Cataluña gets lots of questions every day. I feel that they cover issues that are very important for you to know and understand. Web and print design can be quite confusing and the more you know the better off you are when spending money on print and web marketing. So here is what you have been waiting for! The top ten questions that we receive on web and print design:

1. I want a web site/print brochure, how long will that take?
Building a web site is a lot like building a house. If you just went to the builders and asked them how long it would take to build a house - they would look at you blankly. It all depends on what you want - all of the details. So your designer needs lots of details to give you an accurate quote of how long it will take.

2. I want a web site/print brochure, how much will that cost?
The answer is, basically, the same as above. It all depends on what you want. At that point your designer can give you an accurate quote on cost.

3. What is ftp?
FTP stands for file transfer protocol. This is how your designer uploads your pages from their computer to your ISP's server.

4. What is a host?
Your host is typically called an Internet Service Provider (ISP). They are the people/company that owns and operates the server on which your web site resides. Usually your ISP will offer you an account that includes: dialup access to the Internet, one or more e-mail accounts, as well as space for hosting your web site.

5. What are pop3 email accounts?
The term pop3 refers to the current version of "post office protocol". This is the most frequently used type of email accounts and you will very likely see this term when shopping for an ISP.

6. What are servers?
A server is a computer on a network that manages network resources. These always-on computers typically perform a dedicated task. Web servers, database servers, and print servers are among a wide variety of dedicated servers. You may also hear the term virtual server. That refers to a single server that performs several tasks. Web servers are usually owned and operated by Internet Service Providers. Virtual servers can cut back on the cost of hosting. Because there are dozens of servers on one computer, it can sometimes slow down your web site.

7. What is DPI and how does it affect my images?
DPI stands for dots per inch. The more dots there are in a square inch - the higher the resolution of a photo, meaning better photo quality. But when you have more dots, you also have a larger file requiring a longer download time. So, you want to use a lower resolution for your web graphics. Web graphics require a lower resolution than print because of limitations presented by computer monitors. I generally use 72 dpi for web and at least 225-300 dpi for print.

8. Why does my web site look different on my neighbors' computer?
Web sites can look different from computer to computer, monitor to monitor, and browser to browser. These differences are caused by the various limitations and defaults of various computers and the fact that the competing web browsers are not programmed the same and will interpret html differently. As a designer, I design sites to function and look good across a variety of platforms.

9. Why don't I have a high ranking on the search engines?
Every search engine has a different way of ranking your site. Some just look at your pages, some see what sites are linked to you, some look at the Meta tags, and some look at the alt tags, while some search engines will penalize you for 'tricks' that you use to achieve a higher ranking. Optimizing your site to do well with the variety of ranking criteria without doing the things that will get your site kicked off of a search engine can be a daunting task. And, remember that you are competing with billions of other web sites and it is a difficult process to get to the top. If you have the money I recommend hiring someone that will give you great advice, will register and monitor your site rankings. Or, do this yourself. The key is to keep monitoring your site. It is a very time intensive part of your site but can be well worth it. Web Position is a good program that I have had experience with that can help you monitor and maximize your site rankings.

10. Do you host my web site?
No, I do not host web sites. It is a lot of work to operate a server and keep it up and running 24/7. I like to concentrate on building creative and effective web sites for my clients - not on all the technical issues surrounding the server. I do, however, work closely with the web host of your choice to handle the posting of your site to the Internet.

© Cataluña 1999