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Q. Will you use a ready-made templates or custom design my website? A. Depends on the type of site you need and the product or service you would like to advertise. Usually we will custom design a website for you, so that it is uniquely based on your specific needs. Sometimes however we will use combinations or portions of pre-designed proven concepts. Q. If I like a ready made template can you customize it based to my needs? A. Usually yes. Unless you need heavy modifications, in such case we are better off starting with a completely new design. Q. I have my own design and/or idea, can you build me a website based on it? A. Most definitely! That is what we are here for. To put your ideas into a working website. Q. Can you put special effects and/or music files in my website? And is there an extra charge? A. If you like we can place special effects sound files within your web pages (based on availability) usually at no extra charge. As far as music and song files goes because of copyright laws we can only use songs and music files that you or your own band have performed yourself. Sometimes we can use generic type midi files for background music effect, but these are music only files not “singing” files. Usually this is done at no extra charge unless you need something more complex. Q. What is a Concept Draft? A. A Concept Draft is a sketched out page of a website. Concept drafts often have an unfinished look to them. That's normal in this phase of the project. They serve mostly as a tool to hone in on your site structure (how many columns, where the call to action goes, etc.) and color scheme (monochromatic, full color, pastels only, vivid tones, etc.) and overall look (photographic, 3D style, high-tech, open-space, etc). Concept Drafts are drawn up basically to get our and your ideas on the same “channel”. Q. What is a Base Design? A. Derived from the Concept Draft and your feedback, a Base Design will be created. This is your first real look at your website. Base Designs can, and will, undergo revisions - so we expect changes and so should you. This is the stage when your website will be molded into a working best looking site that fits your needs and what you represent. Q. What constitutes a Revision? A. A Revision is a modification to your base design. The first revision may be fairly substantial – for example swapping colors, making the logo bigger or changing a photograph here and there. However as your project progresses, revisions should become less drastic such as slightly shifting a color darker or lighter, making text a tad bigger or move the logo by a few pixels. Q. What is a Final Design? A. The Final Design is the result of your base design after it has undergone all revisions and you have given Final Design Approval. Final Designs cannot be revised, when absolutely necessary a nominal fee usual applies. To give you an idea of how important this stage is, we could compare it to bringing your car to a body shop to get it painted, and when they start applying the first coat of the red you had chosen, you now decide you want your car blue instead. Make sure you are satisfied with your design before you give Final Design Approval. It is true that nothing is cast in stone, just like the car painter can re-sand your car and repaint it blue, we can also change the whole look of your pre-designed site too, this can be very time consuming however. Keep in mind that all of the components and colors of a design are chosen and coordinated to the focal point or message the site is trying to convey, changing one component or color can suddenly make every thing else appear out of place. That said, your website can however be edited later based on the package you have chosen. Q. What is a Test Site? A. The Test Site is the last production phase before uploading the site to a server. We put a fully functional copy of your website on a temporary test server. You will be given access to this Test Server so that you can see your site from any computer that has an internet connection. No one else can see the site at this point unless you forward the temporary address to them. We do this to make sure that everything is in working order and that you are happy with the finished product just as it would appear on the internet before we publish the site on the world wide web itself. Once you approve the Test Site, we will be able to to upload the finished site to the host server. Q. How will my website be uploaded to the server? Do I have to do it? A. Your finished website will be uploaded to the host server by us. If you'd like installing your website directly to your server or hosting account yourself, please feel free to ask. We can supply you with your entire website on CD or flash drive free of charge and you can upload it later to a server of your choice. Q. How do I go about choosing my hosting package? A. This is actually a very simple process. We do have at least two very reliable hosting servers based in the Toronto area in Ontario which we do business with. These servers were carefully chosen based on first and foremost being based in Canada, reliability, quality of customer service, and cost. They normally offer at least 3 hosting packages to choose from ranging from about $5 to $15 per month. You can choose anywhere from a 3 months up to 2 years package. We will assist you every step of the way of course. Q. Who pays for my hosting package? A. Because you are the owner