Quick FAQs
Answers to the most common questions
General Questions
The length of time it takes to build a website varies depending on the scope of the project.
If the nature of the site is mostly informative and contains a number of pages of content with images, and maybe a contact form, you can expect this to be completed within a week to 10 days once the content is submitted to our development team.
If your website requires many additional pages, complex forms, e-commerce features, or custom programming it may take a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
We try to provide a timeline that is flexible containing release stages of phases so that your website can take shape as quickly as possible.
Absolutely! The only payment method we provide is online with a credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex).
Typically we will require an initial deposit to kick off your website. Depending on the size of the project, we may incorporate incremental payments along the way, however in most case there is only a final balance due when your site is ready to launch live.
In order to establish our relationship and to ensure you can have full trust in our work we will have multiple calls (via a conventional phone or using a VOIP solution such as Skype, Zoom, Meet, or Teams) with you. This allows our team to pivot when required and to stay on top of any changes or requests you may have.
With that said, email correspondence is also very effective as there will be times when attachments such as images and content need to be sent over to us.
No. All of our development is done in-house by our team here in Canada. Although we do work in remote offices here is Canada, we are 100% Canadian.
Currently we are only focused on providing services to Canadian and United States based companies. In very rare circumstances we may provide services to U.K. and Australian companies, but each is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Domain Names
Yes. Every website on the Internet requires a domain name to operate. It is the domain name (www.example.com) that allows visitors to easily navigate to your website.
GoMax can assist in registering a domain name for you, or by making the necessary configuration changes to connect your existing domain name to our hosting services.
There are many registrars that can provide a domain name to you. Our favourite is "eNom" or "GoDaddy", however you are free to choose any provider you like.
For simplicity we can take care of this registration process for you as part of our bundled services. By allowing us to take care of the domain name we will also handle the technical configuration required to make it work with your website.
Should you wish to register a domain on your own through another domain name company, we will provide the technical requirements to connect your domain name to our network.
Your domain name registrar will provide additional instructions on how to apply the required changes, at which time your domain name will be connected to our network.
Each TLD (.com / .net / .ca / etc.) has slightly different costs. On average domain names can run between $12 and $25 per year.
There is no theoretical limit to the quantity of domain names a single person can own. The only real limit here is budget driven as each domain will require an annual renewal, and these fees can certainly add-up for multiple domain names.
A website only requires 1 domain name to work, however by securing additional variations of your domain name (mispellings, similar words, etc.) you may benefit by assisting visitors to your website when they make an error either by searching or by typing your domain name in.
We have many clients who also choose to register additional names based around the products they sell, or the services they provide.
All of the additional domain names can be configured to automatically redirect to your website.
Email Accounts
Email is an important component when it comes to Internet business.
At GoMax we have elected to let the big players in the industry who specialize in email take care of that. Our recommendation is Google's Gmail or Microsoft's Outlook with their Office365 platform.
Both of these email platforms are rock-solid with fantastic spam filtering and mail handling features. They also include mobile apps for email on the go with your cell-phone.
Whether you choose Gmail or Outlook, there will be a monthly subscription cost directly payable to them. They also provide all the support you'll ever need for your email services.
Our focus is on the success of your website. Although we will provide as much help as possible when it comes to general email questions, typically all support will be provided directly by Google or Microsoft.
WordPress
At the core, WordPress is the most popular & simplest way to create & manage a website. WordPress powers over 45% of all websites on the Internet and is continuously updated with new features and security patches.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) which is essentially a tool that simplifies managing all of the aspects of your website - without the need to have programming skills.
Originally, WordPress was built as a blogging system for people to post their activities or thoughts. Over the years it rapidly expanded into the most robust website management system that includes a vast library of templates & plugins.
Although there are situations where a custom / hand-coded website is required, typically the best solution is to utilize WordPress for the convenience & features it will provide.
Hand-coded websites usually lack important security best-practices which could potentially leave your site exposed to hackers. Also, a hand-coded website may not perform well for Search Engine Optimization purposes.
With WordPress and GoMax, we are constantly applying all security updates as soon as they are released. We also use the leading SEO plugin that increases the effectiveness of search engine placement resulting in more natural organic traffic to your site.
1) Easy to Use from Anywhere
One of the best benefits to using WordPress is how it allows you to make changes yourself from anywhere. As long as you have a computer and Internet connection, you can update your website and/or blog.
