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| Do I
own my Web site when you build it for me? |
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Yes, you own your Web
site with exceptions:
- Any material supplied by third party companies
- Items that require yearly subscription/renewal
fees. If you renew your subscription, you can continue to use the material
even if you move your site to another host. News feeds, for example, are technically owned by the companies supplying them not by the people using them.
- Spot Editing Software which runs only on the
Sizzling Studios server.
You also own your blog. However, it can be quite difficult to move the
blog to another server. You need an expert Webmaster to do that for you.
Be aware that some web designers do not
give up rights to the sites they design. This can be an issue if you want
us to redo a site you have that was designed by someone else. This is
especially true of template sites like those at homes.com and
advancedaccess.com.
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| I am
trying to choose a Web package, but I don't understand what a "page" consists
of. |
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Web site visitors
would rather click than scroll. Using this guideline, a page covers one subject.
When you want to switch to another subject, provide a hyperlink or button. Don't make visitors wade
through hundreds of words they don't care about to get to the few they do! Most of your
visitors will leave before they get your message when you bury that message
at the bottom of a long page. Give them enough information to interest
them and encourage personal contact with you. You are not on the Web to sell houses but
rather to generate leads. |
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| I
don't want people to leave my site when I link to other sites. |
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We
create all offsite links in new browser windows or in frames depending on
your site design.
Please note: it is pretty easy for a
webmaster to install frames-busting code. Consequently, you will find some
sites that cannot be connected to within a frame from your site. In those
cases, a new browser window is the only alternative. |
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| I
want you to design the site, but I want to find my own host. |
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We
webmaster only sites that we host. If you really want our design
services but not our hosting, we can host during construction, and when the site is complete
it is your responsibility to move it to another host. Your longest obligation with us is 3
months. However, we do have a 30 day notice policy for cancellation of hosting. |
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| What
do you need to get started? |
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We
need a deposit equal to 1/2 of the web site package you have chosen plus
hosting fees for the first three months. These initial fees must be paid
by credit card. |
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| What
about photos? |
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Send
photos that are already digitized as email attachments. COMPRESED .JPG
format or .GIF only please! Mail photo prints to us for scanning. We have no way to turn slides into photos for the Web. |
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| I
love the site in Dallas with the dog. Can I have a site just like it? |
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First, we did not
create that site. You need to contact that webmaster. Second, that site is a far larger
financial investment than any sites we create. It is our understanding that
the site, after 2-3 years of development, represents 10-20 times (or more!) the cost of
our packages. Writing humor and/or clever copy is a specialized endeavor. The
folks who do it well are very generously compensated for their efforts. |
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| Alice
Held's Arizona site with the cactus is the best I've seen. I want one just
like it. |
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Not
on your life. Alice would send a hit man after you and after us too!
Alice creates the material for her site. It
is a fabulous site, but like the dog site mentioned above, would be
extremely expensive for us to create for you. We can, of course, do pretty
much what you want but it's all based on what you are willing to
spend. But, we will not copy other designer's
work!
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| Do I
get to choose a design? |
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We will speak with you on the phone about likes, dislikes, and ideas
as the first step. Then, we send you by email one graphical mockup of your
site, before we proceed with construction. You can, of course, request
minor changes.
If you
want additional mockups from which to choose, we bill you for each.
We do not begin actual construction of your
site until we have your okay on the look from the mockup and all your
content in hand.
If you change your mind about the design after you have
okayed a mockup and we have started work on your site, you will be charged for changes.
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| I
want you to use the design I made myself. |
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We
don't recommend it. Sites designed by the site owner are rarely successful
unless the owner is a qualified web designer - in which case, why would
that person need us? There's a lot more to design than the way it looks.
Navigation, content, technology all play a role. |
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| What
about changes during construction? |
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Our package pricing is based on your providing accurate and complete
information the first time around. Most of our customers are able to do this with success.
Although we request that you send us already-digitized material, we will scan and/or
have your material typed if you cannot take care of this yourself. When we do the
content conversion
for you, errors are likely to be introduced. Your proof reading burden can be
considerable.
You will be charged for typing and scanning.
Once a page is built,
any changes you request are billed to you at our normal maintenance rates
even if the entire site is still in the construction phase.
Adding bells & whistles, extra pages, etc. during construction is fine. We bill you
for each addition. |
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| What
about fixing typos? |
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Once
your site is finished, we ask that you print the site, mark typos and fax
to us for correction. One proofing correction run is included in the price
of your package. If you do not proof carefully and continue to send us
corrections after our first proofing, it's considered maintenance and
billed accordingly.
Proofing does not mean changing the
content. Proofing means fixing typos, misspellings and grammatical errors. |
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| What
if I don't like my site after it's done? |
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Sorry, but the
answer is: you wrote the material and okayed the design. If we have
to go back to the drawing board, it's a site redo or a whole new site
which we must bill you for. |
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| My
site isn't finished yet, but I just changed companies! |
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Changes like this,
once a page is created, are billed to you just as post construction maintenance is billed
to you. |
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| Why
do I see typos in some of the example sites? |
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We request that all site owners send the site content
material to us in digitized format - either e-mail or word
processor files. We copy and paste your text. If there are
errors in the text, they are your errors, and we charge you
an hourly fee to correct them.
You'd never send something to a printer
without a full proofing. Extend the same principle to the web.
