Below are some ofthe more frequently asked questions regarding web design and development. If you do not see the answers that you are looking fo rplease do not hesitate to contact me via phone at 508.274.8085 or use the contact form.

How much does it cost to get a web site?
The answer to this question varies greatly from project to project. There are many variables and most of them depend on what the client is looking for in his or her web site. I provide affordable solutions to small businesses and non-profit organizations by working directly with my clients and tailoring a site to both their desires for an effective web site and the pragmatic realities of the budget that they are working with. I like to say that I can provide a lot for not too much.

Besides the initial design costs what other expenses can be incurred?
Beyond the initial design costs there are fees associated with web hosting. Milocaruso.com does provide affordable hosting options. If you have an existing hosting situation or have a preferred host, we will work with you to maintain this arrangement or facilitate the set up of a new hosting account with a third party provider. We can also provide some assistance in transferring your domain to the appropriate host if necessary.

In addition, if your website requires credit card or other payment processing there may be addition fees incurred for those services as well as a yarly fee for an Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate.

Will my site get good search engine ranking?
The simple answer to this is...maybe. There are certain things that we can help you with as far as developing a site that is technical and content wise "search engine friendly". However, we can not guarantee that the services that we provide will place your site within the top tier of search engine results. There are many reasons for this. One of the most overlooked is the industry that you are in. If you are in a small niche market like say, space suits, your chances of getting good rankings compared to your competitors is rather good. On the other hand, if you are selling Beanie Babies, there is a wide field of competition and you chances of starting a new site that would beat out well established sites is a bit more questionable.

There are many other factors that can contribute to your search engine ranking or lack there of and we can help you to understand these and the ways that your business can try to work around them.

If I already have a site why should I change it?
One of the most common mistakes that people and businesses that have web sites make is leaving it static for too long. A site that never changes does not entice visitors who have visited previously to explore it again. Changing even the simplest bits of text on your site can give something new to the frequent visitor. If your current site is static with no animation or interesting imagery, this may also be a sign that you should look to upgrade your site. The final decision to make changes is of course dependant upon various factor such as what you site is meant for and what you want to get out of it. Of course changing content frequently also helps with search engine ranking as most of them enjoying "reading" new content as well.

From simple helping our clients upgrade content to complete site overhauls, redesign and redevelopment is one of our specialties.

What do you use to create a web site?
I use a variety of different tools. From several Adobe/Macromedia products such as Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks to Photoshop, to just plain old writing the code manually. I find it best to vary what we use as it allows a me to tailor the work flow to the specific project and it prevents our approach form getting "static".

Flash is the one technology that most clients ask about. Flash is a tool for creating amazing effects with the capability of being downloaded by even those who have a relatively slow dial-up connect. 96 percent of browsers on the web have a Flash plug-in the program that allows your computer to view flash movies (for more information on this Macromedia product you can go to www.macromedia.com).

What programming languages are you familiar with?
I have a wide range of experience in web programming languages and can easily adapt to any hositng situation. I am most comfortable using HTML, XHTML, Javascript, PHP or Microsoft's .Net Languages VB and in particular C#. I do however have the ability to write in asp classic and can handle JSP and Cold Fushion as well.