2) 100% Customizable
WordPress themes already look awesome and in most cases all you need to do is supply your images and text content for each page. However, if you want to make custom changes to your overall design or layout, it's relatively easy with the built in editor tools.
3) Better Search Engine Placement
Hand-crafted websites are usually full of coding errors in structure, or navigational problems that cause issues when the search engines try to index websites. WordPress takes care of all of this ensuring better results as all of the top search engines love WordPress websites.
4) Grows with you
Sites built using the WordPress platform are very scalable. You can add additional pages and blog posts as often as you like and the performance will not deteriorate at all.
5) Constantly updated for security
The team behind the WordPress engine are constantly improving the platform ensuring it remains safe and secure. Hand-crafted (also called 'Custom') websites are usually riddled with coding issues that expose your site to the hackers for exploiting. WordPress is ahead of the curve here and fixes issues before most people even know about them.
WooCommerce
When it comes to e-commerce and WordPress websites, the best addon to use is called WooCommerce. Basically it is a plugin that extends the functionality of WordPress to include full online store features.
WooCommerce takes care of your listings, sales, credit card payment integration and reports.
WooCommerce allows you to sell products, services, digital downloads & subscriptions.
For example:
- DIY crafters can sell their hand-made products
- Manufacturers can list and sell their products
- Graphic designers can sell their digital downloads - with no re-listing fees.
WooCommerce easily ties into PayPal, Stripe, and other credit card payment gateways.
Our preference is Stripe for credit cards as there will be no monthly fees required and no minimum transactions. You are only charged a processing fee upon each successful order.
Custom Projects
Yes! We love building custom projects to fit any need. If you are looking for a web-enabled solution to a problem or challenge you have in your day-to-day activities or work, you will definitely want to contact our team.
Once we identify what is required, we will develop a game plan with a quote for the project.
Common examples of custom projects might be:
- sports team administration portal
- membership databases
- lead generation pages
- business management systems
- inventory managers
- scheduling systems
There are times when WordPress itself may not be the best solution to fit your requirement. This is when we would look towards a customized solution that our programmers would build specifically for you.
Estimating the time required to develop a custom solution is very difficult to approximate. The first step is to identify all of the requirements & features, then we would break this up into must-haves and wish-lists to devise a strategy to implement.
When the first line of code is written, usually within a week or two there is something to look at that will help bring the vision to a reality. We find that changes often occur with the direction or scope of the project as it unfolds, and it is better to work closely through the entire development so that we can pivot and accommodate any changes as they surface.
Hosting
Whenever you use your internet browser (Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.) to explore the web, you are accessing websites located on webservers contained in large datacenters strategically located throughout the world.
Hosting is the term used that refers to the programming code that makes up your website located on these webservers in the datacenters.
Once your website is ready to launch live to the world, we will choose one of our preferred top-tier datacenters closest to your geographical location. Primarily this will always be within Canada, however there are times when it may be better to locate your hosting server in a USA datacenter.
GoMax utilizes cloud-based servers running the latest server operating systems & hosting control panels. All sites are configured with an SSL certificate for end-to-end encryption (which is that little padlock located to the left of the website address in the URL bar).
Part of the included services that GoMax offers is the SSL encryption mentioned in item #2. An industry standard requires all websites to incorporate SSL encryption, search engines such as Google can penalize sites that do not utilize this level of encryption.
We will also perform all regular security patches to your WordPress site & plugins. This will help ensure your site is not subject to exploits or hacking issues.
All of our hosting servers are also routinely updated with all operating system updates, and we strategically utilize firewalls to block unwanted traffic or hack attempts to our networks.
In short - No. We take pride in providing quality solutions to our clients who we form a close working relationship with.
If you are searching for cheap or low-cost hosting solutions, GoMax is not a solution for you. There are many 'dollar' hosts or budget hosting providers out there who fill this need.
Peace of
Mind
Rest assured that the team at GoMax will work tirelessly to provide a website solution to your complete satisfaction.
Our team will also monitor and react to any situations that might occur to maintain the highest level of website uptime & availability to your customers.
Convenient & Affordable
We recognize that money doesn’t grow on trees. Your time & budget is of upmost importance to us.
GoMax will work towards meeting your needs, both financially and technically, and will always be available to perform additions or adjustments to your site.