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Sterling Designs
Helping You Link It All Together
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

The following are questions that I get asked frequently:

AMany factors influence the final cost of a website: how many pages you will have, whether you will be selling products on your site, how many graphics you will need designed and how complex they will be, and how interactive you want your site to be. My standard "package deal" is a site with six pages and a certain amount of custom graphics. For more information, or to have a copy of my standard contract faxed to you, please e-mail me.

ANo. Today's technology allows people to complete a wide scope of projects without ever meeting face to face. Through the use of telephone calls, e-mails, and the internet, I can design a site for you or your company no matter how far away you are.

AThe time it takes to design a website depends on the same factors that the final cost does. Once again, these include factors like how many pages you will have, whether you will be selling products on your site, how many graphics you will need designed and how complex they will be, and how interactive you want your site to be. In general, the more pages and the more complex the site, the longer it takes to complete. After discussing your website needs in depth, I can give you an estimate of how long your site will take to complete.

AURL stands for "universal resource locator." A URL is the address you type into the address bar of your browser so that the browser knows where on the internet a site should be found. For example, to access the Sterling Designs homepage, you would enter "http://www.sterlingdesigns.net" in your browser's address bar.

AA domain name is part of a website's URL. It is the part following the "www" and ending with .com, .net, .org, etc. For example, the domain name for Sterling Designs is "sterlingdesigns.net".

AWeb hosting is a fee paid periodically (monthly or yearly in most cases) so that your website has a place to "live" on the internet and people can view it. For my clients, I choose web hosting through 123eHost due to their incredibly reasonable prices and excellent customer service.

AYes. However, if you choose a host other than 123eHost, I charge an hourly fee of $40 for the time spent to familiarize myself with the policies, procedures, and other aspects associated with using a different host.

ASite maintenance is a fee paid periodically to keep your site updated with fresh new content. How often a site is updated depends on the nature of the site and the material that is being changed. Some sites, such as automobile dealerships with online inventory listings, have content that is updated weekly, while other sites are only changed once or twice a year.

AOnce your site has been submitted to the search engines, it can take weeks or even months for the search engines to "spider" your site and list it in their directories. Times vary depending on the search engine. Ask for details about search engine submission when you discuss the creation of your site.

AMost experts agree that the minimum screen resolution designers should account for is now 800 by 600 pixels. However, a good designer will design a site that will look appealing on a screen with higher resolutions as well.

AYes. Sterling Designs provides a number of other services besides just website design. Please see my services page for more information on the other services I provide. (Logo design falls under the category of "desktop publishing".)

AI realize that my standard six-page package will not fit everyone's needs. Some people need larger sites, and some people need smaller sites. I can design websites as small as one page. For a free estimate, please e-mail me with details of your project for a free estimate.

AJust email me, Rebecca, with the details of your project to receive a price quote. They are always free.

ACurrently, I prefer payment to be made by check. If you would like to pay by credit card, please e-mail me and we will see what we can work out.

AI make the decision to allow clients to make changes to sites on an individual basis. Most of the time, it is easier and less time-consuming for me to make any changes that are necessary. It also reduces the probability that something will go wrong. If you would like to be able to make changes on your site, we need to talk about it together first.

AI can register a domain name for you. Since only one person or organization can own a domain name, they are subject to availability. You can use the Network Solutions WhoIs Registry to check the availability of any domain names you would like to register. Then, your domain(s) can be registered with 123eHost's affiliate for $10 per year (per domain name).

AOnce you have signed up and paid for hosting, the next step is to register your own domain name. It costs only $10 and makes it easy for people to find you online.

AYes, I prefer my clients to write their own content. You know far better than anyone else exactly what your business is like and what you would like to say about it.

ASearch engine registration is included at no extra charge when you purchase 123eHost's Premiere Plan. For customers who sign up for the Basic Plan, search engine submission is available for $7 (per site) per submission. If you choose to sign up for the Premiere Plan, I will submit your site to search engines when your site is completed. If you sign up for the Basic Plan, I will consult with you before arranging for search engine submission.

APeriodic website "traffic" summaries are available for an additional fee. You can choose to receive these reports monthly, quarterly, yearly, or on a by-request basis. These statistics cannot show exact numbers, but they will give you a good idea of the amount of traffic your site is experiencing.

Please also read "Considerations on Website Statistics" (an adaptation of Steven Turner's "How the Web Works") for more information on why it is difficult to tell exactly how many visitors a site has had.

AEvery Sterling Designs client maintains ownership of the content on his or her site. Sterling Designs maintains ownership of the page design and code for the site.

AJust like the same lipstick will look a little different on each person that wears it, so every website will look slightly different on each computer used to view it. Every monitor will handle colors a little differently, and then different people may use different settings on each monitor. Screen resolution also makes a big difference in how your website appears. But rest assured that the information you make available and the fundamentals of how your website works will be the same on a wide variety of computer systems.

ALots of animation is not recommended for any site. Animations have larger file sizes and therefore make any page take longer to load. Also, having lots of movement on a page can be distracting or even nauseating to the viewer. Animations on sites by Sterling Designs are usually kept to one or at the most two image(s) that move at the same speed and are used to draw the viewer's attention to something very important.

AIf you have a maintenance contract, additions and changes are included in the contract. If you do not have a maintenance contract, just contact me and let me know what you would like to add or change. I will make the additions or changes and send you a bill when I'm finished.

ANavigation is one of the most important items in any website. Without effective navigation, visitors cannot get around on your website and will quickly become frustrated (and will most likely leave).

AThe client owns the domain name and the site, but with a contract to Sterling Designs for any work that is done on or in association with the website. For further details on the specifics of the contract, please e-mail me.

AI am always available to my clients to answer questions and make additions or changes to websites. Just e-mail me or use the information on my contact page to contact me.

ANo matter how hard I've tried, I can't read others' minds. Sketching your site out allows me to get an idea of exactly what you'd like your website to look like. Knowing this minimizes the number of changes I need to make and means that your site will be done in a timely and cost-effective manner.