We will use this page to try and answer some of the questions that we are frequently asked. As we mentioned before, you are welcome to mail us at any time with any questions that you may have.  You can email us, message us, etc., by visiting our contact page.

Contacting Us
We actually work at all different hours of the day and at times, we work into the night.  We really do not have any set hours and can meet you on messenger, etc., when it is convenient for you.  If needed we will move our schedule around to fit yours. We will do our very best to make ourselves available when ever you need to communicate with us.  Being there for our clients is very important to us!

Our Location
We are located on the west coast of Sunny Florida. We have lived in this area since 1967.

We Can Design Anywhere
No matter where you live we can design a web site for you. Quite a few of our clients live outside of the United States. Whether you live near us or far away, our goal is to give you the website that you have always wanted.

Consultation Fee
We do not charge to answer general web design questions or questions about our services but we do charge for in depth consultations. Any time spent over 30 minutes is considered an in depth consultation and will be charged accordingly.

For Business sites, we require a minimum of $150.00 for a consultation fee after the initial one hour conversation. For personal sites we require a $95.00 consultation fee after the initial one hour consult. If we build your site for you, the consult fee will be deducted from the total cost of building your site. If we do not build your site for you we will retain the consult fee for time spent. In other words, if we spend time working with you on the design of your site, working out the details etc., and we do not design your site, the consultation fee will not be returned to you. If you would like a further explanation of this, you are welcome to email us.

Hourly Fee for Services
Most of our add-on services are $25.00 (minimum) per hour.  When multiple services are desired, we charge by the job instead of by the hour.  This can save you a substantial amount of money.

Our Basic Prices
Below is a sample of some of our prices. Please keep in mind that these are estimates and they are subject to change. The cost may be more or less, depending on your needs. We do offer discounts on multiple services which can save you money. You may choose multiple add-ons to get a package deal. The best way to get an accurate price on the services you need is to contact us. Please have a general idea of what you will need for your site and how many pages you will need. At that time, we can also talk about hosting. Estimates are free. Only one free estimate is allowed within a six month period.

Web Design prices do not include:
Web hosting, custom graphics (ex: custom banners, custom backgrounds), custom graphic design, editing of existing graphics, resizing photos, java scripts, pop-ups, forms, java menus, shopping carts, applets, blinkies, hover buttons, or animations. Anything that is not listed in Basic Site Price below is considered an add-on.


Basic Site - (5 pages or less) 
A minimum fee of $ 250.00 for the index page and 
$ 90.00 per page for each additional page. That price includes one plain logo, basic site navigation on each page, and up to six graphics (provided by you) and text. The same prices also apply for re-designing existing sites.

Editing of a Existing Website
We will gladly edit your existing website for you. This does not include any graphic design or the editing of any graphics, adding photos, trouble shooting scripts, etc. This includes only the editing of the existing html only. The cost for this is $25.00 (minimum) per hour. Discounts may be given for more extensive jobs.

Graphic Design
Prices vary greatly on graphic design. It all depends on what you want. Graphics can be made from photos or images that belong to you or we can use images from our own library. When making graphics many things have to come into consideration. The cost of making your graphics will depend on how complicated the design is. Our normal fees start at $25.00 per hour (minimum) for making specialized graphics. Contact us with your details as we do give discounts for multiple graphic designs.

Site Monitoring / Maintenance
We will monitor your site monthly to insure your site is up and running and to check for server errors. The charge for this is $25.00 per month ($300.00 year). This must be paid in full for the year, in advance of starting the service.  A discount may be offered to you if other services are purchased.

Search Engine Submissions
We submit to all available free search engines. Please note that although most sites are readily accepted by search engines, it does not mean that they have to include yours. They are in control of whom they list. Submitting your site to search engines can be very beneficial to your site. We submit to the top 50 crawlers. This is very time consuming and we will do this for you at a cost of $100.00.

Site Enhancements
Java scripts, page transitions, feed back forms, email forms, setting up stores with PayPal, etc. are not included in our basic site fees. The cost for these services may vary depending on what you need. Please contact us for a price.

Hosting
We do not offer hosting at this time because there is no way that we can compete with the large web hosting companies.  They are able to offer deals that it would be impossible for us to offer.  Our goal is to help our customers save as much money as possible.  We can help you find a reasonable and reliable host that suits your needs.  The cost of web hosting and domain name(s) are not included in our design estimates. We are to be your web designer only (building your site).  You are solely responsible for the cost of your hosting and any fees associated with that service to keep your web site online.

