Web Design FAQ

How much does a web site cost?
How long does it take to build a web site?
Why shouldn't I design my own web site?
What web design software does The Web Shack use?
What is your design experience?
How large should my web site be?
What kind of materials do you need to begin building my web site?
Do you handle copywriting?
What about maintenance of my site?
How do I get listed on the search engines?
What is the difference between a search engine and a directory?

Domain Registration FAQ

What is a domain name?
Do you register domain names?
How do I choose a domain name?
How do I know if the domain name I want is taken?
How much does a domain name cost?
Can The Web Shack take care of these details for me?
Will my domain account renew automatically?

Web Hosting FAQ

Does The Web Shack offer web hosting services?
How much does web hosting cost?
Is my web site safe from viruses and hackers?
Will my files be backed up?
How many email accounts can I have? Are they POP3 accounts?
How long does it take to set up new accounts?

Digital Photography FAQ

What type of Photography does The Web Shack do?
What exactly do you photograph?
How long does it take to get photos for my web site or design project?
Does The Web Shack prepare my images for web pr print use?
Can you photograph my business or products for other uses?
Can you print or enlarge my digital photos?
What software does the Web Shack use for photo enhancement/web preparation?

Non-profit FAQ

Web Design FAQ

If you are on a tight budget, then work within that reality. Also, realize that most web designers and developers will work with you even if you are on a small budget. Sure it might not be exactly what you originally had in mind, but by having a professional web designer and / or developer building your site it is a really good start and you can always add on later. But, like most things you do get what you pay for. And you definitely get out of a web site exactly what you put into it.

We're certain that you'll find one of our Web Design Packages that will fit within your marketing budget.

Chances are there are several hundred if not thousands of sites out there doing exactly what you want to do. So, in this case, before you begin make sure you have a good plan and flow charts with page notes on what you want your site to be. This will also allow the web designer or web developer to better understand your site right away. Sit down with the designer for an hour and ask him questions about what they think of the site plan. Listen to what they say, after all we do this for a living. We see thousands of sites each day and chances are the web designer or web developer will have some good ideas and know what to avoid.

Having a well made flow chart with page descriptions and a budget for your site will give your designer or developer what they need to quote a price for your site. This information will also address other areas like web hosting needs and search engine optimization for your site.

Keep in mind that fine tuning high end web sites with Flash or dynamic web pages with back end databases takes a lot of fine tuning and testing. So, be patient.

Why shouldn’t I design my own web site?

The fact is… you can.  I can also re-build my Honda Accord’s engine and perhaps even build an addition onto my house. However, I need to get around and I don’t want the walls of my house caving in on me. Simply said, You get what you pay for. If you prefer the "do it yourself" method, you are at risk of having many things not be as effective as they should be. Have you ever written powerful “keyword enriched” copy that will get you better rankings on top search engines? Do you have professional photography to properly show your products and services? Do you know what do when your web site doesn’t upload to the server properly?  We do. These are the things that we know and work with everyday. We are experts at solving problems and better yet, preventing them in the first place. Leave professional work to professionals. If you can build an addition onto my house…let’s talk.

What design software does The Web Shack use?

At The Web Shack, we are proud to use Adobe products for all of our web design, graphic design and photo imaging work.  The latest version of these products comes bundled in a software package called Adobe Creative Suite.  The new Adobe CS bundle includes Photoshop CS (some refer to it as version 8.0), GoLive CS (version 7.0), Illustrator CS (version 10) and Acrobat 6.0 Professional.  Yes, we love our Adobe toys.

What is your design experience?

We’ve been designing things for nearly 20 years.  Our web site design and graphic design business started in 2000 after we had already designed several sites for friends and associates.  Before that we begin with high school yearbook class, yearbook photography, various flyers, posters, brochures and other odd pieces for whatever we happen to be involved with at the time.  We devoted many years to community theatre set design and decoration. We even designed our own wedding invitations, programs, table cards etc. The design process isn’t about the tools, the gadgets or even the software. Good design is about having a discerning eye, being patient, trying new things creatively and never giving up until you get the desired result.

How large should my web site be?

As large or small as you want.  This question can best be answered by taking a good look at your business and what you offer. Only you can decide what you want your customers to view on-line.  You can give them one page with some basic information and a phone number (although we consider this a wasted investment similar to keeping one penny in your savings account and continuing to pay the services charges). Or, you can develop a site that contains the appropriate information to properly market your business to the world.  Here’s a basic guideline to build on:

A Home page: This is the first page your visitors view. It should contain a small sampling of everything you have to offer (a tease if you will).  Here is the place to give a broad overview of your purpose, mission, products and services.  You could also mention your history, your staff or anything you feel would leave your customers wanting more information (thus, a click-through to your secondary pages).

