FAQs

We've answered a selection of the most common questions we get asked to help demystify design and development. Feel free to contact us if you have a more specific question or to see how we might tackle your particular case.

Why don’t I just use a template from Wix or Squarespace?

To be honest, this is exactly where we started out in our careers! However, we found that Wix and Squarespace were too restrictive in their functionality for us to take bring our specific design vision to life or take advantage of more advanced technical features. In a world of similar websites, it’s worth a little bit extra to stand out from the crowd.

I already have a Shopify account, can you work with that?

Yes! Whilst we’d typically still build the main site in Webflow, it’s relatively straightforward to import our work as your own custom Shopfiy store template, or integrate a Webflow front-end with a Shopfiy back-end. We’d be happy to listen through your requirements and advise on what might be the best route forward. 

What technology stack do you use?

We favour Webflow for the majority of our web development because of it’s balance of power for us, the developer, and ease-of-use for you, the customer. It also allows us to integrate with a range of other platforms and tools, including Shopify, OpenTable, Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, Zapier and a whole host of others. We favour Google Analytics (it’s free, after all!) but can work with you if you have an analytics platform preference. 

What is Webflow, and why do you use it?

Webflow is a next generation no/low-code web development tool, favoured by professional designers. It allows us to be much more flexible than Wix or Squarespace, whilst being so much more user friendly than Wordpress. It means that we can make full use of our professional skills, whilst providing you with an easy to manage and update site. Webflow also allows us to export the code we write in a clean, human-readable standard - meaning we can always migrate to your own technical infrastructure if and when you decide to do so. They also have a ton of genuinely entertaining learning materials if you fancy dipping your toes into becoming a semi-pro web developer!

Do you recommend a hosting provider?

We favour Google Domains - we’ve found them to be a more economical provider, with a simpler product and - most importantly - they don’t phone us every couple of weeks to try and sell us more stuff!

Can you help me with SEO?

Yes, for some of it at least. Your search engine rank is made up of both “content” and “technical” components. The former deals with whether the content on your page is useful to its visitors, and can be improved by back-linking, keyword research, content writing etc. We’re probably not the best folks to help you with this part, but we can connect you with people who can. Where we can help you is the ‘technical’ component - including proper indexing, sitemap crawling, mobile-compatibility, accessibility, load-time reduction and others.

How much does it cost?

Whilst each case is different, most of our clients work with a budget of between £7-12k for either a new website or an MVP design. You can find more details on our pricing page.

How long does it take?

Generally, we can design and build a new website within 8-12 weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the content and requirements. You can find more details on our pricing page.

What if I don’t like a design?

This happens rarely as we’re careful to build contingency for up to 3 total redrafts into each of our projects. We’ll check in with you regularly and provide you full access to our work-in-progress files so you can continue to steer in a direction you’re happy with - without surprises!

How would we work together?

After an initial kick-off workshop, we’ll typically have a one-hour checkpoint every week for a more structured update, demo and debate on direction. You’ll also have access to our work-in-progress design files so you can add comments or ask questions as we go along. The more feedback we get, the better results you get!

How do you make the brand design process practical?

Our experience in design agencies showed us that there can be A LOT of waffle in the brand design process. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we didn’t see enough immediate value in a lot of the process we had learned to follow, so we stripped out a lot of it, removed the BS and paired it back to a focused, more practical and applied process. As long as we can articulate what we’re about, in a way that is convincing and with visuals that support that message - that’s good enough for us. 

I have a brand I’m happy with, can we use that?

Of course! We can work off an existing visual identity and tone of voice to create our designs. In our experience, some expansion to the brand guidelines often needs to occur to accomodate new components or accessibility requirements but we will work with you to shape and agree these as we go.

Hannah Parvin, Head of Projects at Black Turtle.Tom Hollis, Director at Black Turtle Studios.

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