Frequently
Asked Questions
Do
I need a website, a brochure, an advertisement, a direct mail
piece or some other type of marketing materials?
Is
a website an effective use of advertising dollars?
How
does a website interact with my other marketing materials?
With
so many forms of advertising, do people really use the Internet
to find products or services?
Why
does a website design company also do graphic design and marketing?
Aren't these different fields?
I
don't have a product that could easily be sold over an e-commerce
site. How can a website help me?
What
is a dynamic website?
Do
I need a dynamic website or a static website?
How
do I keep my website from getting lost in cyberspace?
Do
you design multi-media websites?
Does
multi-media make a site perform better?
How
do I get a web address and where do I put my website?
I
already have a website, but my designer is no longer able
to maintain it. Can you help?
How
much do you charge?
Can't
I use a software program to build my own website?
What about build-it-yourself website
packages?
Do
I need a website, a brochure, an advertisement, a direct mail
piece or some other type of marketing materials?
What
works well for one type of business doesn't always work
well for another. Writers-Design will help you determine
what marketing pieces will get you the best results and
stay within your budget. Usually a planned combination of
the above works best. Back
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Is
a website an effective use of advertising dollars?
Absolutely! The Internet has been referred to as the "great
equalizer." It allows small to medium sized business
to compete on the same turf as the Fortune 500 companies.
At a cost that is often less than that of printing an advertisement
in a daily paper or magazine, you can erect a web site that
fully informs potential clients of your product or service.
Unlike a printed advertisement, it doesn't get tossed out
with the trash. It is always available.
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How
does a website interact with my other marketing materials?
Often the first thing a prospective client does after learning
of your company through some other medium is visit your
website to learn more. Where printed advertisements, mailers
and business cards generate interest with only a sentence
or two, a website can go into detail about your products,
services or cause. Your web site should maintain a similar
look and feel to any other company promotional materials.
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page
With
so many forms of advertising, do people really use the Internet
to find products or services?
Yes. Over half of the United States population is on the
Internet. Every month another 2 million new users log on
to the web. Often, consumers first learn about a company
or product on the internet. Back
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Why
does a website design company also do graphic design and marketing?
Aren't these different fields?
Yes,
there are differences. However, designing a web site requires
every skill employed in the creation of printed materials
in addition to programming skills. With minor modifications,
graphics and copy created for your website can be reused
in printed materials and reduce design costs. Writers-Design
is well grounded in graphic design, website design and marketing
and able to serve most all of your marketing needs.
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page
I
don't have a product that could easily be sold over an e-commerce
site. How can a website help me?
History has seen the introduction of five mass communication
mediums: the book, the newspaper, radio, television and
the internet. The Internet is the first to offer any interactive
capabilities. A website provides the opportunity to inform
potential clients of your product or service in greater
depth than the other communication mediums. Thus a well
designed website can be the deciding factor in whether you
get the business, or your competitor does. A website also
allows you to interact with visitors and to receive valuable
feedback. Back
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What
is a dynamic website?
A
common misconception is that a dynamic website is any site
that has moving elements such as an animation or flash movie
on it. This is not true. A dynamic website is best understood
when compared to a static website. A static website is one
where the pages are all created in advance and do not change
once placed on the internet. A dynamic website is a site
where the look of the pages is created by the designer,
but the content of the pages is stored in a database. When
a user visits the site, the content of the pages is called
from the database and written to the page according to what
the user has requested. Back
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Do
I need a dynamic website or a static website?
Dynamic
websites are an excellent choice when you have frequently
changing content of any type. E-commerce sites, on-line
stores or any situation where information needs to be frequently
updated are best done as dynamic websites because this allows
non-technical staff to update the site content as needed.
A static website is cheaper to develop and is a good choice
where the content will not change frequently. Writers-Design
is capable of developing any type of site you need including:
static websites, dynamic (database driven) websites, interactive
websites, flash websites, e-commerce websites and many web
applications. Back
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How
do I keep my site from getting lost in cyberspace?
While no company can guarantee your site will be the first
to come up on a search, a technology exists on how to make
your site place well. We design websites from the bottom
up to ensure they are search engine "friendly"
and place as well as possible on searches. We also work
with you to explore every possible means of promoting your
website and your business. Back
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Do
you design multi-media sites?
Yes. I can design sites incorporating Flash movies, animations,
and sound. Back
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Does
multi-media make a site perform better?
Used tastefully, some animated features can enhance a site.
However, this is a case where less is usually better. Time
proven marketing techniques also hold true on the Internet.
Well presented information and appropriate graphics, both
presented professionally, are what sell your product, service
or message. Blinking, flashing and moving objects are usually
a distraction. Back
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How
do I get a web address and where do I put my website?
A web address is called a domain name and is obtained by
registering with a company that does this. Your site resides
on a "host" computer on the Internet which "serves"
pages to users when they are requested. I can take care
of both of these issues, or if you prefer, allow you to
do so yourself. The cost for domain name registration is
about $25.00 per year. Site hosting costs vary, but most
often it can be done for under $25.00 per month.
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I
already have a website, but my designer is no longer able
to maintain it. Can you help?
Yes. In most cases I am able to assume the task of making
needed updates or modifications to an existing website.
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page
How
much do you charge?
Due to wide variations in what is needed for a site, I am
unable to quote rates without a consultation to establish
your needs. I work with you to develop the best possible
website design or graphic design and keep it within your
budget. Please contact
us for a quote. Back
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Can't
I use a software program to build my own website?
If
you have a background in computer programming, yes. Otherwise,
you will probably wish you hadn't tried. These programs
are better suited to help experienced website designers
speed up their workflow. The manual for one of the more
popular website development software programs is over 1000
pages and the program several hundred dollars. Lower priced
programs offer more limited design capabilities. Even though
these programs write the necessary programming code for
your web page, you will find that a knowledge of one or
more programming languages is needed to make your website
work. A knowledge of how to prepare graphics for the web
is a must along with knowing the various do's and don'ts
of the internet. Back
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What
about build-it-yourself website packages?
Many
of my clients tried this approach first and found it unworkable.
These are "template" sites in which you select
from a handful of different styles or templates to find
the one closest to your needs. The template will have spaces
for a set number of images (of a size dictated by the template),
a set amount of text, and links to about 3 or 4 other pages
that are also templates. You add the images and text through
an interface provided by the template company. Your website
is created around the dictates of the template instead of
the needs of your company driving the design and features
of the website. Though template sites have little to no
upfront design costs, the monthly hosting costs usually
run 2 to 10 times more than website hosting plans without
templates. In a year or two you will have spent more on
your site than if you had the site custom designed to your
needs. Back
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