what you do, a blog is a great addition to any website.

Custom photography or stock photos?

Most websites use stock photography. The question is, do you want your website to look like other websites or do you want it to stand out from the crowd? Many businesses overlook how vital custom photography is for your website. Show off your work, let your customers see what you do. Custom photography may cost a little to have it done well but without a doubt, your website will be more unique and tell your story more accurately with it.

Can I add video to my website?

Videos are a great way to create more interactive content for your website. Did you know that we do video production as well? We can professionally film and edit video to show off your work and what you do. Having a video on your website is just one more way 9of impressing potential customers, telling your story and taking your website to that next level.

There are many questions to ask when you want to have a website developed. We hope this answers many of the questions you may have. You deserve to have a smooth process and nothing is worse than getting surprises because you didn’t ask the questions. Feel free to reach out to us and we will be happy to answer any further questions you may have regarding websites. We want your website to be the very best it can be and really make an impression on your potential and existing customers.