Web Design Info

Thank you for your interest in having Cottage Collections assist you with your graphic and web design needs for your small business. As you can see by the design of our own site, we offer a unique, feminine and professional approach to web design.

Cottage Collections is committed to helping you make the dream of owning your business a reality. Because something as simple as a professional web presence can make all the difference in the success of your business, we take your design needs seriously. Whether you work from home or have a have a shop or studio, taking the next step of adding a website to your business plan was once considered a scary prospect. But it no longer needs to be. Over the past 3 years we have been dedicated to researching and developing the very latest and best web technology to be able to offer you a web solution that is not only easy to use, but one that requires absolutely no special knowledge or software. Our sites are designed to be intuitive and truly user friendly.

Do you remember when “location” was one of the most important aspects of a business? That was a time when foot traffic was the only traffic you had and without that traffic, there wouldn’t be any sales. Well that’s just not the case any longer. A web presence allows you global foot traffic. You have this unique opportunity of marketing yourself and your services or products to an unlimited audience. However, you have just one opportunity to make a “FIRST IMPRESSION”. We can help you make that first impression count! Professionalism is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of any business. Because you want your clients and customers to feel safe and secure purchasing your products and services, you must establish credibility. There are many ways to do that, but one is with a unique business identity (e.g. logo/color/branding etc.) and with a professional, well-functioning website.

We like to think of our website packages as the Pink Cadillac of website packages!

Our newly improved Pink Cadillac package offers the following features:

  • Custom graphic design so that your website looks just like you want it to (view our portfolio for examples)
  • Pre-designed websites using the same up to date technology
  • Easy to set up and use (just add your products and start selling)
  • Comes with photo gallery, guest book, blog, news/event page, and favorite links page
  • Create your own pages and add them to your website directly from your administrative interface (contact us for access)
  • Unlimited categories and products
  • Works with your PayPal, Authorize.Net, or LinkPoint accounts, or process orders using your own credit card terminal
  • Use UPS and USPS shipping rate estimates or your own rate table
  • Customer accounts remember your customer's information so checkout is a breeze
  • Offer coupons and gift certificates
  • Customers can send a wish list to their friends or compare your products on a design board
  • And much more…

    If you’re ready to make the dream of owning your own business a reality, we’d love talk with you.

We can be reached at 804.524.0092 from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm EST. If our office hours don't fit into your schedule, we'll be happy to pre-arrange time that will. After your free initial consultation, we'll be happy to provide you with an estimate. All estimates are valid for 30 days and should not be considered a quote. An estimate is based on the design elements originally presented to us. If your needs change or you require additional programming or design, your final price will be adjusted to reflect these changes. All changes will require a change order.

Please fill out our questionnaire to request an estimate.

Below you will find a series of questions that might help you determine what your design needs are.

  • What is the purpose of your web site?
  • Will you be selling products, offering a service, or both?
  • Will you be selling wholesale as well as retail on your site?
  • Do you have a logo? If not, will you need one designed for you?
  • Do you have color or layout preferences?
  • Do you have graphics/photos/written material for your site?
  • Do you have a domain name? (e.g. cottagecollections.com)
  • Are you a PayPal member, or will you be using an alternative merchant account to process orders?
  • Do you have a web host? Do you need assistance finding hosting? We'll be happy to help you set up your hosting.
  • One of our favorite hosts that we have been using for quite a while now is Server Intellect. Please click on the link below for more information.
Server Intellect

Newsletter/Mail-List Management Program:
Constant Contact is one the the best mailing list management services we've used. For your free trial, click on the link below.

Email Marketing Gets Results  

Search Engine Positioning

Your web page/pages will be designed with meta tags to help you get search engine positioning. This does not eliminate the need to submit your site to search engines or to have your site optimized. This just means your site will be ready to submit with meta elements and keywords in place in order to be picked up by search engine crawlers. Site owners are responsible for supplying Cottage Collections with keywords and descriptions. If you choose to use trademarked key words such as "shabby chic" you do so at your own risk. "Shabby Chic" is a registered trademarked name and using it could be considered an infringement if you don't carry their product. There are variations of this term that are allowable such as shabby and chic, or chic not shabby. This applies to all trademarked names/terms. If you'd like us to submit your website, we can provide this service. If you'd rather do it yourself, we can suggest services that you can use.

