[ FAQ ]

Common Questions

Answers to common questions about our services, process, collaboration, timelines, and project expectations.

Getting Started

What happens on the first call?

We ask a lot of questions. We want to understand your audience, your goals, what you have already tried, and what success actually looks like for you twelve months from now. You should expect to leave that call with clarity even if you never hire us, because you cannot get good recommendations from someone who did not take the time to understand the situation. If we see a better path than the one you came in asking for, we will tell you.

That is a normal place to start, and it is a good reason to apply rather than a reason to wait. Most partners come to us knowing something is not working without being able to name exactly what it is. Diagnosing that is part of our job. You bring the vision and the frustration. We bring the questions that turn both into a plan.

Yes. We are based in the Raleigh area and we love working with organizations in our community, but the majority of our work happens remotely and our partners are spread across the country and world. The process, the communication, and the standard are the same either way.

Services

Do you only build websites?
No. The website is usually the most visible piece, but it is rarely the whole project. We work in three areas: branding and design, website development and hosting, and ongoing growth support that includes SEO, AEO, content, and more. Most partners come to us for one of those and end up needing at least part of another.

Because the words and user experience are the website, and it represents your brand online. Strip away the animations, the colors, and the photography, and what is left is whether a visitor understands who you are and why it matters to them.

A designer can make almost anything look good. No designer can make an unclear message convert.

When a site is not working, the design is usually not the problem. The site never decided who it was talking to or what it was asking them to do. Messaging is where we settle that, and it gives your designer direction and your developer a purpose for every section on the page.

If you already have that clarity documented and it holds up, we will use it and skip ahead. We are not going to sell you work you do not need.

A person writes and edits your copy. A person is accountable for every word that goes on your site.

We do use AI as a tool inside our process, the same way we use research, analytics, and every other input that makes the work sharper. What we do not do is let a machine be the author. AI is unable to understand the context of your business goals and understand the full picture of where you are trying to go. AI is used as a tool in the hands of an expert, and not designed to replace or water down your brand. Nothing reaches your website without a strategist who understands your brand putting their name on it.

Design is what your website looks like and how it guides someone through a decision. Development is what makes it work. Our designers build the layout, the visual hierarchy, and the experience of moving through the page. Our developers take that design and turn it into a live, functioning website that loads quickly, works on every device, and is easy for your team to manage.

They are separate skills and separate people, which is why you see them as separate line items in a proposal. 

Often, yes, and we will tell you honestly when it is the better call. Sometimes the foundation is solid and the right move is to expand on what exists rather than start over. However, we do find most business have their logo and colors, but how the brand extends to the website is where we like to support most.

Other times a site has been patched so many times that rebuilding costs less than untangling it. We assess the actual condition of what you have before recommending anything, because the answer changes the budget significantly and you deserve to know which situation you are in.

Most website projects run eight to twelve weeks from kickoff to launch. Messaging work on its own is typically three to four weeks. Larger builds with heavy content migration or multiple integrations take longer, and we will tell you that in the proposal.

Erin leads the strategy on every project. She is on your discovery call, she builds your plan, and she stays involved through launch. From there, you have a project manager as your daily point of contact and a team of specialists doing the work: a designer who designs, a developer who develops, a writer who writes. Essentially, an expert at each aspect collaborate together to deliver a project you can be proud of.

You are not getting one person juggling every part of your project at once. You are also not getting handed off to someone who has never heard your name.

Feedback that arrives in pieces, and internal approval chains nobody mapped at the start. Our recommendation is decide early who has final say, and give them a heads up that their reviews are coming. Projects where one person owns the decision consistently move faster than projects where five people weigh in whenever they get to it. We encourage our clients to carve out time to review each pass and respond within the recommended window in order to keep the project momentum.

After a Website Launch

What happens after the site goes live?
Yes. Completely. Your domain stays in your name, the site is yours, and if you ever decide to work with someone else, you leave with everything. We say this plainly because too many businesses have discovered the hard way that the agency held the keys. We would rather you stay because the work is good.
Most partners move into ongoing hosting and support. It can also include a growth engagement where we keep working on SEO, AEO, content, and conversion. Launch day is the start of a website earning its keep. Upon request, we can also walk your team through how to update the site and leave you with recorded walkthroughs you can keep for your records.