Frequently Asked Questions

As many of our clients do before beginning a project with us, we imagine you have lots of questions about our process, what to expect from us, what we'll expect from you, and how to get started. We've answered those questions here to make the first steps as seamless as possible for you.

Table of Contents

What information do you need to get started?

While our team is incredibly creative and resourceful when it comes to researching our clients’ businesses and online presence, we want to be as well-equipped as possible while working on your project. The more information you can provide us, the more capable we’ll be when it comes to creating exactly what you want. If you’re looking to build a new website or edit and add on to your existing site, we’ll want to know things like how many pages we’ll be building, what platform or CMS your current site is on, what your goals are for your website’s design and functionality, any issues you’ve had with web development in the past, a list of your biggest competitors, other websites that inspire you, who hosts your website, your branding standards, what your budget is for the project, and anything else you can tell us about your organization and its goals.

Luckily, we’ve made the process of providing all of this information a breeze. If you’d like to get started on your project, fill out our Discovery Form. We’ll review your information and contact you with a game plan for the next steps.

What assets do we need to supply?

As we get started on designing your new website, we’ll need to be provided with essential assets such as your company logo files, brand guidelines, fonts, and colors. If these branding elements are not already established, we’ll be happy to help you define them. We ask that our clients supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format.

Depending on the type of design you’d like for your website and how personalized you’d like it to be, we’ll also need to be provided with high-resolution images or any video files you’d like to have featured on the site. If you choose to purchase stock photography or stock video, we can suggest stock libraries. Additionally, if you require custom photography, videography, or headshots for your website, we’ll be happy to provide those services and will offer an estimate for that content.

Good copy is also important and is especially critical if your business is subject to any corporate, government, or institutional oversight (i.e. if you’re in the field of medicine, education, law, real estate, insurance, finance, government, etc.). In most cases, our clients will be responsible for providing all website copy. If new copywriting is required, we’ll gladly provide a separate quote for that outside of our web development estimate.

Additionally, if there are custom graphic files you’d like featured on your website, such as graphs, charts, or illustrations, we’ll request that you provide those as well. When working with clients who are artists, musicians, actors, or public figures, we like to personalize their websites with their own handwriting or signature. If this is a look that speaks to you, we may ask you to send over your handwritten files.

Learn more about the additional services we offer to help customize our clients’ websites.

How much time will it take to build my new website?

The timeline of our web development projects will vary depending on the size of the website, how complex the design is, and most importantly, how quickly our clients can provide the necessary information to get started and progress. The timeline for a completed project can be as quick as 6 weeks or as long as 6 months depending on these factors. However, our team will be completely transparent with you throughout the process. We provide our clients a time estimate at the start of each project and they’re often delighted by how quickly we’re able to complete the work and deliver a beautiful, effective, and engaging product.

Do you build custom websites?

We know you didn’t arrive here because you wanted a standard Wix or Squarespace template. We are in this business to deliver premium products and that applies to both web development and design. If you can draw it on a napkin or have seen it somewhere else online, we can build it. Additionally, we can help to guide you through the process of figuring out which design elements will best achieve your company goals and which ones could possibly hold you back when it comes to site speed and SEO. What works well for one type of client may not be useful for another with different ambitions. Some incredibly captivating web design flourishes can severely slow down a website or prevent it from ranking well on Google. Applying our knowledge of web development, web design, and SEO, we will help you strike the right balance for your needs.

Do you build WordPress websites?

While our team has the ability to work with a variety of content management systems, our CMS of choice is WordPress and we use it to build the majority of our websites. WordPress is exceptionally robust and allows our web design to be incredibly versatile. It’s secure, SEO-friendly, and above all, it allows our clients to easily own and manage their own website once we’re done building it. There’s a reason WordPress powers 30% of all websites online.

Want to know more? Check out our blog, Five Benefits of Using WordPress.

Do you do all of your development in-house?

Yes. We are a team of passionate, experienced, full-time people who live and work in Raleigh, North Carolina. You would think this should go without saying. However, there are many agencies out there who market themselves as web development and design companies who lack the knowledge, experience, and capacity to effectively deliver what they promise, and who outsource much of their work to third parties. This can make communication difficult and can lead to less than ideal results when you receive the final product.

Many of our clients have come to us after disappointing experiences with these types of agencies and are relieved to discover that our team will not only listen to their concerns and requests with sincerity but that we also have the expertise to back up what we sell and help them troubleshoot, problem solve, and develop the best plan of action for their needs.

If you’d like to start building a relationship with a talented and reliable team in the Triangle area, reach out to us today to schedule a meeting at our office, located at 162 Mine Lake Ct #200, in Raleigh off of Six Forks Rd.

