F.A.Q's

1. Will you do any kind of research on out business?

In Web Design, the research process is referred to as “Discovery.” I will need all the details about your business, including your wants and needs, in order to provide a cost estimate of your project. All of this information is also essential for me to strategize a plan for your brand and website – the design, how to market your business successfully and how you will connect with your audience. I’ll be asking lots of questions! This deep dive is necessary in determining the elements and functionalities that will be most beneficial to enhancing your particular business’ online presence!

My Brand and Web Design Onboarding Questionnaires help us get started by asking some of these questions. They can be completed & submitted online, or to review these prompts and start thinking about your responses, you can use my printable versions as well.

Some businesses may want to use an industry-specific web designer or agency. As a freelance web designer, I design websites for any business. When you hire me for services, your business is my business for the duration of your project. 

2. I have an existing website that needs an overhaul. Will you be reviewing it before building the new website?

Absolutely! We'll talk about what, if any, of the information and content from your existing website is still accurate or relevant as well as what you like and dislike about it. This is a great help in determining what functionalities you currently utilize or wish to have that your website lacks.

For any potential customers who are on the fence about whether their site needs to be updated or redesigned – I offer free verbal reviews of your website, under 3 pages.

For a small fee, I offer written reviews of websites between 1-10 pages and websites with 10-50 pages which includes a detailed copy of my site analysis, along with problems and solutions, in pdf format.

Whether we redesign your current site or start from scratch depends on several factors such as, age of the site, validity of the existing content and information, the CMS platform and cost. It may be more cost effective to start from scratch or there may be a CMS platform that is a much better fit for your website.

3. Do you offer services other than web design?

I offer a variety of other business services in addition to web design.

BRAND DEVELOPMENT: Whether you are an existing business that needs to rebrand or a newly formed business that is seeking professional branding for the first time, my brand development packages offer everything from logo design/creation, brand patterns, brand icons, typography and a custom color palette to business card design and custom QR codes.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT: I will set up your Facebook or Instagram accounts with custom URL’s, all your business contact information including description and mission statement. For Facebook accounts, I include your cover design and upload your logo as your profile pictures. For Instagram, I can design on-brand highlights to feature hot topics that tell your visitors about your business, the services you provide, your process, reviews and more. All highlights include highlight covers.

I also offer social media content creation on an hourly basis or on a monthly retainer. This is great for businesses who want to have on-branded content regularly to stay connected to their audience, build their client base and ensure important messages are posted in a timely manner. My retainer options allow you to obtain dedicated professional services each month without the overhead of hiring another employee.

ADVERTISING & MARKETING DESIGN: I have designed a wide range of advertising and marketing materials for both digital and print, including but not limited to: newspapers, magazines, programs and playbills, banners, signage, postcards and flyers, brochures, posters, full catalogs and even billboards.

BUSINESS PHOTOGRAPHY: This service has been added based off a regular client need. I have done product photography (professional images for your e-commerce website of all your products), location photography (on-site shots of your brick-and-mortar store or special events photos for use on your website, social media accounts and advertising), headshots, and website content photography.

CONTENT WRITING: Writing isn’t everyone’s favorite – that is why I offer this service in addition to web design. Some examples are articles, blog posts, product descriptions, email newsletters, social media posts, video & image descriptions and marketing copy. The goal of content writing is to inform, educate, or persuade readers. I research topics, write in a clear and concise style that is in my client’s brand voice and ensure correct grammar and spelling.

4. Do you outsource any of your projects?

I have yet to outsource any of my projects. As a freelancer, I have skills in many different areas on a proficient level. With that said, it is impossible to be an expert in any and every area where a client may have a need. If this should be the case, I am very transparent with my clients in what my capabilities are and would certainly discuss outsourcing a particular portion of a project if I felt it was in their best interest. I would still handle everything for you and be your point of contact. I only shine when you do!

5. What is your design and project management process?

You can check out an outline of my design process, here.

5. How long will my website take?

Once I have a complete picture of your needs, I’ll be able to provide you with timeline or schedule for completion. For web design, we’ll nail down important dates for your revisions and launch. Things that factor into the timeline are whether it’s a basic, informational site or a larger e-commerce site. Another consideration is how much content you already have prepared and ready.

Collaboration is key and schedules must be respected on both sides. It is just as much your responsibility to be available for meetings, content review, feedback and revisions so that a project does not drag out or become delayed.

 6. What do you need from me before the project starts?

What will be required from you varies depending on the services you need. Completing my onboarding questionnaire(s) is a start. If you already have branding, it is great to send any related files pertaining to your brand. Content is the big one for web design. For larger projects, I try to request your content in stages, when possible, so as to not overwhelm you. You will need written content and any photography you think is applicable to your website.

What if I don’t have much content? For any size site, I am happy to do the content writing and photography. How much content you can supply or need me to do will be factored into the overall project cost.

8. Do you build custom sites or use pre-bought templates?

The short answer is both. Personally, I cringe at the thought of using a template and just slapping a client’s logo and words on it. Depending on the extent of the build, I may utilize wireframe templates to cut down on the build time and then customize them from there. This benefits you because the amount of hours a build takes, the greater the cost to you.

