Frequently Asked Questions:
"What Can I Do on My End?"
what can I do?
Some clients have asked what are the steps involved in a web
project and what is needed on their part. Below are a few paragraph's and
graphics that explain how the processes work. Also see
Paul's Laws.
Q: What is the first
step for me?
Q: What can I
bring to first the meeting?
Q: Can I
use digital photography from my camera?
Q:
Can I provide the content or do I need a copywriter?
Q: How can I save
money on a project?
Q: What about my
e-commerce product list?
Q: Can I watch
as my site is being built?
Q: Why does my site look one way on one computer and different on
another?
Q: Why isn't my site
design clickable?
Q:
What is the first step for me?
A: The first step is to come in and meet with us. Once we learn more
about your company, business goals, web objectives and technical
requirements, we can custom tailor an estimate for your needs.
Q: What can I
bring to first the meeting?
A: This one is easy. You can send these in advance in a single email
to save time if you like...
-
A list of business objectives in priority.
-
A list of site URLs you love and hate and why.
-
A list of pages you would like to see on the
site.
-
A list of technical requirements for
interactivity for your site.
-
Any content you amy already have written or
photos in digital format.
-
Your logo in electronic format (preferrably
EPS).
-
Any collateral material (brochures, pamphlets,
flyers, postcards etc.) you have already developed.
-
Any logins for your domain name (Network
Soutions, etc.) or your login for your existing hosting.
Q: Can I
use digital photography from my camera?
A: Yes, of course, this is your web site and one way to save money
is to do the photography yourself. Keep in mind that for some shots,
professional photography will be better lighted, framed, and
generally give a more professional appearance. Sometimes
professional stock photography or custom photography is the BEST
solution, but shooting your own may be a more affordable solution.
Q: Can I provide the content or do I need a copywriter?
A: Absolutely you can write your won text for the site. After all,
who knows your business better than you? That said, client-supplied
content for the web site is single toughest area we encounter when
developing a site. The problem is that everyone has a full time job
in their day to day lives and web site copywriter is not usually it.
So in general, we always end up waiting for the content while
working on a site and delays usually end up costing more.
Professional copywriters can write from an objective viewpoint,
aiming the content toward the intended goal you want to achieve with
the reader, while you may be too close to the subject matter. A
professional WEB copywriter will understand the importance of how
content affects rankings in search engine optimization. At the very
least you should consider having a profession edit your content for
SEO and marketing impact.As in photography, writing your own content
is the most affordable way to create it, but hiring a professional
may be the best way to do it.
Q: How can I save
money on a project?
A: Besides providing your photography and content, There are a
number of ways to keep the scope of the project from getting out of
control...
-
Supply your content and photography all at one
time. This means we don't have to spend time keeping track of
multiple emails, CDs, files and anything that saves us time,
saves you money. This will also make the delivery of your web
site quicker if we have all the pieces we need right in the
beginning.
-
Keep meetings to a minimum. In the professional
services world, time literally is money.
-
Keep emails and communication to a minimum. This
is not to say don't communicate, but compile lists of questions
and issues (especially final punch lists for issues at the end
of the project) and ask them all at one time. That way we can
address one email instead of stopping work to address 50.
Multiple phone calls to ask questions, stop us from whatever
billable project we are on to change gears to discuss your
issues and we have to bill for that other wise, we would be on
the phone all days answering questions.
Q: What
about my e-commerce product list?
A: We can provide you with an Excel template that you can either
import your products into (if you are using software such as
QUickbooks to control your products) or you can enter the products
directly in the spreadsheet and we will import this data into the
e-commerce database and populate your store with products. You may
still have to go in and edit products manually, but this will make
product entry much easier.
Q: Can I watch
as my site is being built?
A: Unfortunately, no. This is to save you money. While a site is
being built, it will be partially constructed and not work properly
and this causes clients to ask questions that take time for us to
answer which slows us from working ony our site and costs you money
as we take time to answer your questions. You will see what the home
page and a sample content page will look like from the Design Pahse
approvals. Your finished site will look almost exactly like that.
Usually sites are built so quickly that once we start development,
it is only a matter of a week or so until the finished site is ready
for testing. Until then we usually work on private development
server.
Q: Why does my site look one way on one computer and different on
another?
A: There are hundreds of factors why he same web page may look
different on two different computers or even on the same computer.
Different monitors have differnt settings for color, brightness,
contrast, etc. so colors WILL be completely different from one
computer to the next. Also HTML is a dynamic format and is not
"frozen" such as a PDF and the html code will translate differently
from browser version to broswer version. One computer may be using
Internet Explorer 6.0 and one maybe using Internet Explorer 7.0. One
may be using Firefox and one may be using Internet Explorer. They
may be both using the same version and brand, but the screen
resolution may be set higher or lower allowing for more screen real
estate. Dpending on how your browser is set for fonts, your fonts
sizes may be completely different from one machine to the next and
the text may warap differently. So no web page is guaranteed to be
exactly a certain way. The goal is to provide the information in a
way that is consistent with your branding and obtains the best
business results.
Q: Why isn't my
site design clickable?
A: The initial design is just a flat graphic, or very detailed
sketch of what your web site will look like. We use this like an
archietcural rendering to develop the site to look as much like that
as possible. Once we slice and dice the graphic into HTML elements,
then it will cleickable in to final web site. Until then this is
just a picture of a web site.
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Friday, July 25, 2008
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