Frequently Asked Questions

General

Answers to general questions in this section. Go ahead, ask away!

  • Great question.

    Think of “domain,” as your street address, and your “site,” as your storefront.

    The domain tells people where to find you if they want to see you, and your site is what they find when they get there. They can come into your store, take a look around, and get a feel for the place.

  • Yes and no.

    Yes - I’m always happy to help; no, because this isn’t my full-time gig and I do this simply because I enjoy it!

    Over the course of my career I’ve found that I really enjoy meeting people, coaching/teaching them, and get a great sense of satisfaction when I’ve helped enable someone to learn a new skill that they’re proud of.

    The fact that you’ll get to save some money going forward because you don’t need to pay someone to do the easy stuff? Bonus!

  • You might want to, and you totally could!

    Maybe you don’t have the time though. You’re running a business and it takes time to learn, to figure out when something’s not behaving as expected.

    Equally as important as the site itself is the content. Being able to present information in a clear, concise way can be a challenge.

    How will you organize it? What should you include on each page? What information is most important to you for customers to focus on? With my background as a technical writer, content writing and organization is something I enjoy and this is the main difference between another website designer and me.

  • The fees listed on the Services & Pricing page includes the work I’m doing.

    Note that in addition you will need to also pay for:

    • Your domain fee (the cost to own your URL address.)

    • Your web hosting fee (the cost for your site to “live” somewhere on the internet so it’s accessible to your customers.)

    If you already have a website you likely are already paying for the two items above.

    If recommendations are required, I have preferred vendors, which I’ve evaluated on factors like ease of use and billing transparency.

Pre-Build

Questions related to any part of the process before the work begins.

  • A few helpful tasks to get started on include:

    • Find your current domain provider information. Who your domain is hosted with and what your login information is will be required in order for your customers to see the new site once it’s done.

    • Think about what two main colours you’d like in your site colour palette.

    • Look at websites you regularly visit and make a note of things you like and dislike.

    • Think about what pages you’d like for the navigation menu.

    • Gather any images you’d like to have included on the site (e.g. product, team photos, art work, etc.)

    • Decide if you’ll want your social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) linked from your site.

    • Decide if you’d like to incorporate integrations (ability to do scheduling, reservations, etc.) into your site.

      Note: this will require more time, and more set-up from you as you’ll need to configure the integration to your preferences too.

Build

Questions related to the build process, timelines, and what to expect.

  • Once the build has begun, significant changes can no longer be made to the overall site structure as part of the original quote.

    Examples of significant changes might include (but not limited to):

    • Site page change/replacement

    • Addition of integrations

    • Colour scheme

    If your change is minor, I’ll do my very best to accommodate the change if it’s not too late.

    Examples of these may include:

    • A simple wording change

    • Text colour

    • Replacement of photo/image

    If the change can’t be accommodated as part of the original quote here are some other options:

    • Save it for after Draft review (during which you have up to 3 minor changes included)

    • Saving up a few other changes so you can combine them for an hourly engagement for me to do the work

    • Give it a shot yourself and test out your comfort level with maintaining your own site after it’s delivered!

  • Great question.

    Check out the Project Plan here!

  • Respectfully, no.

Post-Build/Delivery

Questions related to any part of the process when your site is delivered. Yay!

  • A couple of options here:

    • Try Googling the solution! You’d be surprised at how often techies are Googling things in the background. Shh.

    • Start a list of all the questions/changes you’d like to make and book me either for an Enable Me session or an a la carte hourly engagement. You’ll get better value if you save ‘em up instead of paying me one at a time.

  • Site support is not included in the project quote, however, if you run into problems you can book me for an hourly session to take a look.

Technical

Questions related to any tech-related questions during the process.

(It’s not scary or confusing, I promise.)

  • After researching, comparing, and testing the most popular website builders available (Wix, GoDaddy, Wordpress), SquareSpace was declared the winner for the following reasons:

    • Ease of use. After I hand your site off to you, I want you to have the fewest hurdles possible. A simple-to-use interface, availability of stock photos, and editing options will help you keep your site looking professional.

    • Price transparency. If you have an existing website, you likely chose from a monthly or annual billing option. Your website and domain might both be from the same company, or not. SquareSpace had the pricing plan that was the most transparent that made the most sense to me.

    • Integrations. Right out of the box, SquareSpace has partner integrations that can be added and configured. (e.g. Scheduling, online store, newsletters.)

    • Domain hosting/transfer options. If you have an existing domain that is hosted with another provider (GoDaddy, Bluehost), SquareSpace had the most straightforward steps for tying the domain to your site.

    • Availability of stock photo and template options. There are so many to choose from that if you ever want to change the look and feel of your site, it’s easy! There’s also enough variety to make sure your site doesn’t look like everyone else’s.

  • No. Your site will be hosted by SquareSpace.

    At delivery after your site is connected to your domain and I will transfer ownership of your site to you and no longer have access at that point.

  • Yes.

    Just like your existing site, you will continue to pay for web-hosting and your domain. Only the source that you pay will change to SquareSpace.

    A list of their pricing plans can be found here.

  • NO!

    You do not need to, and I don’t want you to!

    Your site will be built independently of your domain and I will own it while it’s under construction. At delivery, the 1-hour session included with your site is specifically so I can walk you through the steps via a Google Meets remote session. You’ll share your screen, and I’ll walk you through the steps once you’re logged in. At no point will I be controlling your computer or needing your password.