We’ve compiled the following list of questions and answers about our services and web design in general. Please check it out. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, we hope you will contact us, and we’ll do our best to answer it. Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you if you think we can meet your design needs.

What do I need to have a website?

There are basically four things you need to have a website: A domain name (www.somename.com), hosting (a place for your site to live on the web), a plan for organizing your site, and some content.

Can I register a domain name and get hosting for my site through Asheville Web Fix?

Yes, we can take care of domain registration and hosting.

What if I already have a domain name, but no site?

That is fine. In order to design your site, we just need your user information and the name of the place you registered your site. We can take it from there.

What if I already have a hosting plan?

We will look at your plan, and we can either leave your site hosted where it is, or we can recommend other options that may offer more features and/or may be less expensive.

How long will it take for my web site to be designed?

The time frame for a design project is often dictated by the client. If you have a deadline in mind we will do our best to meet it for you. The most common delay in the creation and completion of a new website is waiting for content (text/images) to be sent to us by the client.

I don’t really have any graphics, text, or images. Can you help?

We can help to a limited extent. We offer photography services, and will either design or find and purchase usage rights for graphics to be used on your site. When it comes to text, we can provide guidance, but it is largely up to you to provide your key messages and the content you wish to communicate to your audience.

Will we need to have a meeting in connection with the website design?

This is entirely up to you. If you are in or near the Asheville area, we are always happy to meet with you in person. Meeting face to face can help us get a good feel for what you expect out of your site. However, it is not necessary. If you are not in our local area, we can communicate via email, telephone, and FTP. Even after an initial meeting with local clients, most of our follow up communication is done electronically.

Once my website design is completed -what aftersales service do you offer?

We support all of our sites and are always available should you encounter problems or require enhancements. We offer web site maintenance plans and training for content management solutions if you want to maintain your site yourself.

In what format should I supply words and photographs about my business for my new website?

It is helpful to us if you are able to provide text and photographs in electronic form. If this is not possible, we can help get your information ready for use on the website.

Will my website design be search engine friendly?

All our websites are created with search engines in mind and they are compliant with search engine guidelines. It is a good idea for your website to be re-evaluated periodically since search engines often alter their rules and algorithms and you will want to make sure that your website is kept up to date.

I want a blog. Can you help?

Yes, we can set you up with a blog, either as your entire site or as part of your site.

How will I update my website?

There are many different options for updating websites. The method you choose and the functionality we build into your website is up to you. We can advise you on this once we get more information about how you will use your site. If you have a small website consisting of just a few pages and will not need frequent changes, it is usually more cost effective to have Asheville Web Fix make changes for you. Other methods are dependent on how much data you have and how you currently store this information. We can build a content management system, or CMS, for your site, so you can update your own content. This will allow you to update and/or add text, images, etc. without needing to know html or have any programming ability. Even with a CMS, there will likely be times when you need technical assistance, but these will be far less frequent than with a static site.

Do you use Flash animation in your website design?

Yes we sometimes use flash, but we use it somewhat sparingly. There are times when flash animations can be an asset, but we don’t use Flash to create an entire website or even entire pages since search engines are not able to read flash content. Generally it is best to use flash for smaller banners, ads, videos, and photo presentations incorporated into a web page which also includes some written text in html. This is good SEO practice.

Can I get e-mail with my website?

Yes you can have email and you will probably want to set-up several email addresses e.g. info@yourdomain.com, yourname@yourdomain.com. We can set up the email addresses and help you configure your email software if needed.

How much will it cost to build a website?

The cost of a web site varies depending on your needs. If you would like to get an estimate, fill out our contact form and we will send you a questionnaire, then we can provide you a proposal and price quote. We always do our best to work within your budget, and to give you as many options as possible, keeping in mind that websites are scalable and therefore can be changed, expanded, and enhanced over time. To give you some ideas about cost, a small web site with just a few static pages might cost between $400-$1000. A medium size site with a blog and some content managment capability might cost between $800-$3000, and a larger database driven web site with advanced funtionality might cost between $2500-$10,000. These are provided as broad guidelines, as each site is very unique. We will provide a detailed proposal should you choose to contact us about your site.

How do I take credit cards online?

There are various methods available. We would need to talk to you to establish your requirements, but there are essentially two main methods of accepting credit cards. The first method is where you use your own merchant account and a gateway, and the second is to use a payment service such as PayPal or Google Checkout. We can help advise you on which options would best suit your needs.

Do you redesign and/or maintain existing sites?

Yes we do. We can redesign, retaining your company corporate style or we can redesign to give you a completely new image. We also offer maintenance packages on existing sites for clients who are happy with their website, but do not have a means to keep it updated or make changes.

What technologies do you use in your design/development work?

We use a wide variety of web technologies, depending on your needs. Some of these include, HTML, XML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, Joomla!, Wordpress, and Flash.

How big is your staff?

Our staff is very small. There are two of us, including one main designer and an assistant helping with some multimedia content. We occasionally outsource a portion of a project, but we keep our project load manageable and we pride ourselves on personalized service and attention to detail for our clients. We may expand our staff to a third person in the coming year, but we don’t ever intend to be a big organization. We are a small business working with other small businesses, non-profit organizations, and small to medium scale companies.

What other services do you offer besides web design and how do I get an estimate for those?

We also do graphic design for print products you may wish to use for marketing or to present your corporate identity, such as brochures, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, banners, postcard mailers, and more. Just contact us through this contact form and we will send you a follow up email requesting information based on what products you indicate you may want to have designed. Finally, we offer separate photography and multimedia services, both for use on your site and for other uses. We even do slide shows from your old photos and can put these on DVD and/or make them web ready.

Why should I choose Asheville Web Fix to design, redesign, or develop my web site?

At Asheville Web Fix, we design websites that are visually appealing, user-friendly. and highly functional. We understand the value of different web development technologies and design elements, and when and how they work. Creating an ideal site structure that maximizes access to your key messages and provides quick, seamless intuitive navigation sets the foundation for a successful web project.

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