FAQ’s
Frequently asked questions about Web site design and development
Listed here are questions that we are asked most frequently. We
hope they will also help answer any question(s) that you may have
before getting started. If you prefer to talk to a human being
instead, please free to call us at (713) 532-5834, M-F 8:30 to
5:30.
Does my small business really need a
Web site?
The short answer is YES. In today’s competitive business
environment, you need every possible edge to attract new customers,
keep existing ones happy and find additional sources of sales.
A professionally designed Web site can give that edge to your small
business. According to Forrester Research net influenced sales
represent three times as much revenue as online sales. In other
words, people prefer to research products and prices online and
then shoot off to the shops to buy offline.
How will a Web site
help my business grow?
A Web site will help you …
- Expand your sales team without increasing your overheads – You
can be in more than one place at the same time. Provide more
information about your product or services in your own words
to everyone who visits your Web site.
- Reach a much wider audience - You're not limited to distance
when you have a Web site. Let anyone, anywhere know about your
business and why it is the one for them.
- Get found by potential customers –When your Web site
is ranked higher in major search engines you not only attract
qualified buyers to your business but may get a leg up on your
competition.
- Let customers contact you through your Web site - Visitors
can use a Web based form to let you know that they are interested
in learning more about what you are offering and get a warm lead
to follow up.
- You are open 24/7, 365 days a year – Without the expense
of additional staff or expanding your brick-and-mortar store,
you are now open for business and customer service around the
clock.
- Provide 24/7 customer service without increasing costs - Make
sure prospective customers can find you by providing driving
directions and a map of your location. Cut down on telephone
time in answering general questions about your hours, warranties
etc. by having a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page like
this one.
- Provide testimonials of your products or services – Have
your customers complemented you on how great your product is?
Let the world know how your current customers feel!
- Let your customers know more about you and your values - by
posting a mission statement and your core values. Give strong
reasons for them to do business with you.
- Sell online: add another source of revenue for your business.
Not all products and services lend themselves to selling online.
- Save money on printing by cutting back on the volume and reprints
of printed sales literature.
- Provide current information to your people out in the field – if
you use outside sales rep in your business.
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Can I really afford to have my own Web
site?
Yes, it is a lot less than the cost of traditional print advertising
and it can be updated frequently without too much time or money.
Take a look at our prices to
get an idea of how much it would cost for your Web site.
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How hard can Web site design be?
That will depend on the time and money you want to spend on software
tools and learning to use them effectively. Here’s one scenario – professional
level HTML editor MS FrontPage - $169 or Dreamweaver -$399, an
image editor like JASC’s Paint Shop Pro - $110 or Adobe’s
Photoshop - $600 and may be an illustration package like Corel
Draw - $499. Expect to pay about $1,000 for software and a couple
of “Visual Quick Start”books to get you started. Plan
on spending about a week in learning the basics by trial and error.
Then you can begin to build your Web site. After spending 2-3 months
of your time (with some frustrating moments) writing text and creating
content, you could end up with a “professional looking” site
based on a template that a few hundred other people may have also
purchased. Keep in mind your site is probably not search engine
friendly and after all your hard work, no can find you online.
Okay, we have exaggerated some of the steps but you get the picture.
We recommend that you focus on more productive tasks of running
your business – which you do better than anybody else and
leave the time consuming task of building your small business Web
site to professionals like us. Once you put a dollar figure (be
honest now!) to your time, you will see that our prices are a bargain.
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How can I get started on Web design
with AMA Interactive?
Get started with our free quote.
Call us at (713) 532-5834 if you have any questions. Then leave
the rest to us.
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Is it really necessary for me to get
professionally written copy for my Web site?
Let’s face it; no one knows your business better than you.
So the meat of the matter has to come from you. We or any other
professional copywriter can provide the marketing punch that drives
home your message. Plus we are trained and have the experience
to write text specifically for the Internet audience and to optimize
your copy for getting higher rankings in search engines. The right
words or phrases will help to make that emotional connection with
your visitor and persuade them to buy or do business with you.
Keep in mind not every page of your site needs to have search engine
optimized text. Of course, you can try to write the text yourself.
There are plenty of traditional books and e-books out there that
can give you a crash course in copywriting for the Web.
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Does AMA Interactive provide Web site
design, promotion, hosting and maintenace?
Yes, we truly are your one-stop Web site development company.
Our range of affordable small business solutions include …
- Web site creation
- Site redesign
- Copywriting
- Update and maintenance
- Search engine optimization
- E-commerce
- Database integration, Web programming and Flash
- E-mail marketing
- Domain registration
- Web hosting
- Digital photography
- Business card CDs
- Print projects
- Do-it-yourself (DiY) resources
Visit our web development, web
hosting, web promotion and other
solutions pages to learn more.
