Frequently Asked Questions
... with answers!
We get a lot of questions about our company and our services, and that's great! It means someone out there is interested enough to ask. We've posted answers to some of the most common questions here.
Feel free to take a look, if you have a more specific question, please don't hesitate to contact us directly.
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Pre-Sales (For Prospective Clients)
- Q: How much does the initial consultation cost?
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A: Nothing at all. The initial consultation is on us. It takes as little as 15-20 minutes. We ask a few questions to find out what kind of solution would best meet your needs, and you can of course ask us anything about our company and services.
- Q: Can I make my own custom Service & Support plan?
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A: We prefer that you stick with our standard pricing plans, but if the listed plans don't really do it for you, give us a call and let's talk. Keep in mind though, that we generally cannot produce a site for less than the lowest listed setup and monthly fee.
- Q: Do you offer UI design services?
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A: Yes, we do! However, most UI design work is done under contracts that do not allow us to display the finished product in our portfolio.
- Q: How often can I request updates?
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A: You can request changes as often as you'd like, but remember that we bill in .25 hour increments. If a change ends up taking 5 minutes, you will still be billed for 15. For this reason, clients often prefer to wait until they have at least a half hour of work before submitting a request.
- Q: Which tasks are considered maintenance, and which are billable enhancements?
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A: Compared to other web site companies, we are liberal with our definition of maintenance. Broadly though, anything that would create a new use or a new audience for your web site would be considered an enhancement. Everything else (generally adding/updating/removing content) is considered maintenance.
If the request is deemed an enhancement, we will give you a time and cost estimate before proceeding.
- Q: I'm concerned about entrusting my web site to a small company with proprietary software and hosting systems. What happens to my web site if you go out of business?
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A: Excellent question. Bigger Bird has numerous policies and safeguards to ensure that you are protected in the unlikely event that we terminate our operations for any reason.
The most important piece of the puzzle is prevention. We operate our business conservatively, growing slowly and carefully. No one will read about our amazing success in the paper, but neither will they read about our extraordinary failure.
If you ever decide to leave Bigger Bird, we will do everything we can to ensure a smooth transition to your next vendor.
Finally, CEO Aaron Namba is a diehard serial entrepreneur. There have been many ventures before Bigger Bird (and many will follow), but Aaron always takes care of his customers. One of Bigger Bird's clients actually started out as a client of Aaron Namba Hosting back in 1999. Even if something happens to Bigger Bird, you can rest assured that you are in good hands.
- Q: What languages/platforms are you familiar with?
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This one's for all you CIOs and CTOs in the audience. Here are some of the platforms we are most familiar with. Even if you don't see what you're looking for in the list, there's a good chance we will be able to (1) refresh our memories, (2) learn it quickly or (3) get help from a partner in order to meet your needs. Boldfaced options are our preferred solutions.
Server Operating Systems
- Linux: RHEL/CentOS
- Linux: Debian, Ubuntu
- Windows
- Mac OS X Server
- Solaris
Platforms/Languages
- Ruby on Rails
- PHP
Database Engines
- MySQL
- MongoDB
- Microsoft SQL Server
Web Servers
- Apache (Passenger, FastCGI)
- nginx
Third Party Software
- Joomla, Wordpress
- Blogger, Posterous, Tumblr
- vBulletin
- Paypal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout
- Shopify
Miscellaneous
- AJAX
- Git, Mercurial, Subversion
- Flash/ActionScript
- JavaScript
- REST/XML APIs & web services
Support (For Current Clients)
- Q: What file formats do you accept?
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A: The simplest way to submit copy changes is in plain text (such as in an email). Files in Microsoft Word or PDF format are also accepted. Price lists, event results, or other kinds of tabular data can be submitted in Microsoft Excel, CSV (comma-separated values) or tab-delimited format. Graphical formats vary widely, and some files are too large to be sent via email, so please contact us if you have questions about image files. A good rule of thumb is that any file less than 5 MB in size that can be opened in Photoshop can be submitted via email.
- Q: Can I fax or mail you material for my web site?
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A: Technically, no, and the reason is that it takes much longer for us to complete your updates, and increases the risk that we may introduce transcription errors. However, as long as this is the exception and not the rule, we can accept these types of content submissions on a limited basis.