We look forward to helping you make your dream a reality.

Warmest Regards,
Joyce Lucas

Disclaimer: Cottage Collections is not responsible for the content, products or services of individual websites designed by us or designed using our graphics. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone based on questionable or illegal content as well as unreasonable expectations that go beyond the scope of our policies and original agreement.

Policy and Rates

Once your preliminary design has been completed, it will be made available for your review. At this time, you will have the opportunity to request edits/changes. These changes will be completed and once again available for your review.

All package prices/estimates are based on two basic edits. However, the final balance will be based on how many hours spent in the design process. Any additional changes to the design will be charged at our hourly design rate. It is important that you have a clear idea of what you would like designed so that you will end up with "your vision" rather than ours. Take the time to visit other websites to get ideas of style and colors that represent the look you're hoping to achieve on your website. This will help eliminate costly changes.

If you are purchasing our Pink Cadillac package please check your site thoroughly, testing all areas for function and accuracy within 14 days. Any maintenance after this period of time will be billed at our current hourly rate.

If you experience any technical difficulty with your site, please check with you hosting company first. If we troubleshoot your site and the error was on the part of your hosting company, our hourly rate will apply.

All graphic sets/web graphics, deposits and web design is non-refundable. Fee's for web/graphic services are payable in advance. Once deposit is received, we will begin work on your project.

All web content must be forwarded to us by the start of your design. This time frame will be discussed at the time of initial deposit (usually 2-3 weeks depending on length of waiting list ). If we do not receive your content within this time frame, your name will be added back to the bottom of the waiting list, and work on your website will not continue until all content is forwarded to us.

Please be sure your editorial and image content is copyright-free, public domain or that you own the copyright to all material you send us to include in your site. We are not responsible for copyright infringement of any web content that you have provided to us to include in your design.

Public domain material is anything that is not currently copyrighted (or has lost it's copyright), and is now available in the public domain to be used by the public as we see fit. You can use these materials without having to obtain permission. If something is public domain or free of copyright you can edit it, copy it, and do pretty much whatever you’d like with it. It is safe to assume that anything published in the United States before 1924 is public domain. If an item is trademarked, it does not fall into the public domain category.

Note: if your hosting provider does not support FTP and requires that pages be created using their proprietary software or web interface, there will be an additional charge (e.g. Homestead, Yahoo Stores, etc.) due to the time involved for us to navigate their software.

Our Pink Cadillac package should be viewable by most major browsers. However, your administrative interface will require the use of either Internet Explorer 6 or higher or Firefox 2 or higher.
 
All Cottage Collections sites require a small non obtrusive link back to cottagecollections.com

Thank you for taking the time to read our web policies and pricing structure. If there is a service that you require that is not listed, please feel free to ask. If it is at all possible for us to do so, we are happy to help.

Services and Rates

We offer graphic design, illustration, web design, web development, logo design, print layouts, digital photography, web re-designs, web maintenance, Flash, scripting, slide shows, search engine submission, image scanning, image optimization, auction templates, web graphic sets, and more. See services below.

Web Maintenance: 75.00/hour - If you don't know how, don't want to know how or just don't have the time to maintain your website, we will be happy to do it for you on a weekly, monthly or as-needed basis. This service will be billed at our current hourly design rate of 75.00/hr.

Additional Services: Hourly rate applies to all services noted below.

  • Custom Graphic Design (request estimate)
  • Ad design
  • Business card design and cost of printing
  • Ad and link banners
  • Page headers
  • Shopping cart setup (based on complexity of cart)
  • Custom JavaScript/Flash Movies
  • Do you need a stylist to display and photograph your products? Send us your products and we will photograph for them for you
  • Custom graphics sets
  • Floral signature (for e-mail and forums)
  • Please request a quote for all other services

Feel free to e-mail us any questions you have. We would love to talk to you about designing your website, your logo or any other graphic design needs. Please e-mail us at info@cottagecollections.com. If you would like a call back, please include your phone number. Initial consultation is free of charge.

Prices subject to change without notice. All estimates are valid for 30 days.

Current Hourly Rate for Graphic/Web Design 75.00/hour - 1 hour minimum