Avalon Rose Collection Web Site Design and Digital Vintage Graphics

FAQ's

How much is a custom site design, and how long is the wait? TOP
Custom website design from The Avalon Rose varies in price from usually $500-$1000 at this time depending on the complexity of the project. Pricing breaks down as follows...

$500-custom website template for your business which includes up to 5 revisions of the first proof.
$200-custom flash entrance page added to your design which includes up to 5 revisions of the first proof.
$25-each for additional revisions to template design or flash entrance.

Custom website design from The Avalon Rose varies in price from usually $500-$1000 at this time depending on the complexity of the project. Sites with complicated and numerous designs as well as sites with more involved flash animation can be more than what is quoted above, because of the extra work involved. Custom site design includes a website design created for your business by Avalon Rose Design according to your specifications. Once the site design is approved by you you have 15 days after that to ask for additional changes to the design. After that time period, my hourly rate will apply to any changes made to the site design. An initial payment of $500 is required up front before I will begin a custom project, and any remaining fees will be due before your site design is installed. I do ask that when explaining what you are looking for in a site design that you send me as many ideas as you can.....colors, themes, images, fonts, etc. Links to other sites that you like is also something that will help. Obviously I can't duplicate another site design, but it will help give me an idea of what sort of "feel" you're going for.

My waiting list usually hovers at around 4 months long, however it is currently closer to 6 months out.

I do have another option for my customers that don't want to pay the higher fees for a custom site, and don't want to wait on my waiting list. Sometimes I will have a customer send me their ideas for the sort of site they are looking for.....the same as what I mentioned above (colors, themes...). Then I will create a design based on those ideas, and list it on my website in my One-of-a-Kind category at the same price as many of my other predesigned websites $300-$400. If it's what the customer wants, they can purchase it directly. If not, no big deal, as the customer is under no obligation to purchase it if it's not what they had in mind. NO revisions of the design can be made, however. Something minor like changing a font is fine, but no major changes can be made with this option. Depending on my work load, doing a design like this can take anywhere from one day to two weeks or so, but usually not longer than that.

Do I need to know HTML to maintain my website? TOP
Generally, no. If you use one of the hosts that I work with , then you do NOT need to know any html.

How long does it take to install my website design? TOP

The answer to this depends on you as a buyer. Once you purchase a website design from Avalon Rose Design, I will need you to forward me login information for your website. I need the FTP login info as well as your storeadmin login info. As soon as I get that information, I can get your design installed in less than 24 hours usually.

If you do not currently have webhosting with one of the hosts that I work with you will have to sign up before I can install your design. Once you sign up for hosting, it usually takes between 24-72 hours to get your registration email that contains the login information for your site that is mentioned above.

Can you include graphics from a digital scrapbooking site in my design? TOP
Well, that depends. Some graphics from digital scrapbooking sites are available for commercial use. Most times you will need to purchase a commercial license for your intended use, and a credit link to the designer will be required on your site. However, not all digital scrapbooking graphics are allowed to be used on a commercial site. Research the terms of use, as almost each designer has their own, and if you have any questions about it, contact the designer. I will need to have proof of permission from the designer to use a digital scrapbooking graphic in your design.

How many pages/products/categories can I have on my site? TOP
If you have hosting with one of the hosts that I work with you can have unlimited pages, products, and categories.

Can you add a no right click script to my site so people can't steal my photos? TOP

Well, I can, but I don't recommend it, because it doesn't work. A no right click script just disables your viewers from right clicking which causes problems for left handed viewers.

When a viewer goes to your website, all your site graphics and photos are stored in the viewer's Temporary Internet Files folder on their computer, so they already have them anyway. Plus a taking a screenshot or viewing the source code of your site will also give the viewer access to your images.

What I recommend doing is using a faint watermark over your photos, and you can create something like that in a program like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop. Or there are some online services that can do it for you. People will still be able to take your photos, but they probably won't want to if it has a copyright notice right on the photo itself.

Do you do flash animation for websites? TOP
Yes, although I don't build complete flash websites. Minor to moderate animation I can do, but extensively elaborate flash animation is not something that I do at this time. It's very time consuming and the cost would be more than I feel comfortable passing along to my customers.

Do you add the products and photos to my site? TOP
No. Product listings and photo uploading are not included in your purchase. The webhosts that I work with make it easy for you to add your own photos and product listings to your site. However, if you don't want to do it yourself, you can contact www.webcontessa.com, and she can add your listings and photos for a fee.

Can I add music to my website? TOP

Well, yes, you CAN, but it is more a question of whether or not you SHOULD. I personally do not recommend it.

There are problems associated with having music on your website unless you are using a site that is entirely a flash website or a site that uses frames. I don't do either of those (neither is really recommended if you are concerned with having good placement on search engines), so the main problem is that the song will start over every time someone clicks on a link on your website.

Some argue that having music on your website adds an emotional element and a specific ambiance. However, most website visitors have reported finding music on websites annoying. I have found a link that may be of interest in helping you understand why music on websites is not recommended.

http://www.hoteltravelcheck.com/tutorials/website-music-services.html

What do I need to do after I purchase a website design? TOP
After you purchase a website design from Avalon Rose Design, you will need to forward me the FTP and storeadmin login information for your website that is hosted with either www.Pappashop.com, www.ShoppePro.com or www.MerchantMoms.com. The easiest way to do this is to forward the registration email that you receive from either host after you sign up for hosting. You should receive it within 24-72 hours after signing up for hosting. It is a fairly long email with several usernames and passwords, and generally starts with something like "Please Print for your Records." Once I receive that information, I will generally get your website installed within about 24 hours.

Why doesn't my site have a higher search engine ranking? TOP

This question has several answers. First, your site isn't going to show up right away on search engines. You will have to give it at least a month for your site to appear on any search engine, generally. Second, the ranking you get in the search engines depends on the quality of information on your website. Descriptive text is a MUST. That doesn't mean you have to cover your site with text that most of your viewers will find annoying and won't read anyway, but you must have descriptive text with keywords that people may search for your site with.

Another thing that helps is having links to your website on other websites, so exchanging links with other websites is a great idea!

Meta title, description, and keywords are also a good idea (however, not as important as they used to be) to add to your products and pages when you're editing your site, and there are boxes for you to add this information when you create a page or add a product.

Now there are several companies out there that offer SEO (search engine optimization). BEWARE as most of these are not necessarily scams, but targeted towards people that don't know much about websites, and will willing charge you unnecessarily. With the hosts that I work with you can easily optimize your site yourself with descriptive text and meta tags.

My website looks funny on Internet Explorer 6, what's up? TOP
Internet Explorer 6 is probably the buggiest, most tempermental, and problematic internet browser out there. I highly recommend not using it. People seem to be getting it, because since early 2009 the number of users has drastically dropped and as of May 2009 it was estimated that only 14% of all internet users were still implementing the outdated browser. If you're stuck on IE, update the darn thing, but better yet, switch to Firefox. Faster, safer, and you can personalize it. Other browsers are Safari, Opera and Google's Chrome. They're all free, so what are you waiting for?

All my website designs are tested on the newer browsers, Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Safari, Chrome, and Opera. That being said, I can't guarantee that they look perfect in outdated browsers, because they are not tested in them.

If I purchase one of your designs do I have to use one of your compatible hosts? TOP
Nope, it's perfectly acceptable for you to have hosting elsewhere. However, I only offer installation of your design to a website hosted with one of our compatible hosts. Installation and support is not provided by Avalon Rose Design if you host your site elsewhere. Your web host should be able to assist you in the installation of the design, however.