21 Oct Our Web Designers Answer Frequently Asked Questions
We recently built a great website for a local Hertford business and our client was really happy with the web design, the process and the finished site. Afterwards he complimented us on how we had explained each stage of the web build to him in easy to understand terms and the fact that we were more than happy to show him how to amend and upload images himself.
It got me thinking how often we are asked to design a website with our client actually understanding very little because of all the jargon we use. So I’ve been around the studio and asked everyone what questions are you asked most by clients. So here are our most frequently asked questions and answers.
What is DPI?
This is a throwback term to old style screen printing meaning dots per inch.
It’s all about the resolution of your images. The higher the DPI, the higher the printed resolution, which means the better your image will print. In digital design we often refer to DPI as PPI (pixels per inch). This means the higher the pixel count the sharper your images will appear in screen.
What is CMS?
CMS is a shortening of content management system. It is a programme used to create and manage digital content ie websites.
What is WordPress?
Wordpress is a free platform on which to build websites. It is regarded as the most user friendly CMS based tool for creating, managing and publishing websites. Another free platform is Joomla.
What is WYSIWYG??
This is a shortening of What you see is what you get. WYSIWYG is a visual editor that allows a web developer or designer to view and actually see their content and how it will look once posted on to a website.
What is HTML?
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is a computer language made up of short codes that was devised in order to create websites.
What is SEO?
SEO is a shortening of search engine optimisation. SEO is the technique of increasing the amount of visitors to your website by obtaining higher rankings in for Google, Bing and Yahoo. Put even simpler, it’s the technique employed of getting your website as near to page 1 of Google!
Do I need to buy a domain for my website?
Yes. Your domain name is simply the address users will use to get to your website. Our domain name is maltingstudios.com. You will pay an annual fee to use that particular address. if you do not pay, someone else will be free to use that domain name.
I bought a domain name, why do I need to pay for hosting?
They are two separate things. You need to pay annually for your web address which is your domain name. Now you need to pay for your website’s files to be stored securely. This is hosting.
I’ve already purchased a domain name, can you still build me a website?
Yes, that is no problem. We can transfer the domain name over to our server.
Why should my company use social media?
This is actually a great question and I will write a longer blog about this soon. Essentially, think of social media as a conversation between your brand and your client/customer. Whether you are building your brand awareness or driving traffic to your website, social media is an effective tool to interact in a friendly way with your target audience.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing appropriate branded information to attract, inform and engage with a targeted audience, with the obvious objective of pulling them in and so driving profitable customer action.
What is a GIF file?
There’s a clue in it’s correct title! An animated Gif file is a single graphic file that combines multiple static images together. The images are sorted into a specific order in order to convey animation.
Why can I not open an EPS file?
An EPS file is a graphic; like a logo; that has been created in a programme like Adobe Illustrator. You will often hear graphic designers refer to vector files. These are graphics created in Illustrator and saved out as EPS files. So, you will be unable to open the file, however, most programmes will allow you to ‘place’ the files. If you have Illustrator yourself, you will be able to open the file. If you have Photoshop, you will be able to place the file. It will then have to be rasterized to allow you to alter it.
I’ve taken an image off Google can I use it on my website?
No, absolutely not, these images would mostly be ‘rights managed’ and have copyrights attached to them. What that means is that there are fees to be paid if you use those images. The photographer who took the image and the model who appears in the image both need to be paid. You can buy ‘royalty free’ images for very little from websites like Shutterstock. It is not fair to ‘nick’ other people’s images without paying for them.
If you have any other questions we would be more than happy to help you out. You can email us: info@maltingstudios.com