Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Web Design
- Why isn’t a do-it-yourself (DiY) Website good enough for my industrial company?
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DiY Websites or templates are a quick and inexpensive way to cobble together a Website. However, they tend to be cookie-cutter sites that lack the much needed strategic planning and polished execution that only an experienced and professional industrial Web designer can provide.
As mentioned on our Web Design & Redesign page, today’s engineers and industrial professionals expect to see much more than just an informational Website.
Some of the problems you are likely to run into with DiY web design services are:
- A template, even if you can change the colors and add your logo can never adequately represent your business.
- You may run into technical issues such as image optimization, CSS vs. table layouts, color consistency, browser and platform compatibility issues. Without attention to such details, the end result could be a Website that presents a very poor image of your company and does more harm than good for your sales.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) is another big area of concern. Most of these DiY services make you believe that being found is something that happens automatically with their service. Nothing can be further from the truth. It takes long hours of pain-staking work and knowledge of legal (white hat) SEO tactics that are constantly changing. After the initial low estimate, most of these services will ask you to buy their more expensive monthly SEO services to achieve any kind of page ranking (if at all). It does absolutely nothing for your business if your customers and prospects can’t find your site.
- Adding content to a Web page won’t help you convert your site visitors into qualified prospects and leads. You need to plan your content strategy and write text that appeal to both your human readers and search engine bots. This challenging balancing act requires experience to perfect.
- Who owns the Website after you launch it?
- You do. Once you pay for a Web design project, you own it and retain the copyrights. We will either provide you with a CD or email you a Zip file of all the files used in your Web site. The site and its contents are copyrighted in your name. We may publish a screen shot of your site in our online Web portfolio but will never claim the site to be one of ours.
Note: Stock images from our library that are used on your site will not be included on the CD. They belong to us and not you unless you authorize us to specifically buy them on your behalf. - Is it really necessary for me to get professionally written copy for my site?
- Let’s face it; no one knows your business better than you do. We or any other professional copywriter can provide the marketing punch that drives home your message. Moreover, we have the experience to write text specifically for the Internet audience and to optimize your copy for search engines. The right words or phrases will help to make that personal connection with your visitor and persuade them to do business with you. Of course, you can try to write the text yourself. Many good books and e-books are available that will provide you a crash course in copywriting for the Web. See our content marketing services.
- What is included in your Web design service and how much does it cost?
- See Web design prices
- Can I use my own hosting company/server or do I transfer my site to yours?
- Yes, you can continue to use your web server or current hosting company. We'll upload your new site to your server at no extra charge. We will be happy to register a domain name and set up business-class hosting with email service if you don't currently have them.
- What are your payment terms and how do I make payments?
- We require a 50% deposit upon accepting our Web design proposal. The balance with applicable sales taxes is due prior to taking your Website live. You have the option of paying our invoices either online via PayPal using any major credit card or can mail us a check. We cannot start on your project until your initial payment is received.
- How will future updates or ongoing maintenance of my Web site be handled?
- Tiecas provides content updating services to Web site owners who do not want to deal with updating it themselves. You can send us copy changes, price updates, content for new pages, photos and other updates via email. We will make the necessary updates on your Web site and upload the revised pages to your server. We charge $120 per hour (billed in quarter hour increments with a 1-hour minimum) for this service which must be prepaid and is billed on an “as needed basis.” There are no long term contracts to sign. If you prefer to maintain your site yourself, we can provide a Content Management System (CMS) that is easy to use. Let us know at the time of pricing your project.
Please email us if you have any other question that is not covered here.
Contact us today to get started:
- Call: 713.532.6490
- Email: Fill out our short online form to schedule a free 30-minute industrial marketing consultation