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How much will it cost?
We charge by the page rather by the hour. The biggest problem
with the hourly pricing structure is the fact that there is no
way for you to determine how long it really takes to build your
Web site. Whereas with our per page pricing system you know exactly
how much the total cost will be before you start the project. No
more surprise add-on charge or sticker shock when your Web site
is finished.
AMA Interactive will bill you by the hour only for any additional
work beyond the scope of the signed agreement. Even then, you will
be given an estimate for the additions before we do the work. We
will perform the extra work only after you have given us written
approval. Check out our prices page
for sample prices.
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What is included on my Web pages?
A custom design and layout based on your feedback, preferred color
scheme and target audience and industry.
- Up to 3 scanned images optimized for speedy downloads (Don’t
worry if some pages require 1 or 2 extra photographs or products.
We are flexible within reason.)
- Appropriate stock images from our library*
- Your company logo
- Navigation menu with JavaScript programming and rollover buttons
- Unlimited links to inside pages and external sites
- Simple forms such as Contact Us, Subscribe and Feedback etc.
- Basic META tags (this is NOT Search Engine Optimization)
- Tested for common 4.0+ browsers and cross-platform functionality
- E-commerce pages include product photographs (up to a maximum
of 10 products per page), secure shopping cart and online payment
processing options.
* If you want a particular photo(s) that is not
in our library, you can provide it to us or we can purchase it
on your behalf (you will own the stock image) for cost + 20% to
cover our time for online search.
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What is a typical Web page?
While it varies from one site to another, every site has a Home
(or Index) page followed by inside pages. These could be:
- About us/ the company
- Products/services description pages
- Order or shopping cart
- Contact information
- Maps and directions to your store or office
- Portfolio or sample pages
- Customer testimonials
- Warranties, guarantees, return and privacy policies
- Rates or price schedules
- Frequently asked questions
- Links to other sites
- Resources and helpful articles
- Data gathering forms
Our page price is the same no matter how long it is but we do
not allow you to combine several types of pages into one to get
a lower total price.
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What if I change my mind after I have
signed off on the mock-up?
Client revisions and changes after receiving your written approval
are billed on an hourly basis at $120/hr. We MUST receive your written
approval of the mock-up before we can insert text, photos and build
inside pages.
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Who owns the site after it is completed?
You do. After we have uploaded your Web site to your or our hosting
server, all electronic files will be burned to a CD and given to
you. We will also keep a back-up of your files for a period of
about 6 months.
Note: Stock images from our library that are used
on your site will not be included on the CD. They belong to us
and not you.
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Can I use my own hosting company or
transfer my site to yours?
Yes. We are affiliated with reputable companies that offer domain
registration and Web hosting independent of our design services. Click
here for details.
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How will future updates or ongoing
maintenance of my Web site be handled?
AMA Interactive provides content updating services to Web site
owners who do not want to deal with updating it themselves. You
can send us copy changes, price updates, content for new pages,
photos and other updates via fax or email. We will make the necessary
updates on your Web site and upload the revised pages to your server.
We charge $120 per hour (billed in ¼ hour increments with
a 1 hour minimum) for this service and it is billed on an “as
needed basis.” There are no long term contracts to sign.
If you want to maintain your site yourself, we offer a very affordable
solution for you. With the release of Contribute
by Adobe, non-technical users can update the content
of their website automatically. You can manage all your web content
easily without any HTML or programming experience.
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How does it work if I want to use
your Web design services but I live on the other side of the country?
We have built sites for customers thousands of miles away, and
also in our backyard, that we have never met. We are professionals
who are used to working “virtually” and we can build
you a high quality site without ever meeting you face-to-face.
E-mail, PDF, Instant Messaging are all examples of Internet technology
that allows for information to be exchanged quickly and easily
over long distances.
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How do I pay for your Web design services?
Payments are made via PayPal, an account-based system that lets
anyone with an email address securely send and receive online payments
using their credit card or bank account. If you don't yet have
a PayPal account, you'll be prompted to go to the PayPal site and
create one; it's free and fairly quick.
Please be assured that you are fully protected because we use
SSL technology to encrypt all personal information. See our Privacy
Policy.
If you are a local Houston company, we will accept your business
check that you can mail to us. Please allow 3-5 working days for
your check to clear before we can begin work on your site.
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Who do I contact in case I have a
problem or questions?
You can call us at (713) 532-5834 during our normal working hours
which is M – F, 8:30 to 5:30. You can reach us by fax at
(713) 532-9081 or email us at info@amainteractive.com. |