What is your project management process?

When building your new website, it’s important for you to know what to expect from us and when. You will be paired with a project manager who will help to guide you through the process and ask you pertinent questions to ensure that we can deliver the best results. Our web development projects are completed through a series of phases. The timing of each phase is greatly dependent on the speed of communication and response from our clients but will usually last 1-3 weeks.

Phase One: We will develop a web strategy, discussing the goals and audience of your new website. The plan we develop must consider your website's visitors, and what we want them to get out of visiting your website. During this phase of the project, we will design the wireframe of the website so that we can discuss the basic site navigation and layout.

Phases Two: We will be developing graphic “mock-ups” of your new website's homepage. We will create a customized template of your site and run it by you to ensure that it's heading the direction you desire, and then we'll get to work bringing it to life on the world wide web.

Phases Three: Based on feedback collected during the previous weeks and the content assembled in subsequent steps, a “draft site” is constructed on our development server, leaving your current site in place. The draft site is used to complete a “test drive” where any necessary adjustments are identified. Some sites will warrant usability testing at this stage in which people are observed using the draft site and difficulties in use are noted and corrected.

Phase Four: Our team will launch your website for you, teach you the basics of using your new custom backend, and get your website ready for the world wide web. Depending on the impact that launching your website may have, some arrangements for communicating the launch in advance might be necessary, or you may simply wish to make a notification that the launch has occurred in order to promote the new site. When you have officially approved the site, you’re ready to go live.

Will my new website be mobile responsive?

Over half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. On top of that, Google has adopted mobile-first indexing, meaning that they predominantly use mobile versions of websites for indexing and ranking. Therefore, not only is it preferable to have a mobile-friendly website, it’s now essential. We build each of our websites to be responsive and optimized for desktop, mobile, and tablet viewing. We test our work on all popular browsers and devices to ensure that they’re as beautiful and functional on your screen as they are on ours.

Want to know more? Check out our blog, Top 5 Reasons Your Website Needs to be Mobile Ready.

Will my new website be SEO optimized?

Search engine optimization is an essential part of the marketing strategy for many highly-successful businesses, and we believe it should be for all of our clients. The most effective way to implement high-performing SEO is to start from the ground up when building your website.

As part of our SEO plans for all clients, we meticulously monitor and improve all of the following:

SEO: On-Page Elements

  • The Site’s Internal Link Structure
  • Website Hierarchy (i.e. broad > narrow)• URL Structures
  • The Quality & Relevance of Outgoing & Incoming Links
  • Age of Site & Content
  • Amount of Content on the Site
    Site Content Quality (Based upon Google’s parameters)
  • Spelling & Grammar
  • Frequency of Social Media Activity/Posts surrounding the website
  • Frequency of Site Updates
    HTML Validation (to W3C Standards)

SEO: Off-Page Elements

  • Site/Domain Attributes
  • Global Link Popularity of Site
  • Relevance of Incoming Links to Site
  • Link Popularity of Site
    Site Content Relevance to Search Queries
  • Site Authority
  • Site Extension (.com/.edu/.gov/ etc)
  • Verification of Site with Google Webmaster Central
  • Anchor Text of Inbound Links
  • Popularity of Linking Sites/Pages
  • Relevance of Linking Sites/Pages
  • Age of Inbound Links
  • Content Surrounding Inbound Links / Domain Extension of Linking Sites (.com/.edu/.gov/ etc)

If you’re interested in our comprehensive SEO services outside of ground-up web development, reach out to us today to learn more and begin organizing a plan of action.

Will my new website be ADA Accessible?

With the goal of ending discrimination against people with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was established to make all public spaces accessible, including those online. Therefore, it requires certain businesses to make accommodations for people with disabilities. We'll ensure that your web content is accessible to visitors who are blind, deaf, and those who must navigate by assistive technologies, not only to help you avoid a pending ADA lawsuit, but also to help your business become a more inclusive place and effectively serve the 26% of Americans who live with disabilities.

How will you manage my website’s security?

It is vital that your website has and maintains an updated SSL certificate. An SSL (Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate is both an online identification card and a padlock for your website. This means that your site will be secure, hackers won’t be able to obtain information sent between your viewers and your website, and your site is verified by a Certificate Authority.

The benefits of having us install an SSL certificate on your website include:

  • 2048-bit Encryption - The strongest available to consumers.
  • Compatibility with all major browsers.
  • Boosts SEO ranking.
  • Displays a "Secure" icon on your site.
  • Unlimited re-issuance of your SSL certificate.
  • Client confidence.
  • Protection on unlimited servers.
  • Subdomain protection.

