Your domain is different from your website. Here are the basics of how it works. The domain is the web address (similar to a PO Box) that you pay annually to use. You register and pay for a specific website address from a domain registry company (GoDaddy). This provides access to a control panel that allows you to point the domain to your specific website. So when someone types in yourwebsiteaddress.com, it goes to your domain account and that control panel tells the browser, “Look over on this server to find that website!”

Videos can potentially slow down your site, yes, but they don’t have to! When you embed a video from a third-party platform, like YouTube, that platform adds a snippet of code to your site. That code must be loaded by search engines, which can potentially cause slowdowns. However, there are simple steps a developer can take to reduce issues with site speed. For example, embedding a video thumbnail instead of the full video is one way to reduce the code snippets that might be added to your website. This limits the HTTP requests that a browser needs to load a site. It’s important to work with a team who can carefully balance your video needs while mitigating speed issues. Videos are vital for generating engagement and creating a strong SEO strategy. Don’t avoid videos just because you’re worried about speed!

A content delivery network (CDN) is a group of servers spread across a geographic area that work together to deliver online content quickly. CDNs efficiently transfer the assets that are used in a webpage, such as JavaScript, HTML, stylesheets, and images. A CDN works in conjunction with a web host to ensure a strong performance by caching content, which improves service and security. In addition to improving website load times, CDNs provide additional security against hacker attacks, reduce bandwidth costs, and favor higher levels of traffic.

Nope! While we have many clients in the Pacific Northwest, we work with companies all around the country. Thanks to the type of work we do, it’s easy to communicate and share using remote tools. Our team uses Zoom and Skype to meet with clients, Dropbox to share images and documents, and good old-fashioned phone calls and emails to get in touch and keep projects moving.

It depends on a variety of factors, including the complexity of your business and what kind of features you want your new site to have. How many pages will your website have? Will it sell products or accept payments or donations? Will it need contact forms or the ability to collect other types of information? Do you want to schedule appointments or classes? Is there anything especially unique or challenging about your industry that your site will have to address? Stellaractive’s websites generally start at $10,000. When you first contact us for a quote, we’ll start out by collecting basic information about you and your site. If your needs and budget align with our services, we’ll meet again before creating a comprehensive quote that outlines exactly we’ll do and what the payment schedule will be.

Our design and development queue varies depending on the season, what other projects are active, and how complex a new site will be. In large part, the timeline depends on the responsiveness of the client and how quickly they’re able to provide information and content. In general, it can take 6-8 weeks to complete a new site if a client provides us with the content. It may take 9-12 weeks if Stellaractive is generating the content.

Of course! Some agencies sneak sketchy ownership language into their contracts and clients end up not owning their own new website. We don’t do that! We work hard to create beautiful, functional websites for our clients and after that, we step out. Once your final bill is paid, copyright is transferred to you and you fully own your website.

Sure! After a project launches, we encourage our clients to make their own changes since WordPress is an intuitive platform to use. We work with you after launch to help you feel comfortable and confident on your site, and we’ll even provide personal video tutorials. Or we can make changes to your site according to our current hourly rates. We will typically research your request and provide you with a quote for your approval.

We usually do not outsource any projects as our team is equipped to handle development, design, and marketing. There are times when we might, with your approval, seek an outside contractor to assist us with elements such as video or photography. We only work with trusted and vetted companies that are located within the country – we do not outsource to other countries.

Stellaractive is a mobile-friendly agency. This means that we incorporate mobile-friendly design and elements into your site from the get-go although we first create a design intended for a desktop computer. We won’t design a site that doesn’t look great on a mobile device. You’ll have one beautiful responsive design that automatically scales down on tablets and cell phones. In addition to keeping mobile design in mind throughout the process, we thoroughly test your site on a variety of browsers and devices before launch.

When agencies design for mobile-first, they only design for mobile devices and view people on mobile devices as the primary visitors to the site. They make their initial designs for mobile and don’t worry how the site looks on PCs.

Both methods are valid. We feel that a mobile-friendly approach is important for the majority of clientele (since business-to-business website users aren’t as focused on mobile as direct consumers). Plus, mobile-friendly is an efficient way to maximize your digital marketing since all potential customers are considered, even if they use desktop computers.

Currently, yes. We love WordPress because it’s intuitive and flexible. There’s very little we can’t do with WordPress! We especially love its huge array of plugins that add incredible versatility.

Yes, we can host emails. Email hosting is separate from website hosting but the cost is minimal, depending on how many user boxes you need.

If you’d like a quote or discuss your website needs, complete our form, or better yet, give us a call at 503-384-2413. We’d love to chat with you! If you’re a current customer and you’re having support issues, email [email protected].