of your own website and we are simply the "designers", you have to pay for the hosting package, Also you will need to pay by credit card so that they will re-new the service once it expires to assure continuity on the internet, unless you choose to cancel the service of course. Q. What about my site name (domain name)? A. This is a name that you choose. We help you in this process too, but it is very easy. Be aware that many domain names are already taken and over a million new ones are registered every day. This means that you might not be able to have the name exactly as you would like. For example you may have to go for a name that ends with .ca instead of .com, or you may have to use a personalized name instead of a generic one. As a norm, the more generic the name the less availability. Q. Is there a cost in registering a new domain name? A. Yes. Usually around 10 to 15 dollars a year. This is done at the same time we register the hosting package. Q. What if I already have a domain name? A. Even better. We simply use your existing domain name and “point” it to the hosting server. Q. So what is the total cost per year to get my site on the internet? A. A hosting package for a year runs around $50-60 a year. A domain name registration is about $10-15. The total cost of publishing your site on the net will be approximately $60 to $75 per year. Q. How do I get my Website seen by Others? A. Most people think they can design a website, upload it to a server and they are done, not so fast. There are two aspects to this. The first is of course to upload your site to a server host of your choice, for this you need a domain name and a pre-purchased hosting package. After this your site will be visible on the web but no one will probably visit it until you start promoting it and give out your new website address. Most people use search engines to find websites and hence it is crucial that you get your site listed with the major search engines. We do this for you of course. However even after submission the site to the major 10 search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and the likes, some time must go by before the so called “web-crawler robots” start finding and indexing (propagating) your new website around the world. As a norm, the more traffic your website has the faster it propagates the world wide web. Usually it is will take up to 3 months for your site to appear in the first few pages of a web search. Unless you rely on search engines however, this is seldom a problem as most people give out business cards with their website address printed on them and give them out to their friends and customers. Q. What do I get with a one page BRONZE website package? A. This package is best suited to those clients who simply want to have a web presence. You will be amazed how effective a properly designed one page site can be. You can put images (up to 3) in it, logos, headers and even special effects and sounds. Q. What do I get with a SILVER website package? A. The silver web package is the most common one. You get a fully featured website of up to five pages. This site is normally used for businesses that want to give detailed information about their products and services. For example the first page is normally the introductory or "welcome to our site" page, then the “about us” page which talks about the company itself, how many years experience, how many employees, special expertise etc. Then the “our services” page which describes what services or products you offer in somewhat detail, followed by a “samples” page such as before&after work etc. and finally a “contact us” page. Just as in the bronze package this site can also feature up to 3 images per page, logos, headers, special effects and sounds. Q. What do I get with a GOLD website package? A. This is the ultimate website. Here you can have up to ten pages to express your “feelings” and strut your stuff into! This site is best suited to companies that have “branches” or sub-divisions or service. Suppose you are a large hotel. You offer room rentals of course, but you also have a recreational area, a restaurant, a night club, a wedding chapel and so on. In essence, you can have a mini individual website for each service you offer within the main site or portal. Each sub-site can also have their own sub-pages to offer more details about their own respective products or services. Just as in the two previous packages this site can also feature up to 3 images per page, logos, headers, special effects and sounds. Q. What if I need more than 10 pages? A. No problem, for a nominal fee you can have as many additional pages as you like, usually $100 per extra page. Q. When do I pay for my website design? A. Once agreed on a web design package, we require a 50% deposit upon signing the agreement. The balance is payable upon final approval of the test site just prior to uploading your site to the host server. Q. What if I don’t have a logo? A. Calgary PC Medic is a complete Computer related services company. We offer Web design, as well as graphic design and computer servicing. For a nominal fee we can design any type of logo or header based on your ideas or sketches, or we can build it from scratch. You will love it. And best of all, once we make your logo and you pay for it, we give it to you on CD and it will be yours to keept. We hope we have addressed most of your questions about website design. Should you need more information please call us at Ph. 403-861-6575. |