FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. How much should I spend on a website? Websites can range greatly depending on the size of the company / organization and what they need. You can literally find pricing from $500 to $50,000. With that in mind, a typical small business or organization should expect to spend $1800 to $2000 for average size and up to $5000 for larger sites when looking for a professional site without a lot of integrations or customizations. You can certainly find developers who will charge less, but you usually get what you pay for. You can also find developers who charge much more, but they are likely looking to do more customizations than you need. 2. What should I look for in a Web Developer? There are a lot of people out there who are promoting website development as their primary business or side hustle. And, as with any service provider, there can be vast differences from one to the next. Here are the areas we feel you should consider: o Developer Portfolio: First and foremost, check out their portfolio. Before even talking to a Web Developer, you should know if you even LIKE their work. If you look at examples of their sites and they don’t resonate with you, move on. If they don’t even provide examples, move on. If you love what you see, talk to them! o Developer Personality: This may sound odd, but we feel it is important that you RELATE to the person you are working with. You are unique and your website is very personal to you and your business or organization. It must reflect your brand and what you are trying to accomplish. Therefore, it is important that the person you work with “get” it and “get” you. If you talk to the Developer and you don’t feel they understand you, or maybe they aren’t even trying to understand you and your goals, you should probably move on. Page 1 of 5 o Platform: Second to consider is the platform. MOST Web Developers develop in WordPress…for a number of reasons. WordPress allows for the easiest combination of templates and customization for the Developer. However, it has its downsides: (1) it requires someone (usually the Developer) to host the site, (2) it requires regular updating of ALL plugins in order to stay functional and secure, something most small organizations don’t have the time or knowledge to do so you end up dependent on the Developer, and (3) it is fairly difficult to update yourself, also making you dependent long-term on the Developer. We develop in Squarespace and Wix for most websites and Shopify for e- commerce sites. The advantage to these is that they are self-contained so no updates or hosting are required. They are also fairly easy for you to update if you choose to support your own website once it is built. Though these sites are template-based, we work with you to create a brand-specific site that doesn’t look anything like anyone else’s website! o Quality Control, Guarantees, Revisions: What does the company offer in terms of quality control, guarantees, and revisions? We often hear about companies who only allow a limited number of revisions when building websites. In our opinion, if you are not happy with the website, that is on US, NOT YOU. If we didn’t capture what you were looking for and you don’t feel your site is EXCEPTIONAL, we didn’t do our job in getting to know you and what you were looking for – upfront and throughout the process! We don’t even show you the website until we feel it is exceptional. Then, when you review it, we revise ANY area (within the original scope of work) you are not happy with. And once it goes live, we offer that guarantee for SIXTY (60) DAYS. At the end of the day, what is most important is you loving the final product! o Price: We list price last because it should NOT be your first consideration. You can absolutely find someone to do your website for CHEAP! You can also find someone to do it for thousands of dollars. It is important to consider all of the factors above and your budget. If you can’t afford to pay for a quality Developer, honestly, you should probably wait until you can! Don’t waste your money on a website you are going to be unhappy with and feel stuck with because you needed to save money. 3. How long does it take you to develop a website? Our process is approximately 6 weeks from signing of the agreement to Go Live for standard 10-page websites. Sites with less complexity can take as little as 4 weeks and more complex sites can take up to 8-12 weeks. Page 2 of 5 4. Will my website look right on mobile devices? Yes! Squarespace and Shopify automatically resize and adjust for mobile devices. In addition, we are reviewing the site on all platforms during development to make sure it makes sense when seeing it on a cell phone versus desktop computer. Often times what we think looks good on one platform isn’t as appealing on the other so it is important to review on all platforms during development. 5. What do I do about a domain name (URL)? If you are already using a URL or have purchased one from a well-known company, we can easily re-direct the URL to point to your new website. If you purchased from a lesser-known company, we may have to work with the domain registrar to transfer the URL, but that isn’t usually an issue. If you need to purchase a URL, you can do so through Squarespace or Shopify. Squarespace offers the first year free for a new URL and includes private registration for free. 6. Should I have a custom email (or multiple emails) using my URL? Yes! This is one of the first things we will ask you about because we feel it is so important. A custom email that uses your URL is, more than anything, a statement of professionalism. Like your website, it helps establish your business or organization as legitimate. Honestly, it is a small investment that makes a huge difference in terms of perception. 7. How do I get a custom email and how much does it cost? You have two options with a custom email: Squarespace using Google Suite (AKA GSuite) or Office 365 (utilizing Outlook) through GoDaddy if your URL is through GoDaddy. Squarespace offers one GSuite account free the first year with them. Future years and additional emails currently cost $72/year. With GSuite, you also get Google Sheets, Google Docs, free cloud space, and the ability to easily share data with others inside and outside your organization. GoDaddy often offers specials as low as $1.99 per month, with a non-special price of approximately $72/year. 8. Can I have videos, documents, forms, podcasts, and/or blogs on my Squarespace website? Yes to all of the above! Videos work as a link to sites such as YouTube (which is seamless in the background). Documents can be viewed on or downloaded from your site. Forms collect information and send it to your email and/or your Google Sheets, MailChimp, or Zapier storage. Podcasts and blogs can be directly hosted on your Squarespace site. Page 3 of 5 9. Can I collect emails and contact information from my website visitors? Yes! Extremely customizable Popups are available in Squarespace. Or you can have a static Subscribe option on your website. Or both. We can also use Forms to collect any information you want to from your website visitors. 10. Can I schedule appointments through my website? Yes! Squarespace partners with Acuity Scheduling (www.acuityscheduling.com) to allow your clients to easily access a designated calendar and schedule appointments. With your Squarespace site, you get the Emerging Plan ($15/month) for FREE. You can also collect payment and even sell gift certificates through Acuity, depending on which plan you select. 11. What if I don’t have a logo or branding strategy / messaging? It is very important to have a logo and branding strategy / messaging before doing a website. The website should utilize and expand on the branding. We pull in your branding, but we are not specialists in these areas. We highly recommend Sarah Justice with Kinda Wonderful (https://www.kindawonderful.com/) as the go-to person for branding. (We like her so much she developed our logo!) 12. How does security work with Squarespace? Squarespace includes a free SSL Certificate with hosting. Per Network Solutions (http://www.networksolutions.com/education/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/), “An SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer), also called a Digital Certificate, creates a secure link between a website and a visitor's browser. By ensuring that all data passed between the two remains private and secure, SSL encryption prevents hackers from stealing private information such as credit card numbers, names and addresses. If you sell products or services on your website and accept credit cards online, you need an SSL Certificate for website security.” Note: The SSL does have to be turned ON in Squarespace to make sure your site shows “https:/” at the beginning of the URL. This is how you know a site is secure. 13. What is SEO? According to Dictionary.com SEO or Search Engine Optimization is “the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.” This is obtained through content on your website, social media, and several tools available from Google.