Our History: Web users want to know who they’re dealing with.  The internet often gets accused of being an un-safe place. It can be, but it’s important to be honest and tell your web customers who you are, where you came from and what you have to offer them. What makes you different from the others companies just like yours?  

Our Services: Describing your products and services is vital to attracting new customers.

Our Staff: It’s always nice to brag about the folks that keep your business running.  Most on-line users would prefer to do business with a face they know.  This page also helps you project your business in an inviting manner.  Depending on the nature of your service and your location, this could actually help bring folks to your door.

Contact Us: The vitals. name, address, phone, fax, e-mail address

Customer Feedback: This is a interactive form that customer complete and submit on-line with the click of a button. It arrives to you instantly via e-mail with their information. This form can be a link off of your contact page.

What kind of materials do you need to begin building my web site?

While we are very creative and talented at designing web sites, we need your help to get us started.  Do you remember when you created your business plan for the bank? ...Well we don’t need THAT much information. But that is a great place to start.  Begin by gathering any existing marketing materials, brochures, photos, notes, etc. that you can find.  These types of items will give us a great head start.

Also, look at other web sites that inspire you. We never copy other designers works, but they can provide inspiration and give us an idea of what your tastes are.

Remember - The Web Shack offers full Digital Photography Services included in all of our Web Design Packages.  Our Digital Photography services assure that all photos used within your web site design will best showcase your business, products and staff.  Many web design firms will contract this out to another company thereby charging you more. We prefer to oversee our own photography and include our photography service within one package price.  You always know exactly what your cost will be with our one-stop pricing system.

Do you handle copywriting?

We have been writing copy for many years and have developed a keen eye for good copy.  Copywriting for the web is actually a very tricky business. In order for Search engines to crawl your site, your copy must be written with search engines in mind.  Every paragraph of text on your site needs to contain the “keyword phrases” that search engine crawlers are looking for.  If these keywords are not carefully included in such a way that search engines like them, your site could be banned from them and not be crawled again. This is the reason that folks shouldn’t try to be their own web designers.  While these factors are certainly important, you also want good copy that effectively sells your products and services.  That’s what have a web site is really about in the first place.

What about maintenance of my site?

We are proud to offer a very reasonable Web Maintenance program. Web site maintenance is vital to assuring return visits to your site.  How many times have you visited a web site and found that things haven’t changed in several months…even years.  Now, how many times have you been back?  A good site maintenance plan is crucial to keeping your site fresh and inviting.  We offer three different plans for making sure your site is fresh and up-to-date.

How do I get listed on the search engines?

The Web Shack builds every site to be search engine friendly. This means that our sites are well structured, well written and well designed so that search engines can find them. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very tricky business.  We don’t know everything (nobody does) but we’ve been studying Search Engine Optimization and have developed a very good feel for what the various Search Engines and Directories are “crawling for. Unfortunately, no one can guarantee results with search engine placement.  There are many companies offering pay-per-click and sponsored listings that will put your site in various prominent locations.  We do not discourage these methods but advise that you should research these options and budget accordingly. Here is an excellent site that contains everything you would ever want to know about search engine rankings: www.selfpromotion.com.


What is the difference between a search engine and a directory?

The primary difference between a search engine and a search directory is how web sites get added to the database. In a search directory, people submit their sites, which are, in turn, reviewed by human editors. If the editor deems that the site is acceptable for inclusion based on a set of criteria, the editor adds it to the directory. Yahoo and Open Directory are examples of search directories.

On the other hand, search engines use spiders [small programs that traverse the Internet looking at web sites] to find sites. The spiders retrieve content from web sites and send it back to the search engine's database. The search engine then analyzes the web page and ranks it according to very sophisticated algorithms, which are closely guarded secrets. AltaVista and Google are examples of search engines.

Domain Registration FAQ

Every company or organization that wants to be on the internet will register a domain name for use as their on-line identity or name that clients (customers, all internet users) will use to access on-line services such as the organization's website or email system.

For example, Web Shack Designs registered the domain name www.webshackdesign.com, so users on the internet can access our website (and order services, etc) at www.webshackdesign.com and send email to Web Shack employees at staff@webshackdesign.com. Much like a company's name, logo, or 800 number, a domain name has marketing value when customers can easily remember and associate it with the organization. Since over 11 million domain names have already been registered world-wide, it can be difficult to find a good domain name. We can help you find domain names and will help you through the processes of registering a domain and setting up a website for your business or non-profit organization. 