Payments
Once we have talked over the specifications of your site, we will also need to talk about hosting and your domain name unless you have already purchased it.

We will set up a preview of the index page (home page) for you to make sure we are heading in the correct direction. If the general layout meets with your approval, we will then require payment for the index page and one half payment on future pages. The payment required will depend on the number of pages that we will start out with. We will request periodic payments from you as the building of your site progresses. To continue working on your site, we will need to receive your initial payment within one week (7 days) of completing the preview of your index page. After receiving your payment, we will then begin working on your pages. We will send you screen shots of the progress on your pages as we go along.

If at any time you decide not to continue with the design of your site, we will stop working on the pages as soon as we are told to do so.  We will retain all graphics and pages that we have not been paid in full for.  We will retain all money collected from you for work that we have completed.  We will also require that you pay the consultation fee for time spent if we will not be designing your site.  For businesses the consult fee is $150.00, for personal websites the fee is $95.00.  This money is normally collected up front from our clients before we start the project.  If we design your site, it is given back to the client as a credit off of what is owed.  If you cancel the design of your site, the consult fee will be retained for time spent.  If we do not design your site, the consult fee is not credited back to you nor is it refundable.

After all arrangements have been made, you can pay us with PayPal (our preferred method). Using PayPal will enable you to pay with your credit card or check.  You do not have to be a member of PayPal to use their services.

Contract / Agreement
In most cases but not all, we do require that you sign a contract for all business sites and for all personal sites in access of 3 pages. The contract is simple, it will state that you want us to build a web site for you. If will also list what is to be included with your site. We realize that contracts are scary for most of us, but this way we both are sure that we get what we want from the design of your site. Both Web Design by Bird and the client will be bound by the contract once it is signed. Before signing the contract, we will discuss the entire contract with you to make sure you understand what you are signing. The contract will be sent to you by U.S. postal mail.

Under Contract with Previous Designer
If you are under contract with another web designer or have recently had work done for you by a designer, we will need conformation from them that they are willing to either release you from their contract or that they have finished what they were contracted to do for you.  This is the only way that we would be able to work on your web site. This will not only protect us but will also protect you from any possible litigation.  We have been designing web sites for many years and one thing we will never do is knowingly step on the toes of another designer.  I don't know if other designers feel this way, but I would like to think that they also follow the same policy.

Other Services
We make background sets, snow globes, awards, one page pet memorials, birthday pages, new baby pages, etc. We also do web maintenance and update sites. We have also remodeled a few sites with a new look and feel. If you are interested in remodeling your site, contact us for a price. We feel no job is too small. We love the challenge of making new things.

Small & Large Jobs
We generally do most jobs no matter how small or large. Sometimes it is expected that web designers only take on big jobs. For some that is true but not for us. We will work on any small job. As an example: If you do not need web design but need navigation for your site, we will work with you on it. If you just need a banner, buttons, background, java script, etc. we would be happy to give you a price quote.

Maintaining a Site Yourself
We realize that sometimes you need a little help to get started so we can build your site or start it for you and you can take over from there or for a small monthly fee we can maintain your site for you. It's entirely up to you.

Different Graphics for Different Pages
There are many ways we can design you site, the choices are endless. For most sites we find that our clients prefer to have each page to differ. Myself, I love colorful backgrounds and having each and every page different (backgrounds, banners, etc.) makes for a more enjoyable visit to your site. If you have a business site, you may want all the graphics on the pages to be the same. If you would like, we can incorporate your images or photos into the graphics on your pages. Any graphics we use other than your own personal photos will come from our library of graphics that we have purchased. All pages will be made to your specifications and your specific tastes. So, what your site looks like will depend entirely on you and what you like.

Web Site Navigation
Navigation is a key part of any website.  If your visitors can not find their way through your pages, they will get frustrated and leave.  It does not matter if your site is for business or for personal use, you want your visitors to happily travel through your pages with ease.  In my opinion, forward and back buttons are really not a good option for any site.  Navigation needs to go forward to the next page, not back.  There are may ways to link up all of your pages.  It can be as simple as adding buttons or even a nifty java menu.  In any case, we would be happy to help you.

Linking Back to Us
We leave this decision solely up to our customers. We have never made a practice of building up a portfolio of our work. If you are pleased with our work and would like to link back to us that would be wonderful, but it is not required. Once we build your site or page and have been paid in full for our work, it is totally up to you what you do with it.  Once we are paid in full, we do not claim copyright to any part of your web site.