Frequently Asked Web Design Questions
When it comes to accurately estimating the time required to build a website there are a number of variables involved, however if all the content is provided by the client in a timely manner, such as images, text, logo and hosting details, a small website (up to 5 pages) can be designed and live within 2 days, while a larger website (up to 12 pages) can be completed within 4 days on average. This includes design, development and search engine optimisation.
How much a website costs will ultimately depend on how many pages the site has and the extent of the functionality. In saying that, on average a small website (up to 5 pages) should be under $2000 including search engine optimisation and website hosting, while a larger website of up to 15 pages will usually be under $3000. These days website development is much faster than it used to be, sourcing stock images is much easier and general time management is a faster process, so overall websites have actually gone down in price over the past 10 years, making them very affordable to every business of any size.
The platform you choose for your website really comes down to what you’ll be using it for. There are many options available now for creating a website but you need to keep in mind the pros and cons. For example, online website builders such as WIX or SquareSpace make developing a website simple as they are self-hosted, have all the functionality built in and usually a simple drop and drag system. However the downside to these systems are they are based on a monthly payment system, which means that while-aging monthly seems like a more affordable option, if you keep your site live for a few years, based on their subscription price you might find it expensive.
Secondly, if you want to move your website to another provider you can’t. WIX is its own system so moving the site to a different platform and provider can be near impossible, requiring you to build a whole new site.
We only build websites in WordPress as the platform is regularly being updated, has a very flexible system with countless plugins and theme functionality that can easily be added, and you’ll also find WordPress outranks almost any site built in a different theme.
WordPress is basically an operating system, and like any operating system, there is a certain amount of regular general maintenance from time to time to ensure the security, and optimised running speed of the site.
This is very easy to do yourself if you follow a few small steps.
First, ensure your WordPress website is backed up. Your website should have a backup plugin making this very easy with one simple click.
Next you need to check what needs to be updated, which is indicated at the top of your WordPress Administration Menu in a small orange circle. This would include a WordPress update or possibly plugins or the theme.
Start with the plugins by going to the Plugins Tab and select each plugin in one at a time to be updated. Between each plugin check the functionality of your site to ensure it is still working fine, and then do the next plugin update, and so on.
Now update the theme if needed, but going to the Appearance > Themes section in your WordPress Admin and view the theme to be updated. If there are any additional themes your site currently has loaded it is recommenced to delete them.
And finally, click on the WordPress update at the top of your Admin area and update WordPress to the latest version. Your website will automatically go into maintenance mode during this time, which usually is only for a few minutes while it updates.
Now check your site to ensure everything is running fine, and if you have a Cache plugin installed, clear it.
Do a final backup of your website for reference, and now your WordPress website update has been completed.
Frequently Asked SEO Questions
How long it takes for a website to rank on google depends on many variables, such as the age of the domain name, how well the structure of the site has been planned, and if the site has been both search engine optimised and optimised for speed.
There are other variables too such as how many pages the site has, if the website owner has been blogging and the overall value of the content.
One of the fastest ways to achieve a good ranking on Google is to proactively post regular blogs on your site of around 400 words, relating directly to your topic or subject of the site. By blogging, you build up the authority ranking of the site based on the value of the content, and as you are posting regularly it tells Google that you are proactive with your content.
For any website, optimising it for the search engines is a critical part of ensuring a website will rank well. We develop every website with SEO in mind, creating a search engine-friendly structure right from the initial phase of the development of the site, right through to the population of the content by naming and tagging the images correctly, creating the layout to ensure the best possible bounce-rate, and then complete the full optimisation page by page of the site once it goes live, including integration of Google webmaster console and analytics.
We also provide you with an instruction guide which includes how to maintain future search engine optimisation on the site, to ensure your website will continue to rank well for years to come.
Search Engine Optimisation relies on a few factors, but one of the main factors is the ‘authority ranking’. This is when your website is perceived by Google to be an authority in your particular niche or service.
The best way to gain an authority ranking is by regular blogging on your website, by simply adding high-quality articles of around 400 words or more to your site weekly. These articles should be unique content (not duplicated from another website) and be focused on natural writing, not stuffed with keywords. Add a few links amongst the posts to other pages or posts in your website for some internal back linking will assist in a faster ranking. It is also recommended to utilise your social media channels and share your new post across to your Facebook, Linked or Twitter accounts for quick back linking opportunities.
Our team can provide further assistance in teaching you how to improve you search engine ranking.
Frequently Asked Logo Design Questions
The time required to create a logo for a business varies from design agency to design agency and from artist to artist. Everyone has they own styles and skills.
However we find by starting with a a good brief to work from, a quality professional logo design takes around 5 hours for the initial concept designs, refine them and send to the client for the review and feedback, and then another day or so to finalise the selected logo and save them in the various required formats.
The cost of a professional logo really depends on how you go about obtaining one.
For example, if you use a service such as Wix Logo Creator you can have a logo in a few minutes, making it very chap to create, however as you are starting with pre-designed templates there is a very good chance your logo won’t be unique and possibly not trademark-able. We always recommend using a professional design agency for your logo design. While it will cost a bit more, you know the logo is custom designed, and usually in the cost your designer will set up the final logo files in all the file type you require in high resolution, often provide a visual style guide and also keep a backup of your logo form a number of years, ensuring you always have access to your files.
We provide logo design packages which make it easy to determine exactly how much your logo will cost prior to commencing.
When it comes to the ownership of a logo, technically the designer owners the full rights to the logo, regardless to if the client has paid for it or not.
We believe the client has full ownership rights to their logo once they have paid, and we hand all rights to the final design over to the client for them to trademark if they wish.
When you have a new logo designed, always ensure your graphic designer provides them in all the different file types you might possibly require. These should include AI (Adobe Illustrator), EPS, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF and possibly SVG. These should all be high resolution files, with the PNG file being a transparent PNG and the EPS being an editable vector format.
You should also ask for these in Colour, Mono and Greyscale versions of each.
Smartfish provide these as part of the standard logo design service, and all files are archived for a minimum of 3 years in case you misplace your files.
Frequently Asked Printing Questions
On average, the business card printing takes around 4 business days from approval to delivery.
We use tracking-based courier services to be able to keep you up to date with the status of your printing service, both during the printing process and delivery.
Yes, our printing services can deliver anywhere in Australia, and usually all deliveries are completed within one business week from the time you order your business cards.
Simply order online or call us to get your order started!
We ensure with any service we provide, whether it be printing, websites or branding that all your files be archived for a minimum of 3 years, and can be made easily accessible to all clients via Google Drive any time if they wish to view or download their artwork. There is no archival or recovery service fee required.
Got any more Questions for us?
Drop us a line. We’d be happy to chat with you!