FAQs

Got burning questions? Need answers? We've compiled a few here that we get asked most often...

Pricing


Do you offer reduced fees for charities?

We love working with charitable organisations and admire the great work they do. We offer discretionary discounts for design and development to registered charities and non-profits, please get in touch for more details.

Why do you need to know our budget?

Contrary to popular belief, this is not so we can supply you a quote that is five pence short of your budget ceiling.

In general there is no ‘standard price’ for a website, because ‘standard websites’ don’t exist. Sure we have hourly rates and day rates, but by understanding your budget, we can tailor a solution that fits your needs making sure we don’t come short of your expectations or deliver something that has more bells and whistles than you originally needed. It also avoids wasting your time and ours.

How much is your typical sized job?

We tend to work on creative and digital projects that range from £2,500 to £20,000 + VAT. A typical website project for us is anywhere between £8,000 to £12,000.

How much for a ‘simple’ WordPress site?

A number of people approach us saying they've heard that WordPress is the 'cheap' option for creating a website. And yes, some WordPress websites are cheap - but as with everything, you get what you pay for.

WordPress is the ubiquitous Swiss army knife of web publishing, powering approximately a third of the world's websites. Our team has been developing WordPress powered websites for years, working on projects where the investment has been as little as £500 all the way to a whopping £150,000.

However, at the end of the day WordPress is just one of a number of ways to publish your content on the web, known for its ease of use but also notorious for being the most hacked CMS on the planet.

WordPress projects still account for around 50 per cent of our studio output, but we also specialise in building Craft CMS, Kirby CMS and Shopify websites.



General


I don’t understand this digital lingo – what are you talking about?!?

The world of digital moves so fast it's almost akin to dog years and keeping up with (let alone understanding) all the jargon is difficult for many people.

The last thing we want to do is baffle your with terms you don't recognise or feel embarrassed to ask what they mean, so we've created a helpful glossary to explain common digital terms so that you're no longer confused as to what an SSL certificate is…

Aren't all websites themes these days?

We specialise in bespoke design and development and rarely work with 'off the shelf' themes. We love building websites and without coming across as pretentious like to know exactly what goes into them so 'theme tweaking' is at odds with the studio's ethos of craftsmanship and considered design.

If you want a cheap, simple website, consider taking a look at Squarespace.

What experience do you have working on projects like mine?

Probably more than you anticipate. During our careers, we've project managed, designed and developed a wide variety of websites, microsites and ecommerce solutions for numerous sectors including arts and media companies, churches and charities, fashion brands and retailers, hospitality, property developers and universities and colleges.

We bring these insights to every new job we start.

How long will it take to build my website?

Our average project duration for a website is around 8-10 weeks to allow for adequate client feedback and testing, but it all depends on the budget and scope of work.

Why do you need a brief?

In our experience, relying on off the cuff verbal instructions doesn't tend to lay the foundations for a great website. As with any significant investment of your time and money you want to make sure that what we design and build for you measures up to the vision in your headspace. Sure you can tell us that your website needs to be orange, but why is that? Is that do with brand consistency or because your competitor has an orange website?

A brief can be as simple* as a single side of A4 which would among other things ideally summarise:

  • Your business and goals
  • Your core audience
  • Your success criteria
  • Your budget and timeframe
  • Features and functionality

*Bullet points are perfectly acceptable ;-)

Can you write a brief for/with me?

We're more than happy to sit down with you over a coffee for an hour and stimulate/provoke conversation around your project, however, when it comes to a brief, you know your business better than anyone else, so we encourage you to take the time to write this before asking us to quote.

If you're struggling to know what to include we can send you a briefing template to help the process along, just email [email protected] and we'll send one out to you.

Can you make my Wix site look better?

More than likely we can, however, we don't take on Wix sites as invariably they are economically unviable projects for us to work on.



Services


Can you get me to the top of page one of Google?

Hold-up, let's roll back a sec… This one question results in the asking of several more. Such as:

  • Do you mean for your company name?
  • Do you mean for your products or services?
  • Do you mean at a local geographical level e.g. Dentists in Bournemouth?
  • Do you have the time to do it organically or do you want to spend your way to the top?

There are very few guarantees with search engine optimisation, but if your website is architected in the right way, your content is knowledgeable, useful and regular you start on the right footing. Yes we can help you ascend the lofty heights of Google, but there are no short cuts to search engine success.


Can you host my website?

We certainly can. We offer competitively priced managed cloud web hosting using Digital Ocean's fantastic server infrastructure. If you are looking for a more hands on approach to hosting and require regular website support and maintenance get in touch to discuss your requirements.



Studio related


How long have you been in business?

Aaron started the studio in November 2016, although he has been working in agency environments for over a decade in Bournemouth and London.

Is Blue's name her actual name?

Yes, her full name is Lucie Blue Paterson, but she's more often just called Blue.

Do you have any job vacancies?

We don't currently have any open job roles, but we're always interested to hear from people.

Looking for a job?

Are you VAT registered?

Why yes we are! Our VAT number is: 253 4155 21
Our registered office is: 3 Victoria Place, Love Lane, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 8DE