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| Can
I update my site myself? |
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Yes - all the sites we construct are compatible with
Microsoft FrontPage. You can purchase the latest version of
FrontPage at just about any computer store or online
software supplier. There is a learning curve for FrontPage,
easier if you are facile with Microsoft Word. For an
additional cost, you can also add our
homes database option to any site.
We also have a Spot Editing option which allows you to
update pages that are enabled for Spot Editing. Any of our
databases can, of course, be updated by the site owner.
All of our Sizzling Creations sites are owner updatable with
no additional installation costs to you.
http://www.sizzlingcreations.com. |
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| What
is this bill I just got from Network Solutions? (Or Internet Crusade or
Register.com, etc.) |
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It is
most likely a renewal invoice for your domain name. If you aren't sure,
call them to find out. It's VERY important to pay your renewal fees. If
you don't the registrar organization will pull the plug and you will lose
your domain name. Be careful, however, that the entity from whom you
received the notice is in fact your registrar of record.
Many companies send out scam notices trying to make you
switch to them as your registrar. |
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| Some
of the external links at my site are broken... |
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Webmasters
call this phenomenon link rot, and it happens regularly as sites are redesigned or
discontinued. When we create your site, all links are current and work properly. If they
later break, standard maintenance rates apply to fix them. Just send us the replacement
link or instructions to remove the broken link. |
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| How
long will it take you to create my site? |
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That depends on
several things. We work on sites in the order in which we receive complete site packages.
A complete site package includes text, photos, your package choice, your
bells and whistles choices, how to handle houses, and a deposit. We have no control over the order in which site materials are conveyed to
us. If we tell you today that our queue is short, other packages could arrive before
yours does and completely change our work schedule.
Once we receive your
materials, if we need additional items that are not
immediately forthcoming, we put the construction of your site back at the end of the
queue.
In general, we can "finish" your site 4-6 weeks
after we receive your complete package, but all timing depends on your full cooperation in
providing items we request. Sometimes the timing is less, sometimes more depending on what
we have in house at any point in time. |
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| What
about changes to my site after it is up and running? |
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We bill for
maintenance in 15 minute increments. Some items are fixed-fee, but most depend on the time
required to make the changes. Charges also apply to telephone technical support. If
we help you configure your browser or answer questions about Microsoft FrontPage, we must
charge you for the time spent assisting you. It is more cost effective for you to
call the supplier of the product. Their tech support is generally "free" because
the cost is built into the price you pay when you purchase the product. |
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| Can
I have a visitor counter? |
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We do not install
visible counters on our sites. You will never get millions of hits--and people viewing
lower numbers will wonder "What's wrong with this site?" With our
hosting you have access to full hit statistics privately
through your control panel. If you wish, you can sign up for
Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)
at no charge and we can install it for you for a small fee. |
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|
Is the server down? I
can't connect to my site! |
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The answer to this
one is "the server is probably not down". If you have trouble connecting to your site, it is most
likely a traffic jam on the Internet. or else you forgot to renew your
domain name and your registrar pulled the plug.
If the site really is down, tech support is working
on it and aware of the problem. You don't need to notify us. To check on the status of the
Internet, do a trace route which works with MOST Internet service providers as long as
they aren't behind a fire wall.
To do a trace
route: make sure you are on line. Open a DOS window and at the C:> prompt, type in
tracert plus the domain name you are trying to reach, e.g., enter without the quotes
"tracert sizzlingstudios.com". You will see a print out on your screen that shows all
the hops, the hubs your connection crosses, and the time to cross each. Do this before you
have a problem so that you become accustomed to what the connection should look like.
Normally a connection would take somewhere between 9 and 13 hops. At very busy times, the
number can be significantly higher, with time-outs experienced. |
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| Can
I put videos at my site? |
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If you want video, you can
upload it free to
http://www.youtube.com and we can link to it for you.
We do not recommend any
features that require user plug-ins except Flash and Adobe
Acrobat Reader. These items are compatible with all newer computers.
Other items requiring plugins generally mean the user has to download and
install something. Not a good idea! |
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| Why
can't I find my site the search engines? |
|
Real estate search
engine optimization and positioning is somewhere between an art and a
science. Search
engines change their submission "rules" constantly. When
a major change occurs, your site may even be dropped from the engines. All
of the sites we create (sites started as of 8/1/02) are
search engine friendly, but Sizzling Studios does not submit to
search engines. However, we do offer real estate
search engine optimization and positioning
through
Sizzling Positioning. |
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| I
have FrontPage - why can't I just do it all myself? Or find a teenage
techie to do it? |
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You
can - if you have the time to do it yourself. It has been our experience
over many years of creating real estate web sites that successful
REALTORS® just don't have time for anything but real estate. Your time is
much better spent listing and selling than learning everything you need to
know to design and maintain a content-rich web site. Even if you know how
to do it, do you take the time to tune your car engine and change your oil
yourself?
Regarding the teenage techie question:
would you trust your web image to a 15 year old? Teen techies can be
great
for maintenance. They aren't designers; their idea of good taste is
something that looks like a video game! |
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| How
do I...? |
|
We provide
tech support at a rate of $100/hour, charged to
your credit card. To avoid these charges:
- If you need help configuring your browser or your email, call
the software supplier or your ISP.
- If you need help with WSFTP, call Ipswitch.
- If you need help with FrontPage, call Microsoft.
- If you need help with VisualTours, call TRF
Systems, the folks who make the Visual Tours software.
The makers of software products provide tech support for their
products which is included in the purchase price of that software. We do not provide tech support for
any third party products other than training for Microsoft FrontPage. |