Each of the websites hosted on our server comes complete with an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate, along with other vital security components like daily backups, WordPress Brute Force Protection, File Change Detection, 404 Detection, and Uptime Guarantee.

Will I be able to see the progress of my website as it’s being built?

While we design and develop your new website, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. We’ll share our working files with you and we’ll have regular contact to update you on our progress. We aim to please and it will be our mission to create something you’re proud to showcase and promote.

Do you allow for design revisions?

Our goal with every project is to deliver a website that our clients are thrilled with and that we, ourselves, are proud to promote. We do everything possible to accomplish this goal and to deliver 100% client satisfaction. The way we are routinely able to achieve this is to get in-depth from the get-go about what our clients’ expectations are for the design and functionality of their new website. The more information we have up front, the more seamless our process will be. We also allow our clients to see the progress of their website as it’s being built and their feedback is welcome and desired.

While working on your website, we will remain open to your suggestions and requests within the scope of the agreed upon work (i.e. number of pages, complexity of design). If you decide you’d like to expand upon the established scope, we’ll be happy to negotiate a new plan of action and provide an updated quote accordingly. Once we have your approval of the final website and it has been launched, should you want further substantial changes, we will be happy to complete that work on an hourly billable basis.

Will my current site experience downtime while my new website is developed?

We want your experience working with us on your new website to be as seamless and hassle-free as possible. It is not necessary for your current website to experience downtime while we design and develop your new site. Based on the information collected from our first stages of planning with you and the content assembled in the subsequent steps, we will construct a “draft site” on our development server, leaving your current site in place. The draft site is used to complete a “test drive” where any necessary adjustments are identified. When the time comes to launch your new website, depending on the impact that the launch may have (based on things like its size, projected traffic, and user interface changes), some arrangements for communicating the launch in advance may be recommended.

Will I own the website once it’s launched?

We have no desire to lock you into contract or to have ownership of your website. When you purchase a website from Seven Ages Design, you are purchasing full ownership of that site. Once we “hand you the keys”, it is yours to keep. Once the site is launched, we will give you access to the back-end administration along with instructions on how to manage the site, and add and edit content.

What kinds of quality assurance testing do you perform?

First impressions can mean the difference between a one-time visitor and a loyal customer. That’s why we want to ensure that your new website looks fantastic and functions well on all popular browsers and screen sizes. We will guarantee the following quality assurance measures will be taken before your site is live online.

Desktop Browser Testing.
We test our work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

Mobile Browser Testing.
We test our work in iOS, Safari, Google Chrome Android 8.x: Google Chrome and Firefox.

Will I be able to edit and add content to my new website?

Once we hand you the keys to the back-end administration of your new website, you will be able to add and edit content to the site. Additionally, we will provide you with instructions on how to make these changes. We know that there’s a reason you hired us in the first place and that you may not feel comfortable editing the website yourself so we are here to help should you want us to make these changes for you. We offer ongoing maintenance packages and can also do work à la carte at an hourly billable rate. We will be completely transparent with you about the cost of any requested work. Before we even get started on your project, we will send you the details and pricing of these package options and hourly rates in our web development proposal.

What’s the best way to promote my new website?

After making this investment into your brand, you’ll want to spread the word and bring visitors to your new website. We offer a myriad of solutions for helping you promote and drive traffic to your site, including social media, newsletters, and PPC services.

Learn more about the additional services we offer to help promote and drive traffic to our clients’ websites.

What kind of support do you offer?

We are a full-service web development company, meaning we will be available to assist and support you throughout the web development process and long after we have completed it. Our ongoing support includes training you how to use, edit, and add content to your new website, offering you services to help you promote and drive traffic to the site, and maintenance and hosting services on our robust server.

Learn more about the additional services we offer for ongoing support to our clients.

Do you have a portfolio of other web development and design work?

At Seven Ages Design, we build websites we’re proud to promote and showcase to potential clients. We invite you to take a look at the featured websites on our home page to see our latest launches and at our case studies page to see how we effectively took our clients’ ideas and requests and developed the right solutions to create their world-class websites. Explore each site on desktop and mobile and notice how detail-oriented each iteration is. If you like the look and feel of our work, chances are, we’ll be a good fit in working together.

What other services do you offer?

First and foremost, we make world-class websites. To really bring a brand to life online, however, many clients require additional elements, like beautiful photography, well-produced video, SEO, PPC, hosting, and maintenance. We offer a comprehensive one-stop-shop for all of these services and more.

Learn more about the additional services we offer to help customize our clients’ websites and marketing strategies.

I’m ready to get started. Now what?

Great! We look forward to helping you grow your brand. There are several ways to start the conversation. Choose your preferred method below.

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