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StarTunz Web Design - FAQ
StarTunz offers low cost designing and hosting packages
that can be upgraded at your leisure.
What will my site design cost?
What if I design most of the site myself?
What about domain hosting?
How long will it take to design my site?
How do I get started?
I want to move an existing Domain.
I want to sell stuff online - but I don't know
how to start. Help!
I'm a musician/artist. What can you do for me?
I just want a basic no frills webpage for starters.
How do I order that?
What will my site design cost?
Your site design costs will vary with the amount of pages
you want, and the amount of special effects you need, if any.
Here's a basic breakdown:
Single page intro site: $100 - 150
A single page is a good choice for someone who will eventually
be adding more, but wants to get a web presence now. It
usually consists of your own text and a small amount of original
art or logo.
You can see an example of a simple page, utilizing three tables
and some original artwork here. This
artist simply wanted to showcase her original art, wrote the copy
herself -- and was on a tight budget. This single page design
included a logo and small animated graphic, cost her about $130
and was posted in one day.
Small site: $400 - $850
A small site normally runs about 3-5 pages with text and
a few images. Simple graphics (background, buttons, etc.) are
included the cost of the site. Normal turnaround for this kind
of site is about one week. The cost can be anywhere from $400
to $850 depending on content. Real Audio, MP3, or midi files
can easily be added to this size site. (Shopping cart is an additional
charge.)
Moderate site: $850 - $1,350
A moderate site would usually be 5 to 15 pages with text,
optional sound, blog, and images. This might be a larger showcase
for music or art, or an online catalog with photos of your products.
By itself, this could be anywhere from $850 to $1,350.
This is for the site itself with the coordinating graphics and
content. (Shopping cart requires extra time to program and can
add to your overall cost -- and overall profit :-) Simple forms
can sometimes be implemented instead of shopping carts. Click
here for an example of a moderate sized site, with custom
flash graphics, email list, and simple paypal shopping cart. (this
site is constantly being updated, but you can see what's been
done so far!) Complex scripts are quoted separately.
Large site: $1,350 - $4,000+
A large site is the kind of site that requires more interactivity
within the site. You might want visitors to listen to a large
variety of music samples, or view a pictures in a catalog
of your products and promotional items. The cost can be anywhere
from $1,350 to $4,000 and up depending on the size and
complexity of the design. Shopping cart, search capabilities
and other complex scripting are priced separately. Here's
an example of a
large online store with shopping cart, lots of photos, forum,
multiple logos, buttons, and minimal animation.
Designing your own site, with just a little
help... $250
We are happy to host you even if you don't wish to use any
of our designing services. If you already know how to do HTML
and want only some coordinating graphics to give your site a
customized look, we can create original graphics to fit your
design. Logo, buttons, simple banners and headers are included
with this feature. The cost is generally about $250. (Logo design
is included if you provide the artwork in web-ready graphic
form. If you need the logo from printed material, or if you
want us to design it for you, there is additional cost.)
Graphic Extras: $50 per hour
Custom logos are available for the basic hourly fee is
$50. Most of the pricing above includes the cost of a logo with
the actual site design. However, if you need one for your brochures,
stationary and business cards, etc.. different resolutions are
required, and there will be an extra fee to provide you with
these.
A simple logo can be created in an hour. A more complex or artistic
logo takes approximately 3 hours. Of course, the more complex
the logo, the longer it takes.
You can have words, graphics, or phrases designed using flash
technology.
Banners: $50 and up
Banners can be used as marketing tools to bring traffic
to your site. These typically cost $50, but can be priced
higher for animation or design complexity. The minimum banner
charge is $50 each.
How long does designing take?
From the time you contract us to design your site to actual
upload, could take anywhere from one week to 2 months depending
on the size and complexity involved. Your design time is
also dependant upon your payments, as we usually do a pay-as-you-go
plan. (Work stops at periodic invoicing and resumes upon
payment.)
