FAQs
Sales
How much does a website cost ?
Every project is different. I tailor each website to a client’s needs. That means that cost varies: nothing I do is cookie-cutter. However, I can tell you that someone who needs a simple brochure website will pay less than someone who needs a site chock-full of features like e-commerce, an events calendar, or a portfolio. It really depends on what you need and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Do you provide SEO services ?
Yes. All of my websites are set up with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. I can provide you with guidance as you create your content, and give you tips on how to track your rankings. I also offer a monthly Writing & SEO package to get you set up properly across the board and headed in the right direction long-term.
Do you offer social media services ?
I offer an add-on package in our Support Plans. The Social Media Package is ideal for businesses that have a limited budget but want to take advantage of social media to promote their brand, product and services.
Do you offer on-going services ?
No one gets left behind! When our first projects finishes, I can move to an hourly contract or a monthly Support Plan. In either case, you would ask for things as you need them. All work is billed in 15-minute increments. You would receive an automatic invoice on the first of the month. Plus, you can always ask questions, which are answered at no charge, of course. I usually provide answers with screen shots labeled with instructions, arrows, and highlighting.
Do you provide IT services ?
Yes, when you sign up for one of my Support Plans you can add this on to any level. My IT Package is designed for small businesses that don’t have an IT person on staff. I’ll help you strategize infrastructure improvements, provide security for your devices and network, and offer proactive protection in various areas.
Do you host websites ?
Yes, I specialize in WordPress sites, and I use WP Engine to host them. They provide excellent security, daily backups, critical updates, malware scanning, and more. In case of emergencies, you can contact them directly if you can’t reach me and they’ll provide fantastic support.
What do I get when I hire you ?
You’re hiring professional and pleasant people, with whom others simply love to work. You’re getting a business partner, one who truly cares about you and your customers.
I will lay the process out in front of you clearly. We’ll move along at your pace.
Depending on your graphics needs, you could get a logo, a website, print collateral, and social media items. Basically, everything you need for establishing your full brand identity. It’s a one-stop-shop, in a way.
In addition to the above, you’ll get clear communication… and you’ll likely witness a quirky sense of humor in all of its cheesy glory.
And here are your Client Bill of Rights.
What about DIY sites like squarespace ?
It really depends on your needs. Many of my clients came from DIY sites because they wanted to stand out, be a brand, and wanted better service. And if you’re running an E-commerce site, I strongly encourage you to hire a professional than a DIY solution because security and service become even more important.
Additional fees or licenses I should know ?
Licenses are included in your project quote, and are yours to keep. I recommend using WP Engine for hosting, as they specialize in WordPress. I offer Support Plans that sit on top of the hosting, starting at $49 per month. See the full comparison here. If we need to use any special plugins or additional service for your project that cost extra, I’ll talk to you about it first.
Support Plans
Can I really cancel anytime ?
You betcha! I love my clients and always want to maintain a healthy relationship. I’d hate to lose you, but know that sometimes financial needs have to be adjusted. In the case that you do need to cancel, send me an email and I’ll stop your next payment right away.
Do I have to provide the content ?
No one knows your audience better than you do, so I will need your help. We’ll meet periodically to go over the plan for publishing content and/or SEO work. After we’ve established the goals and content strategies, I’ll send them to you for approval. You can send us ideas throughout the month as well, things like news, articles you find interesting, videos and other content.
Does the monthly time rollover ?
The support packages are set up like retainers, every month time slots are set aside for clients based on their plan. When requests come in, they go into the queue and are taken care of. Time does not rollover due to resource limitations.
How do strategy calls work ?
Email is usually the best form of communication because I can respond quickly, however, I know some clients prefer a phone or video call. These strategy calls are only provided for the PRO and EXTRA plans. These sessions are intended to help form a path for growth and improvements to your website and online presence. Many clients use this time for screen-sharing to make small updates or training.
My website was hacked! What now ?
First off, if your website was built by sfpixel, then I personally harden (make secure) every foundation of WordPress, which is already a very secure platform.
If you received an email about your website files being compromised, make sure it is legit by calling your web hosting company and copy me on the email as well. My next step, as webmaster, is to reach out to your web host about their protocol for a compromised website and a scan on their end to confirm where the compromised files are on the server. Under your website care we will restore a clean backup of WordPress, and then take note from the web host about where the issue arose if outside of WordPress. This may mean the web host recommending a third-party service to clean up the compromised files or additional security. The best way to prevent a compromised website is to keep WordPress and plugins up-to-date, which we do for you monthly under website care, as well as keep daily backups to restore in the event of an issue. Unfortunately just updating won’t prevent a hack 100% which is why I help work with the web host and third parties to restore your website on the event of a hack and institute security measures to prevent most known methods by hackers.