General Questions
- Q: What is a domain name?
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A: A domain name is a name that an organization or individual can reserve for its exclusive, world-wide use by paying an annual fee to one of many domain name registrars. For example, Bigger Bird owns biggerbird.com, biggerbird.net, and several other domain names. Domain names are used in web site addresses, email addresses and for many other kinds of internet services.
- Q: What is a site map?
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A: A site map, as used by Bigger Bird, is a diagram that describes how a web site is organized. This diagram is not made visible to the public, but is furnished to clients at the start of the project to give an idea of how we plan to organize the site content. A change in the site map late in the project can affect dozens of pages and delay the project by days or weeks, so it is important to review the site map carefully at the time it is provided and submit any revisions promptly.
The term site map is also sometimes used to describe a special page on a web site that contains links to all the pages on the web site (or on a very large site, just the major pages). The general idea is the same: it is a way to communicate quickly how the site is organized.
- Q: What is an SSL certificate (a.k.a. "secure certificate")? Do I need one?
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SSL stands for "secure socket layers" technology, the silly-sounding industry standard in web site security. As data travels across the internet, it often traverses a dozen or more different networks, each owned by a different organization. When you are sending sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and personal information, this can be a scary thought.
Purchasing a secure certificate for your web site ensures that information sent to and received from your site will not be visible to third parties. Gaining this level of trust is essential for doing business online, so if you are receiving orders or collecting personal information for any reason, Bigger Bird will purchase and install a secure certificate for your site, usually at no additional cost to you.
As a side note, email is rarely encrypted end-to-end, and can be "spoofed" (made to look like it has been sent by someone other than the true sender), and is therefore very insecure. Never send sensitive information by email, especially in reply to an unsolicited email.
- Q: Can you make my home page play music?
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A: The short answer is yes (we can do just about anything you need), but we strongly recommend against doing this.
The reason you don't want to put music on your home page is the same reason you wouldn't start talking to a stranger during a movie: it's unexpected, unwanted and distracts from what they are there to see. As with any rule, there are exceptions: for example, music and sound might be appropriate on a children's web site, a web site including online games, or a web site for a band or musical group.
Still, there are many effective web sites that fall into those categories yet do not employ sound or music. Why would the owners choose to forgo such a powerful attention-grabber? This trick, often used by retailers to lure passing customers into the store is simply not necessary on a web site: the customer is already inside.
In addition, customers often go online at work, school, or some other place in which a sudden, unexpected sound may attract unwanted attention. Embarrassed, the visitor will quickly exit your site to stifle the sound, and is unlikely to try again later.
- Q: Can you build my entire web site using Flash?
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A: The short answer is yes (we can do just about anything you need), but we strongly recommend against doing this.
Other web companies with less experience and pragmatism often choose to show off their talent by creating eye-catching, music- and animation-filled sites. To us, they look all right, and usually get the information across, but there are three very important problems with all-Flash sites: usability, shareability, and search engine visibility.
Flash-heavy web sites score very low on usability and accessibility. First, they tend to be more difficult to navigate, because every Flash site works differently. You have to spend precious time learning how to find content on the site. Many users will just leave. Some sites even force you to sit through a long intro video or animation before you can even start using the site.
Second, the size of the text is often fixed, which affects users with very old or very new monitors, users with projectors, users who prefer large text, and many others. Users with visual or auditory disabilities will have extreme difficulty navigating your site.
Some users simply do not have the Flash player installed, and some cannot install it at all. Users in libraries and strict corporate environments, and users of devices like phones, PDAs and game consoles can't handle Flash content. You will have to decide whether these groups are important to you.
What do we mean by shareability? Well, consider a visitor who has found one of your products, and would now like to show it to his boss. He does what he always does: copies the URL from his browser's address bar and emails it to his boss. Trouble is, he hasn't sent the boss to the product page, he's sent the boss to your home page. The boss shoots back a confused email, and now you've confused and embarrassed a potential customer. Bookmarking is equally problematic: visitors are unable to bookmark a particular page.
The final problem with Flash sites is that your site looks great to humans, but to a search engine, which doesn't understand Flash and isn't interested in fancy animations, will not be able to index all of your site's content. Accordingly, your site will have a lower ranking than comparable non-Flash sites.
