Checkmate Productions - Utah Web Design - Salt Lake City Web Design

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do your websites cost?

Because sites range widely in scope, design requirements, and functionality, we can't provide a general answer to this question. For an exact price quote, simply call us in Salt Lake city at (801) 633-4262 for a free project consultation. After hearing your desired specifications and requirements, we will provide you with a written budget and proposal for your project.

What factors determine the cost of a site?

Factors that affect the cost of a new web site include:

  1. Project scope
    How large is the proposed web site? How many sections or pages? Will there be subsections and subpages? What are the expected production values? Sites that are graphically complex often require the creation of custom illustration and animation. Will the website include products requiring thumbnail images and multiple product views? Is the website's text content already written or will your firm need assistance in writing and editing text for the website?

  2. Graphic Design - Logo Development
    Does your company already have an acceptable company logo for use in the website? An electronic version is highly preferable (i.e. available in Adobe Illustrator format). If you don't already have a logo, you'll likely need a logo to be created for use in the website (as well as any printed materials such as stationery, envelopes, brochures, catalogs, etc.)

  3. Graphic Design - Photographic Assets
    Do you have high-quality photographic images for use in the website? If not, we can help you find excellent, relevant professional stock images. For most business types, stock images are readily available. Some types of business are highly specialized and may require you to provide photographs relevant to your particular business. Will you need a professional photographer to take digital photographs for you (i.e. product photographs)?

  4. Graphic Design - Flash Animation or Video
    Will the site design include Flash animation or video? If so, how many unique animation files will be required? Many of the sites created by Checkmate Productions Web Design include Flash animation inlays in the homepage and other pages. We generally code sites in HTML and then incorporate Flash animation "inlays" into the page, instead of creating sites entirely in Flash. We find that sites created in HTML perform much better in search engine rankings than those created exclusively in Flash. Search engine optimization and superior search engine performance are critical goals for all of the websites that we create for our clients.
  5. E-Commerce
    Will online sales (e-commerce) and credit card processing be required for your website? What types of products are you selling? Should they be available for immediate download (i.e. intellectual property, e-books, software, music)? Alternatively, will your products require shipping and handling? Should shipping and tracking be integrated via FedEx, UPS, or USPS? Will website sales be integrated into an existing Inventory Control System used at an existing physical store location?
  6. Content Management System (CMS)
    Our CMS is a back-end application that allows our clients to create, edit, manage, search, and publish content to their websites as easily as they would modify a Microsoft Word document. No knowledge of HTML is required.
  7. Additional Functionality
    Are there any other functional requirements that will be included? Password protected area for members? Photo Gallery? Blog? Site search functionality? Sign-up for electronic newsletters?

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Do you offer web hosting?

Yes. For the convenience of our clients, we offer a variety of web hosting services depending on the needs of our clients. For more information, please visit the web hosting section of our website.

Do I have to pay upfront or can I pay in installments?

You can pay in installments. After the budget has been agreed upon, a deposit of only 33% is required for our designers to begin work on your project. When you approve the design composition for further development, the second payment installment of 33% is due. The last payment is due immediately prior to launch, after all corrections have been completed and approved by you.


How long will it take to develop our site?

Our site development process takes between four and ten weeks, depending on the size of the project and the complexity of the functional elements that will be included. We pride ourselves on timely completion of all projects and strict adherence to timelines and deadlines.

What about maintenance and updates after the site goes up?

Site information and features should remain current and accurate. Successful sites are regularly updated so that events, calendars, and other information remain up-to-date. We will work with you to continually update your web site.

To all of our existing clients, Checkmate Productions offers prompt and affordable site maintenance at hourly rates of only $50 per hour.

We also offer an optional Content Management System (CMS) that allows our clients to updated their own sites without any knowledge of HTML.



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What about e-Commerce?

We offer a variety of e-commerce solutions to securely sell any number of products online. All of our e-commerce sites employ secure SSL encryption, to offer the best online security and protection available on the market today.

Please call us at (801) 633-4262 to discuss the various e-commerce options that we offer.

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Do you offer Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Promotion services?

Salt Lake City Design Interactive specializes in achieving top rankings for all of the web sites we create.

We submit all sites to the search engines by hand, and custom code the HTML to achieve top rankings in the search engines.

A top listing in the major search engines is an outstanding traffic generator. Each major search engine (i.e. Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc..) uses different criteria to prioritize web sites in its listings. Our experts specialize in obtaining truly outstanding rankings and, once achieved, in defending and maintaining those positions.

 

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How do we achieve great results in the Search Engines?

Search engine algorithms use 55 different criteria to assign web pages a numerical ranking in their listings. The algorithms, like any software product, can be studied and understood. By understanding the criteria that the search engines utilize to give certain pages top listings in their rankings, we can reverse engineer the HTML code of our clients' web sites to satisfy the maximum number of search engine criteria and attain top rankings in the search engine results.

Most people, and even professional web developers, think that all you must do is include appropriate 'meta-tags' in the HTML code. Meta-tags, which include a Title and Description for each page, as well as a set of Keywords, help some but aren't enough to get you listed on the first page (i.e. a top 10 listing). And it doesn't matter whether you're listed #34 or #121 because very few people scroll that far down the list.

So, additional aspects of the HTML code that we customize include:

  • title area keyword frequency,
  • title area word count,
  • link text keyword prominence,
  • link text word count,
  • body text content,
  • image alt text,
  • placing all Javascript and style sheets in external files,
  • use of header tags,
  • and much more.

Contact info.

Please feel free to call the Salt Lake City offices of Checkmate Productions 1 (801) 633-4262 for a free, no-obligation consultation about your project.

Call us at -- (801) 633-4262 -- for a free consultation.