Frequently Asked Questions

The information below should answer almost every question regarding our services. If you have questions that are not answered here, please feel free to contact us.

Why should I choose Design Addiction to design my web site?

We are a small Web Development and Design Studio taking on only a limited number of projects at a time to allow us to give each client our undivided attention from start to finish. Our goal is to provide each client with excellent customer service. We will consult with you in depth to ensure that we fully understand your needs and ideas before we begin. We will keep you informed every step of the way so you can see your design in progress and make any changes you may want as often as necessary until you are completely satisfied. We will get your site up and running as quickly as possible and will be available to you anytime you may need help or have any questions. We strive to give you quality service at an affordable price.

Who should I use to host my web site and/or register my domain name?

We use Siteground Web Hosting for all of our clients web sites. We have partnered with them to bring you excellent 24/7 customer service and tech support as well as very affordable web hosting rates.

What all is included in my web hosting plan?

See this page for a complete list of features included with your hosting plan.

Can I sign up for more than one year of web hosting?

Yes. By purchasing a two or three year plan, it drops the monthly rate which will save you money in the long run.

What if I already have my domain name and hosting set up with another company?

We would need the administrative login information to your current web hosting account or we could transfer of all of your files to our web host, and host your site with our partner Siteground, whichever you prefer.

How do I use my existing registered domain name with a Siteground web hosting account.

You don't have to transfer your domain name from your current provider to use another company's web hosting services. Doing so just makes it easier for you to manage your domain and hosting accounts in one place. If you want to keep your domain name at your current provider, you only need to change the DNS nameservers of your website to point to the new hosting company's servers. The following tutorials will guide you on how to change your DNS settings with the most commonly used domain name registrars:

GoDaddy Tutorial
Network Solutions Tutorial
ENOM Tutorial
NameCheap Tutorial

Please Note: Once you change the DNS settings of your domain name, it can take up to 48 hours for your domain to start pointing to the new server. The reason is that some registrars only update their DNS information once every 48 hours.

Also remember that changing your DNS settings does not change your domain name provider (registrar). You will still have your domain registered through the company that registered your domain name when you purchased it.

What do I need to know before I transfer my domain name to another web host?

Before initiating the transfer of your domain name and files, you must be sure that:

• Your domain name is not in "locked" status.
• You have access to the administrative contact email for the domain.
• You can provide the EEP code for the domain.
• There are more than 15 days until the expiration of the domain name.
• The domain was registered for the first time more than 60 days ago.
• The domain has an extension that can be registered.

You can then proceed to request the transfer of your domain and all website files over to your new web hosting company's server. This process is done seamlessly and all of your existing file structure will remain intact. When you use our hosting company, Siteground, they will provide this service to you free of charge.

What is an EEP code?

The EPP code (authorization code) or also sometimes referred to as the Domain Registry Key, is a safeguard against unauthorized transfers of a domain name. The EPP code is required when transferring .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info and .us domain names. It is not possible to initiate a domain name transfer for these domains without an EPP code. You will need to contact your current registrar to obtain the EPP code before being able to initiate a domain transfer. Please note that EPP codes are case sensitive. If you are having issues with your host/registrar and you cannot obtain your EPP code, you may not be able to manage your domain and transfer it elsewhere. In this case it is best to simply register a new domain name for your site.

Please see this page for more information on how to manage your domain if registered with Siteground. If your domain is registered by another registrar, please contact your current registrar for information on how to manage your domain.

I don't live in the Cleveland area or the USA, can you still design my web site?

Yes we can. It doesn't matter where you live, we can still work with you via telephone, Yahoo! Messenger, email or regular postal mail. Please keep in mind that all of our service prices are in US Dollars.

Is it possible to have a face to face meeting to discuss the design of my web site?

Yes. A face to face meeting can be scheduled during regular business hours Monday - Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm EST provided your business is located in the Cleveland area or surrounding suburbs. (Weekend or evening appointments can be scheduled if absolutely necessary, please contact us for availability.)

I don't own a company or business, do you design personal sites?

Yes we do.

Do I have to sign a contract?

Yes, once you decide to hire us to design your web site, we will send you a very simple contract via email for you to read over, sign and send back to us. You can then print out a copy of your signed contract to keep for your records.

I don't see a price listed for what I need. Do you have a complete price list available?

The best thing to do is to contact us for a free quote. We do have a complete price list available through email or direct mail. Simply contact us to request it.

What information will I need to give to you so you can begin working on my website?

We will need your company profile information, your personal and company contact info, products and services you offer, photos or images, the exact text you would like to use for each page, and any other information that you intend to present on your website.

How long will it take to design my web site?

That is determined by many factors such as the size of your web site, the complexity of your design, the amount of changes you make during the design process and our current client design schedule.

How many changes can I make during the design process?

You can make as many as you'd like until you are satisfied with the way it looks. Keep in mind, constant changes may delay the time involved to complete the site and you may be subject to additional charges if the changes involve adding or re-designing custom graphics/logos or features not quoted in the initial consultation and design estimate. We will always inform you before we make a change if there will be an additional charge.

How many choices do I have to choose from when you design my custom header/logo?

We include up to 3 revisions with all of our Design Packages. If you want additional graphics designed, there will be an extra charge for each graphic.

Can I have you make changes after I approve the final design?

Yes, however design changes performed after you have approved the final design and it is uploaded to your server and taken live will be charged at an hourly rate of $45.00 US with a one hour minimum.

