Frequently Asked Questions

Please choose the categories below to read frequently asked questions about each of our services

Website Design

Search Engine Optimization

Print Marketing Materials

Website Design

1. Why should I get a website?

That's easy. To keep up with your competition! In the twenty-first century most people have access to the Internet. People are using phone books less and less as it has become very easy to search for products and services over the Internet. Websites also give customers a good idea of who they are dealing with because websites often display a company's attitude and desire to do business - and people generally like to be able to research a company's products and services before making a decision. Internet marketing is much more effective and inexpensive than other forms of media, like radio ads and mass mailings. With a website you can reach a wider range of potential customers at a fraction of the cost!

2. How do I get started with my website design?

The first thing you need to do to begin your website design is purchase a domain name and hosting. This can often be done at the same place but be weary that if you are ever unhappy with your hosting provider, it is very difficult to get yourself out of 'package deals' and can cost you a lot of money. I always recommend to purchase a domain name from a reputable company and then purchase hosting from an entirely different company. Domain names should rarely cost you more than $10 per year and you should always consider purchasing them for more than one year at a time so you don't have to be bothered in a years time with it's expiration and renewal. Hosting should costs anywhere from $4 to $20 per month depending on what size plan you need. AP Marketing & Design can assist you in setting up your domain name and hosting and also recommend trustworthy sites to buy them through. We are not resellers of ANY domain registration or hosting services so our recommendations are honest, from experience choices.

Some of our favorite domain name registrars are: www.godaddy.com - www.stargateinc.com - www.melbourneit.com

Reliable hosting providers: www.totalchoicehosting.com - www.netfirms.com - www.godaddy.com - www.westhost.com

We also have a helpful chart to assist you with the first steps of your website design:

3. I own website design software. Could I just create my own website?

We recommend hiring a professional for your website design. We have had many cases where people have attempted to design their own websites and then months later come to us to fix or re-design their websites. As a professional website designer, we have years of experience and can create unique and innovative websites that set you apart from your competition. While generic website design software is very easy to use - you often end up with an unprofessional-looking site that often does more harm than good!

If you have some experience using programs such as Dreamweaver, we can design a customizeable template for you to easily insert your own information into the website. Please call us for pricing on customized templates (954) 661-8458.

4. How long does it take for you to design a website?

Our website design turn-around time depends on several factors:

If we are experiencing a high volume of work, it can take 2 weeks to one month to complete. We ALWAYS make sure you are aware of this before we begin any job.
If you supply AP Marketing & Design with content in a timely manner, it can take as little as two weeks to complete.
If your website is a re-design from an existing website and we have all content to work with, it can take as little as one week for your website design to be complete.

5. What is different about your approach to website design as compared to other companies?

Because marketing is our specialty, we know how to build websites that drive traffic. Most website designers purely stick to design and often create beautiful websites that get little to no traffic. AP Marketing & Design ALWAYS implements basic search engine optmization techniques into ALL of our website design projects. We believe there is no point in having a website if nobody is going to see it and we stess that as the most important aspect of our designs. We spend less time trying to impress and more time creating a user-friendly, functional, well-optimized website.

We have a creative eye when it comes to website design. We are always coming up with new ideas and techniques that ensure you your website will be like no other out there.

Search Engine Optimization

1. What is Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term that has become very popular as more and more people have come to realize the power of the internet and what it can mean for their businesses. And more and more people are coming to realize how important search engine rankings are in terms of drawing traffic to their businesses. Please see our page on Search Engine Optimization for more detailed information.

2. How does Search Engine Optimization differ from Search Engine Marketing?

Search engine optimization is a part of search engine marketing, but not the other way around. Search engine optimization is purely the act of getting a website to rank high in the search engine rankings using organic methods. Search engine marketing consists of SEO and/or other methods like pay-per-click ads and sponsored links. Search engine marketing is very effective in the short-term but if you want to see long-term and more meaningful results, search engine optimization is the way to go.

3. Why should I be interested in Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization brings traffic to your website. If you have an existing site that gets no traffic, what is the point of having a site? Internet browsers rarely look beyond the first page of search results so it is important to have your site appear within the top ten of the major search engines like Google and Yahoo. SEO gives your website that little boost it needs to be successful in the search engines without paying for advertising or pay-per-click ads. It brings you business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

4. How long does Search Engine Optimization usually take to show results?

Search engine optimization does not happen overnight. It may take several months to show any noticeable results, while for some websites it may only take a few weeks. You have to have patience with search engine optimization and in the end, the reuslts will be worth the wait! There are many factors that affect the way search engines and spiders are "crawling" pages and therefore, every page will have different results and at different times. Optimization is a continual process and pages needed to be modified and added every month in order to keep the website high in the search engine rankings.

5. Can I just submit my website to search engines myself and get high rankings?

Unless your website was well-designed to be search engine friendly OR your products and services are in non-competitive areas, this most likely will not be the case. It is always a good idea to submit your site to search engines to gain a little bit of exposure, but a search engine optimization plan is what will really give you the high rankings.

6. Is it a good idea to combine a Search Engine Optimization plan with a Pay-Per-Click campaign?

Having extra exposure in the search engines is never a bad idea but it depends on how much money you are willing to spend. Search Engine Optimization is often much less expensive than pay-per-click (PPC) ads but also takes a longer time to show results. The way PPC works is that you bid on keywords / key phrases and when people type those into search engines, your ad displays on the right-hand side of the results. When someone clicks on your add, you pay anywhere from $0.50 to $5.00 depending on the competitiveness of those keywords. You create a monthly budget for PPC and when you have maxed out your budget for the month, your ad will no longer appear...that is why it is a good idea to also have search engine optimization working for you.

7. Is there anything that can get me banned from the search engines?

Being banned from search engines is highly unlikely unless you break some very obvious rules. The most common reason for being banned or suddenly dropping in rankings is by having duplicate content on your website. This makes you highly vulnerable to getting banned from Google - which is one search engine that you do NOT want to get banned from! Having duplicate content means that you either have two identical websites that use the same content (i.e. text and images) OR copying text from another website. We require that all content supplied to AP Marketing & Design be your original content because we seldom have time to check -- and not only will your website be banned from search engines, but you could risk copyright-infringement violations as well. In most cases, websites are not completely banned from the search engines but rather quickly move from the first page of search results to the last page! It is best that all legitimate techniques are followed so as to avoid this at all costs!

Print Marketing Materials

1. Why should I not design my own print marketing materials?

We advise that people do not attempt to create their own print marketing materials. There are many specifications needed by printers that most people are unaware of. Print jobs can cost thousands of dollars and mistakes can cost even more!