F.A.Q.s

San Francisco & Oakland Web Design Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Below is an assortment of frequently asked questions as they pertain to working with Mortimer Smythe Designs in publishing content on the web.

For answers to more general (non-Mortimer Smythe Designs specific) questions please review our web designs blog found here.

 

Should I Solicit Bids for Web Design and Development Work

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No. Unless you would solict bids from an attorney, a doctor, a hairstylist or any other service provider where there is a tremendous variation in quality from one provider to the next. When you conduct business with a web design or development organization, you are paying for a service, not a product.

Alternatively - if you have the time to interview and fully understand the quality of service you will get from multiple different web design and development vendors, entertaining bids may make sense with an important caveat: there is a strong correlation between a vendors rate of business and the quality of work they are doing; i.e. our old friends supply and demand. A low priced vendor will not have the same demand for their work and hence are likely to offer lower quality services.

Check out our reviews on Yelp!

Should I Work With a Cheap Web Designer on Craigslist?

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Maybe, but probably not. Craigslist is a wonderful resource for many products and services, though using this resource successfully comes with a risk - navigating the minefield of spammers, scammers and sub-par offerings.

Before you begin a web project, it is important to consider three things: how will users find this content, how will they interact with the content and what should it look and feel like? (This mantra is repeated elsewhere throughout the MortimerSmythe.com website for good reason.) Addtionally, all three questions should serve a larger and over-arching goal to which only you, the content owner know the answer to. In many cases the overarching goal is to promote your product or service.

For business purposes your website designer/developer is acting as your business web technology consultant helping to answer and solve the aforementioned questions. Don't jeopardize the success of your business with inferior services - it's simply too important. While this may sound patronizing, many business owners never consider the complexities involved with successful web presences.

The "maybe" part of this answer becomes a "yes" if you simply need something published to the web with no consideration for quality.

Should I Pay $199 For My Web Project?

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No. Unless of course your web project is simply updates to your already successful web presence. This surprises us as business owners/managers request quotes expecting bids, opting for the lowest price. This practice most surely results in the lowest quality (read: unsuccessful) web content.

Will Your Work Function Properly on My iPhone and iPad?

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Yes, all of our work is formatted to work with all modern popular browsers including: Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, and Opera and on Windows, Mac, iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad systems) and Linux platforms.  Sometimes special formatting needs to be considered for the touch screen interface of the iOS systems and the lack of a mouse pointer, however this can easily be addressed.

Contact us for an explanation of how we identify browsers and prepare content specific to their type.

Can You Guarantee My Site will Rank #1 in Search Engines?

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No. We can work with you to identify search queries likely to generate high-value visits to your site, then develop a strategy to improve your contents ranking for those queries. The results of our strategy and its implementation may get your site to the #1 position in a search engine results page, though unfortunately it is impossible to guarantee.

If you feel that this is answer is wrong or you have seen many promotions to get your site to the #1 spot, stop and ask yourself how valuable a search engine is when it's results are so easily manipulated?  

Send us a note or give us a call if you would like to learn more about promoting your content on the web. 

Do You Really Do Pro Bono Work?

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Absolutely.  If our schedule permits it and your organization qualifies we are glad to help.  Contact us today to tell us more about your organization and web publishing needs and we are glad to consider it.  (We can't help you with your school projects though, sorry.  ;-) )