All the questions, answered.
No BS answers so you are not left wondering.
The basics
Resources, answers to commonly asked questions, understanding domains, hosting, and more.
What’s a domain and why do I need one?
A domain is the url for your site. For example, the one for this site is: unlimitedbs.ca . It’s where people go to find you on the internet. You use it for your marketing. Put it on your business cards. It is a must have.
Protip: Do not let your web designer put your domain under their account – get your own! Trust us on this, we’ve had countless instances where clients have lost access to their domain when switching providers. Your domain should always be under your business’s account. We can help you set that up, but will insist it be in your own account.
What is hosting and why do I need it?
Website hosting is like renting space on the internet for your website. It’s not a negotiable service, it’s a requirement to having a website online.
Here’s why website hosting is essential:
- Accessibility: Without hosting, your website can’t be seen by anyone. Hosting makes sure your site is available 24/7 for visitors, customers, and search engines.
- Speed: A good hosting service keeps your website fast. Slow websites frustrate users and can make them leave quickly. Search engines like Google also rank faster sites higher, so good hosting can help improve your site’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
- Security: Hosting companies provide security features like backups and malware protection, helping keep your site safe from hackers. Secure sites are trusted more by visitors and search engines.
- Storage: Hosting provides the space where all your website’s files, images, and content are stored. The better the hosting, the more smoothly your website runs, and this can also positively impact your SEO.
In short, reliable hosting is crucial for keeping your website online, running fast, and staying secure—factors that all play a big role in improving your site’s visibility in search engines.
Where to start with your web design project.
Going in prepared sets you up for a smooth, quick start to your project because you’ve already done the work!
Here’s an idea of the kind of things you’d want to start compiling for a new site.
- Gather all your login credentials: domain, website, hosting and any connected systems (bookings, newsletter, payment providers, etc.)
- Content: tagline, about us, services, images, contact info, etc. Put it all in a Word document, or google, or even an email. Designer will usually tweak as necessary.
- Images: GREAT QUALITY imaging is key! Have a few great images gathered that reflect your work. Name all images (example: instead of img2432, use descriptive words of what the image is of. Don’t resize them – designer will resize to suit their need.
- Logo files: all formats, designer will chose what format they need
- Brand Guidelines, if you have – colours, fonts etc. that have to be followed (designer doesn’t NEED this, it is just if you have it)
- Social Media: if you have, provide list with links
- Consider spending some time thinking about sites you’ve seen and love, send links to those (doesn’t need to be same industry)
- Compile list of competitors, just for reference
- Consider your demographic, best way for people to contact you, and your process – what does that look like? Would a potential client benefit from knowing how you work? Sometimes I think it’s nice to provide that info in a short format so those who make decisions based on comfort level, have access to that information.
- Really nail down your KEY offerings. What do you want to be known as the expert in?
I hope that helps, all the best on your journey to a new website you love and are proud to show off!
What other fees are involved?
With us, there are monthly/yearly options for Hosting and Maintenance of your site. You can learn more about it on our Hosting & Maintenance page.
You’ll also have a yearly charge from whatever registrar your domain is at. This typically is around $25/year and we highly HIGHLY recommend having this in your own account, or at the very least, ensure you have full access to it (login credentials).
There can be instances where your site requires paid for plugins for certain features on your site (SEO premium plugins, various WooCommerce plugins, Event Calendars, etc.).
These costs should be laid out in your initial proposal and will be billed monthly/yearly.
Other questions we get
We’re always going to ask what your budget is. It’s because we don’t want to waste your time.
If your budget is under $5K, we’re not the designers for you so why not get that figured out right off the hop?
If your budget is $80K, we’re also not the designers for you (but we wouldn’t say no if you really wanted us! 🤣)
Budget matters. We need to know what we can do for the investment you are willing to make.
It’s as simple, and awkward, as that.
We take on a maximum of 2 clients per month. So if you are considering a site, and we’re booking a couple months out, now is a good time to reach out. We can meet (in person or virtual) and chat about your business. You’ll get a free detailed quote and then can decide if you want to book and get in the calendar.
So what are you getting for this investment?
- a mobile friendly, USER friendly website that works in all modern browsers.
- a website properly set up so it can grow with your business and continue to function properly for years to come so you aren’t looking at a rebuild every few years
- a website you are proud to send your clients to.
