Frequently Asked Questions

This is a good question with a long-winded answer. All search engines are different and what works well on one may not one another. Why is this you may ask? Well if they were the same would we need different search engines? In reality search engines are constantly changing the the way they work and the companies don't divulge how, when, where or why this going to happen. The only way to come close ensuring your web site is found near the top of the search engine results for specific key word searches is to enroll in a sponsored or paid advertising program such as Google's AdWords or Yahoo!'s Search Marketing. However we can work with your existing site to make it more search engine friendly by checking your key words, make your site standards compliant, hand submission to the major search engines, and more.

The goal of SEO is not to make you the first result for every search on every search engine. How effective would it be for your company to come up in a search for ski resorts in Colorado if you sold scuba gear in Florida? The process of SEO is to organize your site in such a way that we increase traffic to your web site through a favorable or improved listing in the search engines. Beware of companies that promise a top listing in all search engines because you may end up getting banned and never show up in any search. Read Google's Webmaster Guidelines for in depth information about search engine optimization. Take a look at our blog for more on SEO.

The importance of conforming to web standards can not be stressed enough. Technology is ever changing and in order for you to keep up your site needs to be standards compliant. Many of our competitors, whether hobbyists or professionals, ignore or don't understand how to create a valid web site. In an article published by the W3C, Buy Web standards compliant Web sites, it is explained that conforming to standards provides several benefits to you — lower future costs, easier maintenance, greater accessibility, and more reliable cross-browser display.

"On the Web, being up-to-date with the latest technologies is a difficult exercise: choosing the wrong tool or architecture can lead to losses in money, time, or customers." — More Powerful Site

"Valid HTML code is a first step toward more compatibility with browsers and better rendering on the latest ones." — Your Requirements

Unsure if your site meets current web standards? We offer a site analysis site which includes:

• Checking your web site against industry standards set by the W3C
• Testing your web site against automated Section 508 and WAI accessibility checks
• Recording the length of time to download your web site
• Searching for your web site in major search engines
• Checking your Google Page Rank
• Examining your web site for cross-browser compatibility
• Running a link validation to check for broken links

They charge more so you can ask us why we charge less. The real reason we charge less is because we (which really means I) are a small freelance firm and have low overhead. As a company expands their services their expenses increase and thus they must charge more. Additionally we do what we know and we do it well so you are not paying for specialized skills that you may never use.

You certainly can. AWT Design will work with you to create a web site tailored to your needs and stay within your budget. While we can't work for free we are able to offer discounts from our regular rates for non-profits and other community organizations as a way of giving back to the community that supports us.

Hmmmm, how about a picture of the Mona Lisa to show your customers how cultured you are? Ok then how about this? All web sites must have the actual web site files, a domain name, and a web site host. Most web sites have a home page, a contact us page, and an about us page. Beyond that some other common pages are a resource section, products page, photo gallery, or a web log (blog).

Of course we can. We will use whatever font you would like us to use however there are only two ways your visitors are guaranteed to be able to view that font (1) they have that font installed on their computer, (2) we use an image to create the text. Accenting a page with various fonts is good way add some punch to your site however if all your text is contained in images your site will be hard to find in search engines, slow to load, and virtually unreadable to blind visitors. To ensure they will see the font you intend them you can use one from the list of the most common font sets here; while not the prettiest collection of fonts these are the ones most likely to be found on a visitor's computer and thus the safest ones to use on your site. There are alternatives such as Microsoft's "WEFT" which allows the embedding and displaying of an external font; the drawback to such a tool is that not all web browsers support this technology and only visitors using Microsoft's Internet Explorer will be certain to see the embedded font. Don't let this discourage you though because there are alternatives and workarounds to ensure the site looks good even if your specific font is not used by a visitor. Hey if there wasn't a way then all sites would be boring.

Yes don't put them on your web site. Ok so we know that won't work well if you livelihood depends on showing your pictures. So to be completely honest, no. Despite what you may see or hear from others it is impossible to stop everyone from downloading your pictures to their computer...but that doesn't mean we can't make it harder for them to do so. Here is a comprehensive discussion on preventing image download.

Well shoot the easy answer is to keep me in a job. No really you hire a professional for design and maintenance because that's not your business. If it is then why are you here? Ok all joking aside when you hire a professional web designer you are working with someone who is knowledgeable about creating a effective web site designed to meet your specific needs and how to keep it updated for you and your customers. In short web design is just like any other business. . . you get what you pay for. For a detailed article on this topic visit our blog.