FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions For Those Interested in Website Design

Can you tell me a little about DarrenSlaughter dot Com?

Absolutely, I’ve spent 20 years in advertising and marketing, concentrating on the home improvement industry. I started the website design side of the business out of necessity. You see, my clients always needed help improving their websites. So, I thought, let’s start from the website and work our way out. We (I have a designer and a programmer that I work with) focus on developing sites that help contractors sell through a concentration on content and SEO through to design and layout. In fact, every site built or re-designed is purpose-built to help you close more business!

What makes your sites different?

Most website design firms will slap your brochure on top of a boiler-plate template, put up a logo, pat you on your head and cash your check. I take a different approach. I think your website is your online showroom, and it needs to shine. I make sure of that with a few key differences from the companies I compete with:

1. I develop your content so that it helps you sell AND attracts the search engines. That way, you can be sure your website will attract the free organic traffic you want from people who are looking to buy over time.

2. Most design shops want to charge you to build search engine optimization (SEO) into your site design; I think it should be baked in. So all of my sites are structured with search engines in mind but written for consumers, and included in your cost. Off page SEO is something we can do to, but that is additional.

3. Higher conversions-with baked in SEO and great content, your site will convert more visitors into leads, which is what your site is supposed to do isn’t it?

Is there a monthly subscription for my website?

No, what you are quoted is your final price, ½ due up front, ½ due upon completion.  I don’t understand why anyone would want to pay for a website over and over again.

Do I own my site?

Unlike other contractor website design services, once me and my guys hand you the keys to your site, it is yours to do with as you wish.

What about hosting?

The 1st year of hosting is included with your site design. After the 1st year, your price is $4.95 a month billed annually. You get spam filtering, security enabled software to protect your site from hackers, and unlimited emails, all included in your program.

Why do I have to switch hosts?

Because our hosting partner is optimized for use with WordPress, and WordPress is known for excellent SEO benefits. I use WordPress as a framework with all of my sites because as you say in the trades, it has good “bones”. Besides, hosting with me is free for the first year, and practically nothing there on out, at just $4.95 a month (billed annually).

How do you offer content creation?

Easy, I have spent 20 years writing ad copy, including website copy, so I am pretty good at it. But it all starts with a phone interview to get a solid understanding about you, your team and your business, how you want your company to be presented and how you want people to reach out to you.

Do you offer any guarantees for first page placement on Google?

No, and no one should either. Sure, I can tell you I will get you found for some obscure 5-word keyword, but what good does that do you? If you are paying someone who claims they can promise you 1^st page ranking, you should run. The only way to do that is by paying for it with Google Adwords…and not even then is the first page guaranteed. What I will do is make sure your website content and on-page SEO places you in a position to be found consistently over time – and that your content is written in a friendly manner that the consumer will understand and appreciate. No SEO-keyword stuffing here!

You see, you can perform all the best practices available at the current time for SEO, but there is still a time element involved. It could take months or years (or not ever) to appear on the first page of Google for the most competitive keywords. And who knows when Google decides to change the way they show results? What we will do is help you target keywords used by buyers, to get found by buyers, not shoppers. Which means our keyword strategy may be a bit different from what your competition is trying to rank for.

I already have a website, why should I re-design it?

Well, maybe you don’t need a re-design, maybe you just need new content. Or maybe you do need a new coat of paint on your site. Either way, if your site isn’t delivering the results you expect, isn’t it worth having a conversation to see what can be done to improve your conversion ratio and help make you more money? Besides, talking is still free!

How long will it take to create my site?

I take a lot of pride in making sure me and my guys work on your project from a holistic approach; first we want to make sure the bones are good. Then we make sure the content is doing its job, and then we make sure that it is all wrapped up in a fantastic layout that helps move prospects through the sales pipeline on your site.

All in all, each construction website project is like a snowflake, meaning each is different. And depending on the complexity of your website, you should be up and running in 2-4 weeks.

Ready to talk about your project? 
None of the information below is required, but the more you provide the better I can help you.