My website is down! What do I do ?
If your website is not loading, first check to make sure this is the same experience for everyone at DownForEveryoneOrJustMe – https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com
If the website is down just for you, try clearing your browser history (cache and cookies) and reload, also checking your internet connection. Try it in a different browser as well. If the website is down for everyone, shoot us a support ticket email, even though chances are that our website uptime monitor has already alerted us.
If this happens outside office hours, call the web host directly and see what they can do to get the website back online. Chances are most likely it’s related to the following issues:
- Your web hosting, domain or SSL certificate has expired and bill is due for payment.
- The web hosting is experiencing maintenance issues.
Anything outside of those we will investigate to bring the site back online.
My website is loading slow. What can I do ?
Common causes of a slow website are unoptimized images and external embedded media and ads. Full-sized images can consume a lot of bandwidth while loading. So, take time to resize your images. Take a look at the image tag – it allows you to set the height and width. Be sure to scale the photos proportionally so that they don’t get stretched or skewed. Then, consider changing image format, which can significantly reduce the file size. Finally, reduce image quality. No, that doesn’t mean making your photos look bad. It just means tweaking some simple settings. For JPG images, this is done by directly reducing the quality. In most cases, a quality setting of 80 to 90 percent will show no significant changes from the original version. And you can go even lower depending on the type of image, the detail, and the colors. For other image formats such as GIF and PNG, you can reduce quality by opting for a smaller color palette. For external embedded media, think twice before embedding someone else’s media into your site. Once you embed external material into your site, your pages will only run as fast as the host site. In other words, if that external site is having a particularly slow day, your site may run slowly too. Don’t let another site drag yours down! Whenever possible, it’s smart to host all content on your own server. Plugins may also be causing issues. Just like external embedded media, plugins can bring in resources from other websites. I can perform some investigative work to see what plugins could be causing this outside of the typical monthly website care. Reach out for a quote for evaluation and plugin cleanup.
My site wasn't built by sfpixel, can I signup ?
Although these plans have been set up for the sites I’ve built, I’d love to build a long term relationship with new clients in need of our TLC. First I’ll want to do a website evaluation to get familiar with your website and how it was built so I can save it in a pinch. During the evaluation, I’ll run through my list and make suggestions for improvements in order to proceed with a monthly plan. Contact me for more details about getting an evaluation.
Should I be updating my website ?
Feel free to update products, or prices (I’ll show you how). As for updating the software running your site, please leave updating that to me. Website maintenance is an integral part of updating and keeping your site working properly. At sfpixel, I take great care to first backup the website, check the website, update, then check the website again for any changes. A log application keeps a record of any and all updates, so if there is ever an issue, I see what version was changed and revert back. If you just update from your WordPress admin, sfpixel wouldn’t have that record. I update client’s site once a month so we can take the time to devote to checking your website thoroughly (either the 15th or the 30th). Also included on our monthly maintenance report are the performance and security scans. If in the event I ever catch a plugin issue, it becomes a support ticket and we address it before you. I also take care about which plugins I’m updating and single out large updates (like WooCommerce) as its own task for additional quality control.
What if my website breaks or goes down ?
The purpose of my support plans is to prevent such things from happening, so ideally this won’t be the case. However, software as a whole is imperfect and things do break, servers do go down. In that situation, I’ll be notified and investigate as soon as humanly possible. I can’t promise that you won’t get hacked, but I do everything we can to prevent that and will be ready to restore your site to an unhacked state and boot the nasty hackers.
What if I have an emergency ?
I handle urgent matters as quickly as we can. Depending on how urgent your request is, you have options. You can send an email with the word “urgent” in the subject line. That gets my attention pretty fast. If email is not fast enough, then try texting. And if that still isn’t fast enough, then you should call. If I host your website with WP Engine and you can’t get a hold of me, you can contact WP Engine directly.
All About WordPress
What is WordPress ?
About WordPress – Here’s a quick overview of WordPress from WordPress.org.
Why I love WordPress ?
Why I Love WordPress – My clients have tried other platforms, and weren’t happy with their results, and came to us for help. I always recommend WordPress.
Is WordPress Maintenance necessary ?
Why WordPress Maintenance Is Necessary – Some folks may argue that WordPress is not secure. To those people, I say that’s simply not true. If you have a professional managing the maintenance of your site, there’s a very slim chance anything crazy would ever happen.
WordPress Coaching
WordPress Coaching – I do offer personalized coaching sessions to cover the basics of WordPress to learn more about your site, and to answer any specific questions you may have.
WordPress Glossary
WordPress Glossary – A glossary that lists the most commonly used terms in WordPress.
Design
What do you do different ?
While web designing is my current love, my first one a background in IT security. I was managing backend operations for diamond manufacturing company, with a turnover of $50M.
