Where do I host my website? How do I get a domain name?
I do not provide hosting! I can recommend a couple places to get your hosting set-up and buy a domain name. This is a separate charge completely different from my services. I in no way get paid from these companies, and have nothing to do with the information. Personally, I believe that you have the right to have the information and ownership of your domain name and hosting. If you prefer to go with a different company in the future (which I hope doesn't happen!) you can take your domain name with you!

Do you charge monthly fees?
I personally don't. Everything is a one time charge (except maintenance fees which are based on how often you want to update.)

How long does it take to get my website?
All websites are different and vary in amount of work/time. Completion also depends on client's cooperation. The sooner you approve of my design the faster I can provide you with your finished product. Same goes for content; the sooner you provide me with your images/verbage, the faster I can launch your site. Generally, it takes about 2-3 weeks to get design down (back and forth approvals is what generally is time consuming) and then about 2-3 weeks of coding.

How long have you been designing/coding?
I personally have been coding for about 4 years now. I just recently decided to take on more clients, but have been making my own website (and a few friends sites) for a while. I feel like I have adequate knowledge on building good general websites... anything extravagant... well I'm working to develop my skills with each project I take on. If you're willing to let me have a little more time to learn, I'm willing to give you the first fruits of my learning!

How do I commission a site?
E-mail me! gretchen@gertchen.com Let me know what your business is, how big of a site, and a general time frame, and I will get back to you with a general price quote and we can go from there!

How do I update my site?
Depending on how we decide to set up your site, some parts of your site can be self managed, while other parts might be more difficult. I am more than happy to update your information. Please consult me for a price quote on updating/maintenance.

How should I keep in contact with you?
E-mail!!!!!!!! I can not stress enough e-mail. I check it daily, I check it often. Phone conversations are ok, but to be honest my work hours are generally when normal people are sleeping. (I can code better when there's nothing going on in the house!) So it is hard to get ahold of me when I'm not working my steady job. E-mail is also beneficial to me because I have everything there in a hard copy. I can not lose this information because I can access it on multiple machines. (unless I delete these emails, which really,I don't delete anything.) Texting is ok too, but its not on my computer, and I get a lot of texts so it's hard to keep up with them.

What if I don't like my site?
Everyone has different tastes in design. If you feel like my design isn't what you wanted, let me know. If we can't work out things I am more than happy to refund your deposit (only within design period) and we can go our separate ways. (Which I hope never happens!)

Do you take credit cards?
If you have a paypal account, I'm more than happy to bill you through them.

I'm not computer savvy, but my business could benefit from a website, can you help me make the most of my site?
Yes, yes and YES! I understand that today's world is now all digitally based. If you don't have a website... you don't exist. I get to help my own parents daily on how to use the computers in our house. I'm more than happy to help you understand what you should/shouldn't post, and explain every step along the way. PLEASE let me know if you are uneasy about anything for your website. I'm hoping that we both can benefit from working together.

How do I know my site is being visited? Is there any way to tell/count the traffic? Is there any way you can boost the visibility on a search engine for my site?
I can setup (or help you set up) an application that tracks the amount of traffic you get on your site. For visibility, I can go and put in meta tags for your site with keywords to help boost search visibility, or you can go through google.com and pay to have your site boosted in the search que, but these tactics only really apply to googles searching. The only other way to get higher up on the search charts is to have more traffic click through. You can personally go through and search yourself and click on your link to get your website higher, but this also provides false readings for the stats on your website.

I have my own logo, can you design around it? I want to design my own site what are your prices to code?
I'm more than happy to incorporate your own personal images/graphics to the site, and can work out a price quote in relation to the size of the site. Email me for more details.

What operating system do you use?
I personally use a MAC with Snow leopard, and my browsers are Chrome and Safari. I do go through and check sites through Firefox Mozilla while constructing to make sure it all looks the same. I do also own a PC that I check structure for Internet explorer.

Can you design specifically for mobile phones/devices?
As of right now, no. But I am working to develop my skills to help reach my clients. So hopefully in the near future.

Can I get a hard copy of my website and/or designs?
YES! You can request a hard copy at any point and I can burn a CD or DVD for you with the available pages, css and javascript. I can also provide you with different format/sizes of the design work (logos, etc) I make for you.

Ceramics Questions?

Do you do personal commission orders? How long does it take?
Yes/no. Depending on the amount of skill needed for the project you want, and the amount of time I have to make it, is how I determine to accept or decline a commission. (Most of the time yes I can do them.) Generally, 5-7 weeks are preferred due to the circumstances of my studio time, granted it's between Late Aug. to early Dec. or between late Jan to early May.

How do you ship your work?
I ship via USPS and make sure that there's 2 inches of bubble wrap around the piece. I also can insure the piece if you want to.

Where can I purchase your work?
As of right now, I sell exclusively online via Etsy.com, and occasionally participate in community scheduled events.

What are the care instructions for my pottery?
For functional ware, most pieces are dishwasher safe, but are better taken care of if they are hand washed. For oven use, always treat like a glass piece; it can go from cold to warm, but never from hot to cold. For teakettles, NEVER put them on the stove top.

Dictionary

I use a lot of random words that don't seem normal... I understand!! I at one point had NO CLUE as to what everything meant. Here's a little dictionary for you to help you understand what I do/what I say.

Hosting: In order for your website to be live, you need it to be hosted. Hosting is much like purchasing a storage unit. There are a variety of companies that are willing to offer you many types of services that usually are based on your needs. Generally, you can chose to pay for your hosting monthly, or yearly, or for a few years. Once paid for, they will hold the information of your site, and make it live so that people can search, and retrieve your website on their own personal computer.

Domain Name: A domain name is what you want your site to be called. Your domain name is what ever you want, without spaces with a .com or .org after it. Example: www.thisisyourwebsite.com or www.gertchen.com

HTML/CSS/Java Script/.php: HTML, CSS, Javascript and .php are the different languages it takes to compose your website. HTML is the structure and foundation of your website, then from there CSS is like adding the windows and doors and finishing off the roof. Javascript and .php is like having color on the walls or landscaping in the front yard. Each have their own purpose, and are very different from one another.

Meta Tags: Meta Tags are hidden within the code of your website that help the search engine site to display your website when people search commonly used words.

SEO's: Search Engine Optimizer. When searchers enter a query in the search box of a search engine, the search engine’s job is to find the most relevant results to the query by matching the search query to the information in its index.

On-Site SEO: are the things that you can do on your site, such as: HTML markups, target keywords, internal linking, site structure, etc.

Off-Site SEO: are the things that you have much less control of, such as: how many backlinks you get and how people link to your site.