Frequently Asked Questions
Getting websites "right" is very hard. Through years of experience, I have learned how to take the "hard" out of repetitive and mundane aspects of website creation, thereby allowing me to spend your time and money dealing with the important and unique features you need from your website.
If you go with the services of someone less knowledgeable and experienced, you will likely pay a lot more money for a website that ultimately lets you down. I enjoy working with a client in figuring out what they want and need, and in achieving a no-nonsense design that meets their expectations. I am not a design "firm" interested in turning a quick buck off your website woes, but instead in making sure you are happy with what you get, and that we can continue to work together as your website needs evolve.
A first step is to determine the kinds of things you want your website to do for you, for your business. Next comes some initial prototyping and follow-ups to make sure things are on track. At some point along the way, or when the draft design becomes workable, we would decide on and acquire a real domain name for your website. When ready, we publish it for worldwide availability.
It usually takes a few weeks to a month to reach a mature point in the draft design; when a first version can be published and made available. Steps during this time frame involve laying out the initial content, getting any graphics and styles right, making sure all the features work as intended, and so on.
There are 3 areas of cost associated with having any website, and I consolidate all these for you: 1) hosting fees, 2) domain registration fees, and 3) design fees. The hosting and domain registration fees are the lesser of the amounts. Hosting costs $9.95 per month, and domain registration is about $10 per year. I bill these in one-year terms, thus this cost is about $130 annually.
The design fees are for my work, and account for most of the cost of any website. This cost varies depending upon the amount of graphic design work needed, number of pages your site will entail, and any custom-built features you might require based on your needs. Please contact me and we can arrange a meeting to discuss your ideas and needs.
The pages of the website will bear a copyright in your name or the name of your business, as you see fit. The content of your website that you see in the browser belongs to you (photos and assets copyrighted by others and licensed for use notwithstanding). The domain name(s) registered for use by your website are also yours.
The code framework which powers your website, however, is copyrighted by Pocahontas Web Designs. By implication, this framework and its features (e.g. traffic analysis) are licensed to you in the facilitation of serving your website so long as your account is in good standing.
All websites I design are hosted by HostRocket.com, a professional provider hosting thousands of websites. They have a 99.5% network uptime guarantee and provide 24/7 tech support.
No. Your website is only as good as its hosting provider. Over the past several years, I've come to learn the value and importance of utilizing a professional web hosting company when high availability and excellent customer service are required. HostRocket is second to none in these respects. For this reason, I choose to host with them exclusively.
You will be able to manage certain content yourself, such as news, media albums, blogs, products and pricing, etc. This is done through administrative interfaces that I provide, and this level of content management costs you nothing extra. For design changes, such as page layouts, new pages, reorganization, custom features, etc., I charge $60 per hour.
Yes. All website content is backed up nightly. Should there be a problem with your website or its server, upon remediation your website will reflect all activity up to and including the day before the failure occurred.
This is unlikely, but possible. Should your website be hacked or otherwise compromised, I will work with HostRocket to determine what happened and what steps to take from there. When resolved and mitigated, I will restore your website from backup and get it going again.
Not necessarily. Often times such problems are my fault, such as bugs in my software that need fixed. I'm always glad when such things are brought to my attention, and of course I fix these types of problems free of charge. For problems that are actually along the lines of design changes, I will probably charge. Ultimately each problem tends to be different, and I take this into consideration on a case-by-case basis.
I'd be glad to, simply send me your question(s). :-)
Green Bank, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. :-)