Once the site is complete can I make changes to it myself?

If you are not familiar with HTML or CSS we do not recommend that you try editing the site yourself as this can compromise your site. We are not responsible for issues that may arise from changes you make to your site after it is completed. However, we do offer an optional CMS (content management system) that we can install for clients who want to maintain their own web site. We can customize the CMS to your specifications and add features specific to your business needs. With a CMS you will be able to build new pages, edit existing pages, upload images, documents and more. The CMS allows you to make text changes to your web site at your convenience, while maintaining site standards for style, layout, and coding. Please keep in mind the price for a CMS site is higher than a basic web site.

Do you offer site maintenance training?

Yes we do, at an hourly rate of $45.00. (with a one hour minimum)

Can you maintain my web site for me after it is completed?

Yes we can. For clients needing regular updates we offer a monthly maintenance plan for $25.00 per month. Monthly plans require 6 months or more prepaid. We can also maintain your web site on an "as needed" basis for our regular hourly rate of $45.00. (with a one hour minimum)

Who owns the completed web site?

Once the final payment is received, you retain 100% ownership of the site, however any graphics or images remain copyright their original owner.

Do I need a SSL Certificate for my web site?

If you are running an e-commerce site, you may need a SSL certificate (secure certificate) to protect your customers' payment information. You only need an SSL certificate if you are accepting credit card information on your own web site. For example, if you use Pay Pal or 2Checkout as your payment processor, your customer is directed to the PayPal, 2Checkout, etc. web site to complete their payment transaction. In this case, you don't need an SSL certificate. However, if you are using PayPal Payments Pro, Authorize.Net, or another service like these, then customers will be entering their credit card information on your site. In this case, you will need a SSL certificate. When we set up the SSL certificate for your site, your customers will see https:// (instead of http://) in the location bar of their browser, and they will see a lock icon, informing them that their information is secure with your site. There is an additional charge for the SSL Certificate.

Should I use a third party processor such as 2Checkout or Paypal to accept credit cards on my site OR should I set up my own merchant account through my bank?

For most businesses this depends on the size of your business and your sales volume. Small businesses are better off with a third party credit card processor. The advantage to using a third party processor is that they will take care of everything for you - verify the card, process the payment, and send you a check at the end of each payment period minus their processing fee. Generally, you will pay less with a third party processor because you won't have monthly fees. However, this can result in longer waiting periods to actually receive your money. Usually payouts are done weekly however some may take longer depending on the company you use. A third party processor is also convenient to use when you are not sure if you will actually profit from your business. You can always move to a more complex, more reliable service later if your business grows. A bank merchant account is a good choice for larger businesses with a bigger turnover. Your business will appear more established than those online businesses that use third party processors. However, you have to be very careful to avoid credit card risks because you will process the payments yourself. Having a bank merchant account, you will pay more start up and monthly fees, but your discount rate per transaction will be lower than with a third party credit card processor. That's why this payment option is good for businesses with larger sale volume. So, if you are just starting out, it might be in your best interest to opt for a third party processor to start out with. Once you get an idea of your sales, you can always change over to a regular bank merchant account down the road.

Will my site look the same in any web browser?

All of our designs/layouts are created on a Windows Operating System and viewed in the most current version of Mozilla Firefox. All pages of the site are then tested in the latest versions of the most common web browsers; Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera for cross browser compatibility. While some browsers can display things differently than others at times, we do our best to make sure your site will look similar in each of these. Please keep in mind however, that we can not guarantee how your site will display in older versions of these web browsers and we have no control over what browsers your visitors are using to view your web site. We suggest that you Download Firefox and use it as your default web browser and even offer a link to the download on your site for your visitors to download as well. It's faster and more secure than Internet Explorer and other browsers and it's totally customizable! *You do not need to uninstall your current browser to install and use Firefox.

Will you submit my web site to any search engines or directories after it is completed and online?

Yes, we submit all web sites we design to the major search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing (MSN) and DMOZ.

Why can't I find my web site in the search engines?

Once your site has been submitted to the top search engines it takes a little time for it to propagate through the internet and allow the search engines to spider and list your web site in their directories. How fast your site gets listed depends on each individual search engine's update schedule. Eventually, every site does get visited and indexed by search engine 'robots', but submitting it to Google is essential. Google is the most popular search engine.

What else can I do to promote my web site?

We encourage our clients to put their web address on all their business products, advertisements, business cards, newsletters, letterheads, checks, fax cover sheets, etc. There are also many banner exchange and reciprocal link programs you can submit your web site to as well.

Do you give any type of discounts?

We sincerely believe that our design rates are already very affordable compared to many other Freelance Web Designers and Design Agencies out there, therefore we do not offer any discounts. We recommend that anyone in the market for Web Design services shop around and get plenty of quotes before choosing a Web Designer. We are confident that our rates will be lower than most. Our clients receive excellent customer service along with top quality work at a very affordable price.

Do you have any restrictions?

We do not extend credit to clients. A 50% deposit is always required before we begin work. We do not design sites that contain illegal content. Adult content is acceptable providing you comply with 18 U.S.C. 2257, which states all models, actors, actresses, and other persons who appear in any visual depiction appearing or otherwise contained in website, whether of sexually explicit conduct or otherwise, were eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of the creation of such depictions.

Please take a moment to read and agree to our Terms Of Service before contracting us for any design work.