9. Are your web designs responsive?

Responsive refers to the ability of your website to still look great when the layout becomes adjusted due to the device screen size it displays on. Most Content Management Systems allow for design in all three device screen sizes: desktop, laptop and mobile. Some have yet to include seamless responsiveness on tablet sizes. I optimize each web design for different device screens to ensure everything displays optimally before going live.

10. Do you optimize for SEO when building the site?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This question, more simply stated, is asking if I make sure there are things in your website that help your business get found more easily on search engines like Google. Some of the SEO strategies I implement are: logical navigation and page titles, adding meta description, keyword research, image optimization, alt tagging and proper URL structure. These things are essential in web design. While I want your website to be user friendly, on brand, informative and “look pretty,” the main point of your website is to also reach your target audience and increase conversion rates.

11. How many pages will my new website have?

A basic, informative website for small business contains 1-5 pages, typically titled: Home, About, Services, Contact and what I call a “flex” page – the fifth page is dependent on what benefits your type of business most. Some example titles for your "flex" page could be Blog, Resources or Portfolio. Additionally included are legal pages such as Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, built into every website. Of course, the number of pages and functionalities is really limitless and depends on your need and budget.

12. Can you build an e-commerce site?

Yes. An e-commerce site is almost like an entirely separate website within your informative website. Not all web designers do e-commerce, and some only specialize in it. Whether you’re ready to sell products/services now or know you’ll want to in the future, it is usually best to have the e-commerce feature built-in during your project.

When a client needs an e-commerce site, there are many other questions that we’ll address:

•    Do you want to integrate a specific type of Point of Sale?
•     Who will be managing the online store and sales?
•     Will you be adding each product, price, description and shipping option or are you requesting that I incorporate that service into your project estimate?

13. Is the opportunity to make any edits and revisions included in my web design?

I prefer to check-in with my clients several times throughout the project so that you can review and approve the work. If something is not aligning the way you hoped – I’d rather catch it early on in the design process and obtain your feedback to ensure the best design outcome. Once I have a couple pages of your site completed, I will give you a tour to hear your reactions. If you like what you see, then I continue and design a couple more. Then, I do the same for the additional pages. At this point, I finish the remaining pages, legal pages, SEO optimization, etc.

Once the entire site is finished, one revision is included. We have a meeting where I give you the “grand tour.” At this point, we’ll go over anything and everything that you want to edit or revise, if necessary. Once I complete those edits and revisions, you’re able to see the finished product and we launch! At any point that a client feels the need for more than 1 major revision, I would be happy to do that on my hourly rate.

14. Will my website be secure?

Having an SSL Certificate is extremely important, along with updating your site’s software, getting routine backups and making sure your domain registration stays current. While WordPress requires manual backups, there are lots of CMS that do not. My top three CMS, mentioned earlier, do not require any manual updates – which I love! They include an SSL certificate for your domain with every plan. To limit spam, they also offer built-in ReCAPTCHA keys (I am not a robot checkbox) that are built-in for contact and newsletter forms, should you opt to use them. Sometimes, other domain hosts require you to pay an additional SSL certificate fee.

15. What training and support do you offer after launching the site?

I always include a 2-hour, one-on-one training session with my clients after launch. Building your site on a user-friendly platform ensures you will be able to make a variety of changes and updates yourself as well! Perhaps you want to post a new blog, or update some photos in your gallery, add events you’ll be attending or announce your latest and greatest news? These are the types of topics covered in your training session. What I’ve spent over a decade learning, however, is impossible to include in two hours, and there may be times when you need additional support. Some designers don’t support their website builds post-launch, but I am always at your service, either on retainer or per my hourly rate for additional training or even group workshops.

16. Do I own the site and its contents after it goes live?

You absolutely own the content; however, just like your Facebook or Instagram accounts, you don't own the platform. Any content or graphics I create for your site such as logo, icons, photography are all released to you as well. I do not claim any ownership of these materials and turn over all files to my clients upon launch. You should own these files instead of licensing them and have a copy saved so you don’t need to ask for them when you need them.

17. How much will my website cost?

This is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I can tell you FOR CERTAIN, it’s not even close to a million dollars! I wish I could provide an answer – but the cost of your site depends on so many variables: how many pages, how much content, whether I’m doing the writing and photography, whether you are supplying all the content, if it’s an informational site or an e-commerce site and so on…

I’d be more than happy to discuss those things with you in a kick-off call and give you a better idea of final cost projection. I encourage you to shop around! Compare prices of other web designers and agencies and get quotes from several. Take into consideration your needs and end goal. Decide whether you’re comfortable working with someone 100% remotely or whether you’d like to work with someone in your area. A beautiful part of our digital age, is that I can work with any company, pretty much anywhere!

My mission when launching my web design business was to offer these services more affordably for small businesses, so I’m confident that we’ll be speaking soon!

Still have a question?

I'd love to hear about your goals and how I can help you achieve them.