Each domain name corresponds to numeric IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. An IP address takes the form of 4 numbers, each one between 0 and 255, separated by periods. The Internet uses the numeric IP address to send data. For instance, you may be connecting to a World Wide Web server with the domain name "www.webshackdesign.com", but as far as the network is concerned, you are connecting to the Web server with the IP address associated with that domain name.

The Domain Name System is a collection of databases that contain information about domain names and their corresponding IP addresses. Domain name servers are computers that translate domain names to IP addresses. This system allows Internet users to deal with the more intuitive domain names, rather than having to remember a series of numbers.

Do you register domain names?

We provide all domain registration services for our clients.  You are welcome to research you favorite choices to see if they’re available, but we are happy to take it from there and get your domain registered for you. From there, we will get your domain associated with your hosting and get everything working for you.  Bottom line – we do what it takes to get you on-line. Our domain registration and hosting services are included in our prices.

How do I know if the domain name I want is taken?

There are many domain lookup services available around the web. Try this one: CheckDomain.com.

Can The Web Shack Take care of these details for me?

Most certainly!  We love handling the small details so you can just go about your business. And these things are included in the cost of your web site design.

Will my domain account renew automatically?

We keep track of renewal dates, user names, passwords etc, for all of our web clients.  Each year when your domain name comes up for renewal, we pay it immediately and send you an invoice for the small amount due. Your only responsibility each year is to pay the small bill when we send it to you. Does it get any easier?

Web Hosting FAQ

How much does web hosting cost?

The cost for web hosting is included in our web design packages. Hosting for most web sites is renewable each year for $120.00.  E-commerce sites and sites requiring above average space and e-mail requirements will require a larger hosting package. Please consult with us for current rates.

Is my web site safe from viruses and hackers?

Our fully redundant core network and backbone connectivity is unsurpassed in its efficiency and performance. With six separate sites, located in five different states on both coasts and central US, our network offers extremely low latency, no packet loss, and, best of all, direct connectivity to all major global tier 1 backbones. This unique combination provides a superior network infrastructure with an unmatched quality of service.

Our network is legacy-free and only utilizes the latest in Cisco inter-networking equipment. The network is fully redundant at each and every level possible, there being no single point of failure. The network is fully fault tolerant and able to withstand a major disaster.

Will my files be backed up?

All servers have full nightly backups performed.

How many email accounts can I have? Are they POP3 accounts?

Our web packages determine how many POP3 email accounts you will have.  Additional e-mail accounts are easily purchased for $5.00 each per year. Need more? Drop us an e-mail and we’ll have you up and running within an hour or so.

How long does it take to set up new accounts?

Instant account set-ups (usually less than 24 hour hours - please allow up to 48 hours on weekends).  New Domain’s can be acquired almost instantly. However, you must allow 48 to 72 hours for necessary propagation on the internet.

Digital Photography FAQ

What exactly do you photograph?

People, buildings, products, interiors, pets, automobiles, food, scenic, signs, whatever you need displayed on your site or within your design project.

How long does it take to get my photos?

We’re pretty picky about how our photos look.  We input each photo into Photoshop then touch-up, crop, adjust, color-correct and otherwise perfect each shot before just slapping it on a web page. Sometimes we add shadows, sometimes we soften the background to make the image stand out. How long does this take?  It depends on how many photos and what specifically needs to be done to each one.  Generally we can have your photos prepared for your site within one to two weeks.

Does The Web Shack prepare my images for web print use?

We rambled on above about the process…but wait, there’s more. We sometimes take the photos after we’ve Photoshop’d them and open them in a program called Adobe Image Ready. Here we often slice them up into smaller sections before they are put back together in the web layout software. This process (called slicing) allows for faster loading pages.  This is actually how most of our designs for the web pages are also created.

Can you photograph my business or products for other uses?

You are welcome to use your images for other purposes such as brochures etc. if you purchase a web design package. Otherwise we will photograph your products and / or services at a rate of 20.00 each. This rate includes display and lighting, limited travel distance and required touch-up work in Photoshop.

Can you print or enlarge my digital photos?

The Web Shack is proud to offer wide format ink jet (Giclee Printing) for photographers, artists and photo buffs wishing to have single images or multiple print editions. We can work from any Mac or PC digital file or we offer full scanning of original paintings, watercolors or drawings. We also offer 35mm to 4X5 film scanning and restoration of historic or family photographs, prints, maps and documents.We offer Short run Color Printing and design of posters, displays, exhibits, handouts, POP - point of purchase, signage and other small, medium or large sized graphics and signs. We can work from your designs or computer files. Or we can design graphics for you.

What software does the Web Shack use for photo enhancement and web preparation?

We use all Adobe products including, Photoshop CS, Image Ready, Illustrator CS, Adobe GoLive CS and Professional Acrobat 6.0.

Non-profit FAQ