I'm interested in a website from Studio Illicit. What now?

The first thing to do is to get in touch with us – you can drop us a message, email us at info@studioillicit.com or give us a call on +44 (0)1392 757 007. We will then either arrange a meeting at our Exeter office on Fore Street, or correspond by email, phone or Skype so that we can come up with an appropriate price quotation for you. Before we provide a quote, feel free to share any ideas, text, images and materials that may give us an idea of what you are looking for. It's a good idea to make a note of which existing websites you like so we know the direction the web design should take. Once you have received a price quote and should you decide to accept, we'll agree on a deadline and get started as soon as possible.

I'm not from Exeter, Devon or anywhere local to Studio Illicit. Can I work with you?

Absolutely. We have lots of clients further afield and have worked with clients outside of the UK. Instead of a face-to-face meeting, we can contact you via other methods such as Skype with some questions about what you would like from us. We will ask that, along with your answers, you send us any ideas, text, images, other materials and examples of web pages you like so that we have a clear idea of what you are looking for. From this we can draw up your brief and price quote and take things from there.

Once I've accepted a price quote for my web design, what happens?

We will ask that you send us as much content for your website as possible – images, text and other media. At this stage it doesn't have to be everything, but enough for us to build a draft page or two. We will then produce one or two of these 'mock-up' pages based on your specifications to give you an idea of page structure, colour schemes and overall style. You can then offer us feedback on any changes you would like us to make so that we can arrive at the final look for your website. Once you are completely happy with a design, we will ask for the content needed to complete the site (if we don't have it already). We can then work on finishing it for you.

How long will it take for you to complete my website?

This will depend on the size and complexity of the website itself, but we can usually develop a basic brochure site within a week once we have all of the website content and designs are agreed on. The sooner you can get all the content to us the sooner we can complete your website.

I don't have much content - what do I do?

If you don't have much content at hand, we can help. You can request our copywriting service and we can source images through a stock supplier or one of our extremely talented photographers. We can also offer branding and logo design if you need this. These services do come at an extra cost, and if not included in the original quote will be added and the final costs adjusted. We will try to keep any extra web design costs as low as possible.

What happens if I change my mind during the web design process?

This entirely depends on which stage of the design we are at. We will always send you 'mock-ups' and during this stage we do normally expect you to suggest changes to the design. This is to ensure that the final design is what you want. However, once the final look has been agreed and we are at a later stage in the design, particularly when it is being programmed, any significant changes will incur additional charges due to the extra work involved.

Are your sites fully cross-browser compatible?

All of our websites tested thoroughly in all major web browsers. We test with the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari. We test our webpages on tablets and phones, and all our sites are designed to be responsive. If there are any special requirements such as compatibility with obsolete browsers, let us know so we can be sure to meet them.

How do I get my website online?

We offer a web hosting service, so if you would like to have your web design online with us, all you need to do is let us know and we will set up an appropriate hosting package for you. We will also let you know the options available for buying a domain name. If you already have hosting and a domain name, we will be happy to upload your site onto your existing hosting space, providing it can accommodate the size and traffic of your new website and meets certain minimal technical requirements.

How do I know I'm getting the right hosting package?

We will ask you some questions about your website and from the information we have, will match it up with a hosting package we consider appropriate. Once uploaded, we will monitor your website's disk space and bandwidth usage. Should it look like the website will exceed the capacity allotted to it, we will suggest that you upgrade it to a larger package. Should your website have extremely heavy traffic or a very large amount of data, we may recommend a dedicated hosting plan from our providers, who will be able to offer the disk and bandwidth capacity not offered by one of our existing packages.

How do I update my website after it's finished?

There are two ways of doing this: you can update your website yourself through a content management system (CMS) - we normally use WordPress - or we can update it for you. A content management system means that you can change photos or text in your site easily. The advantage of this system is that there is a one-off charge and you have full control over your website. However if you would rather we took care of your site content, or your website requires a change in structure or extra pages, we will charge an hourly rate for work carried out. Small and very occasional updates to a website we have built for you (such as a change of contact details or a small piece of text) will not be charged for.

Will my website appear on search engines such as Google?

When we build a website, we always code it with search engines in mind, thereby increasing its chances of being indexed. It can take time for your website to appear in the results, and its ranking will be highly dependent on your competition. Our search engine optimisation (SEO) service employs further techniques to ensure that your website stands the best possible chance of ranking well. It can be incorporated into our web design service for optimum performance from the outset, or added as an effective competitive marketing strategy for your existing website.