- a presence on the internet that makes you stand out from your competitors because it speaks to your niche, your demographic, your people.
- a web designer that works WITH you, and continues to do so well after your site is launched.
All you need to do is make the first connection. Here on my website, or via phone. From there I will walk you through all the next steps which typically look like this.
- Review quote
- Agree to quote, sign contract and pay 40% deposit
- Compile allllll the things I ask for, this will include logins (if you already have a domain and/or hosting and a website), images (if you are providing), and content (if you are providing)
Then I totally take it from there, you just sit back, have a coffee and do what you do best – run your business. I’ll send you draft 1 and you’ll review it with a fine toothed comb and give me allllll the changes you’d like to see. I do them.
And repeat, two more times.
We launch.
You settle up the bill.
I send you the Project Hand-off document which includes all the details of your site – versions of WordPress and the theme, colour codes used, fonts used, image sizes used.
AND a manual so you are equipped to do your own content updates!
Creating words (content) for your site can feel really overwhelming, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to review your processes, what you offer, and how that’s different from others in your industry. You don’t have to be a writer – we LOVE writing engaging content, so don’t stress, we’ll clean up your words to present your brand in the best light.
And we love organizing other people’s content. Taking large amounts of content and making it easily consumed by site visitors is something we thrive on.
This can mean:
👉 updating content
👉 streamlining your navigation
👉 setting up re-directs (important!)
👉 condensing material
👉 revamping to make a smooth user friendly experience
👉 providing a hosting and maintenance plan so you have a consistent go-to person who looks after all the functionality of the site, rather than a million different providers for different services
👉 cleaning up old accounts (might even save you some money!)
We are committed to building websites with privacy best practices in mind. Sometimes tools that collect data are necessary for a business. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s crucial to always get consent before collecting/storing people’s data.
We offer auto-updating privacy policies through Termageddon to keep your site (and your visitors!) safe.
When clients say, “I want to be at the top of Google search results,” it’s important to know that Google customizes results based on each user’s location, search history, and online habits. So, even if your site ranks highly, it may show up differently for each person.
Achieving visibility involves not just aiming for top rankings but also creating quality content and optimizing for local audiences to reach more people consistently.
Yup!
Just let us put this bug in your ear. Your website is, or should be, more than just aesthetically pleasing. You may think, well looking great gets them through the door and that’s all I care about.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But does it get them through the door? 🚪⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Can they even find your door? 🗺⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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✔ Site speed⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✔ Sitemaps⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✔ Meta-tags⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✔ SEO optimization⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✔ SSL certificates⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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These aren’t just words to blow smoke, they affect the integrity of your site and the user experience. A great designer knows that, an implements all those things you don’t see on the outward facing site.
Tools to help yourself
If you have a business, people are more than likely searching on Google or using Google Maps to find you.
Set up your free profile (or update your current one!) here: https://www.google.com/intl/en_ca/business/
Add your business info to bing to be easily found by users finding your site on this search engine. It’s free and you can do that here: https://www.bingplaces.com/
If you have a website with Unlimited BS, you are collecting data from Google Analytics. We use the latest version GA4 and set up the tracking with the basics. Here’s a great overview on what it collects, and how to understand your results.
We get this question a lot. Can you make that line of text go on the next line?
Whether or not a word or words appear on one line will be dependent on screen size, meaning on a regular laptop screen it will appear on one line, a tablet, maybe still one line, but a bit smaller text, and then a cell phone it for sure will move to 2 lines. We want that because decreasing the font size to have it to one line on a mobile would make it too small and illegible. That’s also why we don’t use forced line breaks – on different screens, it will break at different points so if we force a break it will look way off on different screen sizes.
We recommend this ALL THE TIME. Need a social media share image, maybe with some text overlay, or something a little more creative than you can pull off? Canva is your answer. So many templates to choose from and if you get the paid version, your options open up. You can resize your same design for different social media channels, set up your brand’s fonts and colours, and more.
Price: free for basic
Having reviews is great for your business and can be used on your website. Consider emailing clients a link to leave you a review on google, provide the link to make it as EASY as possible for them to do.
Let’s build a website that delivers.
A strong website builds trust, supports your business, and helps people take action. If your current site falls short, we can fix that.
