Web design & development FAQ | Your questions answered
Quick answers to some of the most common questions we get asked every day.
Too many project managers struggle to plan for a website project — whether it’s a build-from-scratch one or revamping the decades-old site. Need some tips for writing your project brief? Team Grayscale has prepared a quick list covering some questions commonly asked by website design and web development agencies.
Study this list ahead of time so you’ll be ready to answer them with confidence in front of your teammates and boss.
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Project overview
1. How to best start my website project?
2. Why do I need a project brief?
3. How much is my website project?
4. How much does your service package cost?
5. Can I get my new website in 1 month?
6. Do you work with WordPress/Joomla/Drupal/Shopify…?
7. Is your website solution mobile-friendly?
8. Is your website solution optimised for search engines?
How to best start my website project?
A good first step is always to share your project goals and what you are looking for.
- What should this website project do for you?
- Where do you get the design reference from?
- What technical features does your new website need?
- What is your timeline like?
- What budget do you have in mind for the project?
We start every project by understanding more about you and your users. Feel free to send us an inquiry or give us a call to start your project today!
Why do I need a project brief?
Writing a project brief can be as intimidating as presenting a new proposal in front of your CEO, but preparing these project details in advance is one way to smoothen the process and minimise misunderstanding. It’s always a quick and easy way to stay one step ahead!
When preparing your project brief, try to include as many details as possible, and do not hesitate to arrange a call/meeting with your potential service provider to go through your expectations and requirements.
But do remember: in a design pitch, no one wins
How much is my website project?
TL;DR: It depends on the design and technical complexity of your project.
Generally speaking, the more complex your project, the higher the necessary investment will be. A straightforward online presence in one language requires less investment than a multilingual eCommerce marketplace on a customised back-end.
It also depends on your expectations. The price point for each model corresponds with a certain amount of workmanship. Depending on the features required, the cost with Team Grayscale can be anywhere between a few ten thousand to millions.
How much does your service package cost?
We tailor our service packages according to each client’s specific needs. The major categories are:
- Fixed-scope project: pay for a fixed amount
- Pay-as-you-go project: pay-by-the-hour
Talk to us today and find out which arrangement suits your project best.
Can I get my new website in 1 month?
The average time of project completion is usually related to the design direction and technical complexity. Let’s take a look at the project duration per phase:
Design Phase: the time it takes to complete the custom design work depends on the complexity of the design, number of iterations, as well as branding requirements. This phase can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 months.
Development Phase: generally it takes our developers 4 to 5 weeks to finish the necessary development work. But depending on the technical complexity, the number of pages, and functionality required, etc, the duration may be extended to 10 to 15 weeks.
Take a look at our work process if you’re interested in knowing more!
Do you work with WordPress/Joomla/Drupal/Shopify…?
We have experience and trusted partners working with all major CMS platforms as well as open-source or custom websites.
Our professional team of web designers and web developers can execute UX research and design; streamline the overall design and technical set-ups; take care of bug fixing and maintenance after launch.
This means you can go beyond the limited capabilities of a DIY website — partial eCommerce functionalities, integrations with third-party services, custom responsive web design features and so many more that you need now or in the future.
Is your website solution mobile-friendly?
Yes. All of our solutions are fully responsive, which means they are compatible with all major modern browsers and optimised to fit the display on your users’ phones and/or tablets.
Is your website solution optimised for search engines?
A good SEO strategy requires efforts from both the development side and the content management side.
Grayscale will handle the development by following best practices, for example writing valid and semantic HTML, optimising your site for speed, etc.
On the content management side, our solution can provide a clean editing interface for you, your copywriters, or your SEO agency to make changes to important SEO elements. (e.g. keywords, meta tags, etc.)
Website design
1. Why use custom design rather than templates?
2. Why is slider not a good idea?
3. What are wireframes?
Why use custom design rather than templates?
Any form of your online presence should be as individual as your corporate identity, and you only get seconds to capture the attention of your customers. An on-trend, responsive website design is your first conversion booster.
To make your website stand out from the crowd, we can create your site in a custom, unique way, so your online presence is not limited by ready-made design solutions and predefined features. This is how our Pilgrim’s Guide and Silverhorn project stand out from the rest.
Why is slider not a good idea?
To most of the users, hidden content means it’s not there.
In other words, users won’t wait for the animated sliders to change frames. Instead, they will simply scroll down the page to look for information that they want. Slideshows, especially in the hero area, are more often than not being simply ignored.
The best solution is to expand the slider into image blocks, so users can see the hidden message at first glance.
What are wireframes?
Wireframes are low-fidelity impressions of the layout of a website or application. We often describe wireframes as website blueprints: they don’t exactly look like the end product but do tell a good story of where everything is going to be.
The purpose of a wireframe is to quickly convey our ideas for layout, interaction, or presentation of information without worrying too much about the added layer of markup, or visual design.
We deliberately don’t pay attention to colour, typography, and graphic assets at this stage, this saves us time while mapping out the site functionality. However, we do incorporate real(istic) content whenever possible.
Website technical setups
1. What browsers does your solution support?
2. What are domains and servers?
3. What is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)?
What browsers does your solution support?
Our standard browser support list is as follows. All operating systems mentioned below refer to their latest stable release.
- Latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome on the most recently released versions of Windows and macOS
- Latest version of Safari on the most recently released version of macOS
- Latest version of Safari on the most recently released version of iOS
- Latest version of Google Chrome on the most recently released version of Android
If your website or application needs support for legacy versions, it can be done with additional cost.
What are domains and servers?
Domain: The address you know for reaching a physical location. The domain is also often referred to as your web address or URL. Be mindful that it refers to the address without the www part at the beginning.
A domain can have subdomains — think of them as the various floors in the same building. You can treat the “www” prefix as a subdomain, only that it usually lives on the ground floor so whether you type it out doesn’t matter that much.
Server: The building is represented by the address. The server is the place where you store things. For instance, web pages and/or emails.
What is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)?
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security technology that ensures the data transmitted between the web server and a visitor’s browser remains private and whole.
We strongly advise you to have it enabled on your website or application as some browsers are starting to prominently label sites without SSL as insecure. Google may also penalise your website or application’s search ranking score if SSL is not enabled.
You can usually have it enabled via your web hosting service provider. Check with them and they should be able to provide you with further guidance.
Post-launch
1. My website is all good. What’s the point of paying extra for website maintenance?
My website is all good. What’s the point of paying extra for website maintenance?
Whether choosing WordPress, Drupal, or developing a custom CMS, many business owners and project leaders think that website development is a one-off project. Not so! It’s vitally important to enforce regular website updates with a long-term maintenance plan.
It’s easy to understand the importance of having an enticing and well-structured website. But just having the site up and running is not enough. Just like cars and phones, regular maintenance and updates are crucial to ensure your site is running at full capacity.
Website maintenance is important for all organisations, big and small. A properly maintained website helps ensure site security, boost overall & returning traffic, and provide the best possible user experience (UX) for your visitors with a safe and bug-free environment.
Grayscale’s goal has always been to leverage the latest technologies and best practices in web design, development, and search engine optimisation. We create rich experiences to bring your concepts to life, even after post-launch. If you’d like to learn more about our scope of services, feel free to drop us a line.