If you are prompt with your payments and have your basic
ideas and some examples, your site can be completed more
quickly!
Domain Hosting:
In order to have us design your website, we'll first set up a
hosting account for you on our servers.
Once you are ready to own your own domain, you will need to do
a domain search to
find out if your name choice is available. You should have several
variations in mind, as thousands of domain names are registered
every day! Domains usually cost about $35 per year to register,
in addition to the monthly cost of hosting your site.
By purchasing through Startunz you can get your domain registration
for $25 - and we'll automatically reregister it and bill you yearly.
No more fear of losing your domain name! We take care of everything
for you. To have us take care of your registration, simply
use the domain search to select a name and purchase it on our
payments page.
Once you've chosen a name, let us know and we'll set up your hosting
account. We offer a reliable host with 24 hour tech support.
(Hosting without quick reliable support can be suicidal!)
Do you know what to look for in a host?
a good solid T1 or T3 connection - they're not likely to
crash taking you with them
guaranteed 99% online time - your site is online all the
time, not just some times
good tech support - they know what they're doing...and
actually answer your emails
good rates - cheap enough to be affordable but not so cheap
that they can't afford decent servers/techs
design flexibility - i.e. optional built it or stand alone
shopping cart. Optional cloddy templates that trap you in a bland
design mold! (You could use these, but why?)
solidity - been in business a long while, and likely to
remain!
upgradability - can you switch plans if you want to?
CGI access - lots of servers don't give you this, and you
need it for all kinds of cool programming
optional secure server - a must for e-commerce
So to get started,
today!
How do I get started?
To begin the project, simply
E-mail us with your site ideas. We'll work with you to decide
upon your site requirements. If you decide to use our designing
services, we will require 50% of your estimated total cost as
down payment. The site will then be designed and uploaded to our
own server for you to review.
You may opt to use our easy "pay as you go" plan, whereby
you pay as the design progresses. You will be invoiced when the
balance reaches 100-150.00. Work on your site continues when your
invoice is paid. In this way you can have your site designed at
a speed that matches your current financial comfort zone. This
option is very popular because you determine the speed of your
site's development.
Moving an Existing Domain? Just head
on over to our sign up page, and buy
your hosting plan. Then simply email us the Domain Name and we'll
take care of it. All you'll need to do is upload your pages to our
server.
Getting Started with E-Commerce No
worries! We've provided an overview of the process here.
In addition to offering web designing, or help with your own designing,
we can help you each step of the E-Commerce process:
- obtain a Merchant Account
- obtain a secure Credit Card Processing system
- obtain a shopping cart for your site
- host your site
- promote your site
Just
contact us and we'll get you started.
Design Tip: if you're designing your own site,
don't use html links for your email, as these are easily
harvested by spambots. Use either a scripted form, or javascript,
substituting the portion in CAPS with your information...like
this:
<script language=javascript>
<!--
var contact = "E-mail Us"
var email = "assistance"
var emailHost = "startunz.com"
document.write("<a href=" + "mail"
+ "to:" + email + "@" + emailHost+ ">"
+ contact + "</a>" + "")
//-->
</script> |
I'm a musician/artist -- what can you do for me?
We specialize in sites for musicians and artists, because
all the StarTunz Webweavers are musicians and artists.
For some ideas, check out RockScarlet.com
- an all original indi rock band.
If you've got original music, we can post it in a variety
of formats: realaudio, mp3, midi or wav. Listen to the sounds
and decide which are your best options here.
We can help you design your logo, and post photos for promotion.
We can optimize original works of art so that they load
quicker online. And we can give you cheaper web options
-- so a great looking site doesn't cost so much!
Our Basic Pages
We've got several designs that are quick loading and clean looking.
These are inexpensive no-frills page designs available for basic
page packages. The nice thing about these designs is that we can
always add a stylish logo or colorful graphic buttons later on
-- but your page is functional and LIVE right NOW.
Us to get started today.
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