Questions,answered plainly.

If yours is not here, email hello@holstonstudio.com and I will answer it.

Cost and payment

How much does a website cost?

One price for the whole site. A Core site is $2,500, for barbershops, salons and small shops. A Standard site is $3,500 to $5,000, for restaurants, bars and breweries with menus and events. You get a fixed quote in writing before anything starts. See Pricing for what is included.

Are there monthly fees?

Not to me. Hosting and your domain cost about $10 to $12 a month (hosting about $9 a month plus a domain at about $15 to $25 a year) and you pay those companies directly, on accounts in your name.

Why not just use Squarespace or Wix?

You can, and for some businesses that is the right answer. The difference is that a template site looks like a template, is slower than it should be and still takes you weeks of evenings to build. A site I build is designed around what brings you customers, is fast and set up for Google, and you still edit it yourself afterwards.

Why does it cost more than a friend could do it for?

A friend who knows their way around a website builder can get you something real, and for some businesses that is enough. What you are paying for here is the rest of the job: a design made around what brings you customers, speed measured on a phone before launch, your Google Business Profile and business details set up properly, an editing system you control, accounts in your own name and written handoff notes. It is built so it keeps working when the person who built it is not around.

Time and process

How long does it take?

Most projects take three to six weeks from the first conversation to launch. The biggest factor is how quickly the content comes together.

How much of my time will it take?

A first conversation of about thirty minutes, two or three rounds of feedback on real pages and the time to gather your menus, prices, hours and photos. Most owners spend a few hours in total.

Do I need to write the words?

No. Send what you have and tell me the story. I write and shape the rest with you.

What about photos?

Photos of your actual place and your actual work, always. If you do not have good ones, that gets arranged early in the project.

Ownership and lock-in

Who owns the website?

You do. The domain, the hosting and the editing system are on accounts in your name, and the code lives in your own account. You get written notes that any developer can follow.

What if you are not around later?

Nothing depends on me. The site is standard code on hosting you control. You can hire anyone to change it, including me.

Can I update it myself?

Yes. Hours, prices, photos, events and text are all editable from a phone or a computer. You change a field and press publish. You cannot break the layout, because the layout is not something you can touch.

Google and getting found

Will it get me on the first page of Google?

Nobody can promise a position, so be careful with anyone who promises one. What I do is give Google what it needs: fast pages, your business details in the format Google reads, a page for each thing people search for and a Google Business Profile that matches your site. For a local business that is most of the work, and it is part of every project.

Do you do ongoing marketing or ads?

No. I build the site so it works for search on its own. If you want ads or social media management, I can point you to people who do that.

How the work gets done

Do you only work with restaurants and barbershops?

That's where most of my work is, but any local business people visit fits, like coffee shops, boutiques and studios. Ask.

Do you work with businesses outside Knoxville?

Knoxville and East Tennessee first, because I can come to your place and I know the area. Outside that, ask.

Do you build online stores or apps?

No. I build websites for local places people walk into: restaurants, bars, breweries, barbershops, salons, shops and studios. If you need online ordering, I will tell you honestly whether a simple link to an ordering service will do the job.

Can you fix my existing site instead?

Sometimes. If the bones are good I will say so and quote a small job. If they are not, I will say that too.

Still have a question? Email hello@holstonstudio.com or start a project.