What I do different from other designer/developers is to make an already secure platform like WordPress, and harden it even further. This is time consuming and something that can’t be seen, as it’s done in the backend. Which is why most designers don’t bother.
My advice to all prospective clients is this: if you have to choose between design and security, pick security. And if you can find someone who goes the extra mile in security without compromising design aesthetics, you’ve found your next web designer.
Do you do all the designing ?
Yes. I’m very picky (it’s a gift & a curse), and have high standards for my work, so I tend to keep everything in-house. However, I’m fully open to work with your team of marketers, designers, or developers. Here’s my design process.
Do you have any experience in my industry ?
I have experience in many industries. Feel free to review many of my portfolio to expand on the different industries I’ve worked with. You can also ask me straight up.
Do you use any pre-made templates ?
Every site I build is custom made Anyone can go use a template. You hire me to stand out from the rest and build something that reflects who you are, rather than trying to put you into pre-existing boxes. All of my websites are built with WordPress that I customize based on your needs.
Will my sites be future proof ?
My Support Plans help cover any future issues. By having me keep an eye on things, I’ll notify you if there are big updates that might break the website. Otherwise, I make the updates & test, and you never hear anything about it because most of the time things run pretty smoothly.
How is security and maintenance handled ?
Support Plans! When you sign up for the START plan, which is $49 per month, that includes hosting, SSL, malware scanning, daily file and database backups, site uptime monitoring, WordPress and plugin updates (weekly), monthly reports and more.
How long will the project take ?
Most website projects take 30-45 days. Content is always the hold-up. The sooner you get to work on your new content the more likely we will finish on time.
How will you optimize for page speed ?
I use tools like Google Developer Tools or GT Metrix to assess any technical updates needed to optimize the site appropriately.
How will you optimize for search engines ?
I use tools like Google Search Console or SEM Rush to assess any technical updates needed to optimize the site appropriately.
Is stock imagery included in your price ?
I include stock images at no cost to you. But these stock may not reflect your business in originality. That is why I encourage you to provide images to me, or we can decide on purchasing stock images that are tailored to what your business is about. I will always check with you first before making any purchases on your behalf.
Do you design business cards ?
Yes! I can provide all of your print collateral, including business cards, flyers, brochures, ads, banners, and more.
Can you provide photography services ?
Yes! I work with several photographers, both freelance and studios, depending on the project. You can work with them separately or we can wrap it into the full project.
Can you provide video services ?
Yes! I can help produce simple explainer or introduction videos for your project. I work with several photographers, both freelance and studios, depending on the project complexity. You can work with them separately or we can wrap it into the full project.
What browsers and devices do you test ?
I test in all the latest major browsers, plus one version behind, unless you have specific audience requirements. This includes smart phones and tablets.
What about Google Analytics ?
I’d be happy to get this installed for you. The sooner you do it, the better for data comparison. My support plans also come with Google Analytics tutorials to help you understand what to look for.
Website Checkups
Communications I’ve had with design firms haven’t always been the best experience, how is your support ?
As a sfpixel client, you will receive clear guidance through the entire process, screen shots and directions clearly explaining answers to your questions, and a response to your email, text, or phone calls within 24-48 hours excluding weekends, holidays, and vacations.
If we are using a slow host and want to improve page speed, can you help us with domain names & hosting services ?
Yes! When you work with me, you benefit from everything WP Engine offers at a Premium level. I choose to work with them, because their highly-managed WordPress web hosting service includes enterprise-grade capabilities that guarantee superior security, performance and scalability.
If we needed your help to make the suggested updates, would you work with our developers & designers ?
While I don’t outsource my work to keep tight quality control and standards, I’m a 100% open to working with your team of marketers, designers and developers.
My website is just cooked. How long would it take to create a new one ?
I can cater to your timeline and work as progressively or laid-back as you’d like. In a perfect world, where we are getting back to each other very quickly, I could potentially finish your project in a month or so. Realistically however, most website projects timelines are between one to three months. Additionally, if it’s a larger site with many components, that could take even longer. It all depends on your project and urgency.
Do you offer marketing services ?
I can help you get started with email marketing, social media setup and campaigns, advertising on social media like YouTube and Facebook, Google ads etc. Reach out to me for a marketing quote.
Do you offer other design services ?
I mostly focus on web design and items surrounding that such as search engine optimization, user experience, and responsiveness. Outside of web design—I also offer graphic design, custom infographics, explainer videos, podcasts. Another on-going service I like to offer all of our clients is WordPress Support Plans. These plans help to maintain your website health and ensure everything runs smoothly with no interruptions, day to day.
What happens after the checkup ?
If you did need assistance implementing any of our suggestions and would be interested in joining our wonderful group of happy clients—we’re here to support you in any way we can.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact me
