Frequently Asked Questions

Q: HOW DOES YOUR DESIGN PROCESS WORK?
While many of our clients have established branding in place, many do not. If they do, we will work with the client to make their social network, profile page, website or micro-site as consistent with their existing branding as they desire. If we are starting with a clean slate, we start by asking our clients a series of identity, style and layout questions to get a feeling for what they envision. From there, we begin creating logo concepts, layouts and user interface designs for your review. The feedback we receive is applied to revisions and various iterations of the design. When the final design is approved, it is applied to the functionality of the website.

Q: DO I OWN ALL THE GRAPHICS ON MY WEBSITE?
Any approved graphics that we create for your project are owned by you, the client. Logo files are delivered in multiple high-resolution formats, and the graphic elements of the finished layout and website are copyrighted by you and can be used in other types of media. Any stock photos that are used on the site are purchased by Pearse Street under a royalty-free license and may be available for extended license purchase by you, the client, and are subject to those additional terms.

Q: WILL YOU CONSULT AND ADVISE ON MY PROJECT?
In the process of fine-tuning your idea, our project managers will work personally with you to brainstorm features and elements that will make your site stand apart. We are tuned into the day-to-day trends of social networks, and we are happy to share our knowledge and expertise to help further your concept. Following your website launch, we will closely monitor your site statistics and user feedback to help you strategize new features and viral marketing campaigns that will maximize the network user experience, resulting in increased revenue and visibility for you.

Q: WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE YOU OVER OTHER COMPANIES?
Pearse Street has been a service provider in social media since 2005, providing its clients with professional designed and programmed new media solutions, from social media marketing campaigns to blog development to large-scale social networking websites.

Our team is small enough that you will receive very personalized attention from our team, and yet we are large enough to be able to expertly address the many facets of your project, to include graphic design, advanced programming and marketing support. As a client, you will receive professional consulting from the people who have learned first-hand the most effective ways to grow a business on the Internet.

As you may already know, Pearse Street also has a very competitive portfolio. We have served over 200 clients including several household names (Furman University, Interscope Records, Marie Claire, Simon & Schuster, US Soccer Federation and more), and we have a long list of testimonials from satisfied clients who have enjoyed working with our team and are profiting from the results.

Q: WHERE IS YOUR TEAM LOCATED?
While several web development companies rely on economically-priced overseas development teams, we believe that outsourcing compromises the quality and continuity of the end product. By keeping your website development in-house, we can personally address every aspect of your project, ensuring that your project details are kept private and maintenance can be addressed at the same time users are visiting your site, without any inconvenient time delays. Our office headquarters is located on Boston’s North Shore, 76 Lafayette St., Suite 204, Salem, MA 01970 Tel: 800.985.5932 info@pearsestreet.com

Q: WHEN THE PROJECT IS COMPLETE, ARE WE STILL IN CONTACT?
We understand that this project is an important investment for you, and any website should also be considered a business with evolving needs and opportunities. For this reason, we offer warranties and maintenance plans relative to your project size, and we will continue to work with you on developing new features in subsequent phases of your investment so that your site can grow with its users’ needs. We look forward to being a part of your development plans for the long-term.

Q: WHY IS YOUR SOFTWARE SOLUTION SUPERIOR TO OTHERS?
We have internally developed a PHP-driven social network framework, copyrighted by the USPTO, which will be the foundational software for your website or social network. This ready-to-use but highly extensible framework includes all of the standard features that you would find in any popular social network (messaging, friend networks, blogs, forums, etc.). This allows us to devote the majority of our energies toward developing and integrating new key features, as well as creating a unique brand and user interface for your website.

Q: HOW SECURE IS YOUR SOFTWARE?
Firstly, the hosting servers that we’ll recommend, where your website files will ultimately live, are physically very secure. The database is behind a Cisco firewall and configured for only LAN connections, making your website data very secure. The Operating System (OS) is Linux based and less susceptible to infection, making your website secure from most viruses and worms. Our software itself protects user data based upon peer reviewed, security audited systems such as CentOS and MySQL, and the most critical data, including all user data, is protected with an extra level of security using SSL. Any user payment information is protected by your merchant API’s servers and will not be available on your server, opening you up for additional security concern or liability. Of the many social networks that we’ve built, several of which are highly trafficked, none have been compromised as a result of security failures.

Q: CAN YOU PROVIDE ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS?
There are several options for incorporating ecommerce into your site depending on the complexity of your needs. For simple downloads, single-tier memberships, or individual products, we can integrate PayPal for these small-scale transactions, which is typically the most cost effective solution. We can also integrate our custom shopping cart software which allows additional control over your store, including featured products, sales items, advanced descriptions, search and tagging. Shopping carts, multi-level memberships and store fronts are advanced ecommerce features that would require the integration of a payment gateway such as Authorize.net or FirstData. To learn more about their services, click here.

Q: WILL YOU HOST MY WEBSITE COMMUNITY?
We do not host social networks, however your Pearse Street project manager will discuss the best hosting options with you and we will facilitate the server purchase and set up process. Depending on the volume of file transfers expected on your completed live site (e.g. uploads and downloads of media files and documents) or if you expecting a large volume of traffic, we may recommend a dedicated server to reduce the risk of temporary down time as a result of exceeding the site’s bandwidth. Our host provider of choice is Media Temple, who provide a variety of hosting packages respective to your project size. Ask your project manager for recommendations on dedicated server providers, or learn more about Media Temple and our other affiliate partners here.

Q: HOW DO YOU CHARGE FOR WEB DEVELOPMENT?
Social networks are priced based on the complexity of the features and which package is the best fit for your project. Contact us to receive pricing details on our social network packages. Typically we collect 40%-50% of your project quote upon commencement, followed by three subsequent payments that coincide with production milestones. The final payment is due upon project completion. We accept check, credit card and wire transfer.

More questions?
Call and speak with a project manager today to discuss your specific project. 1-800-985-5932