Frequently Asked Questions

Not necessarily. A website’s age is less important than whether it still supports the business and the people using it.

A rebuild may be justified when the site is difficult to use on a phone, inaccessible, slow, hard to update, unclear about what the business offers, or dependent on a platform that no longer fits. A refresh may be enough when the underlying structure works and the problems are limited to content, imagery, navigation, or a few page layouts.

We review what is working before recommending what should change. Sometimes the right answer is a focused repair, content update, or performance pass rather than a new website.

A straightforward small business website usually takes six to ten weeks from kickoff to launch. Ecommerce, custom integrations, extensive content, or a complex migration can require more time.

The schedule depends on both the build and the decisions around it. Content, photography, access to existing systems, review cycles, third-party integrations, and changes in scope can all affect the launch date. We agree on responsibilities and review points at the start so those dependencies are visible.

If you have a fixed deadline, such as an opening, campaign, event, or platform shutdown, tell us before the scope is set. We will explain what can reasonably be completed by that date.

No. A useful first conversation can begin with a problem: the site no longer represents the business, inquiries have slowed, customers cannot find something, or a repeated task consumes too much time.

Defining the right response is part of our work. You can also arrive with a detailed brief. We will review it against the goal, budget, maintenance needs, and any technical constraints before recommending a scope.

Within one business day, and often the same day.

Messages go directly to Karim. There is no intake team or ticket queue between your message and the person responsible for deciding the next step.

The cost depends on the scope: page count, content work, CMS requirements, ecommerce, integrations, migrations, and custom functionality all affect it. Hosting, ongoing care, and marketing are priced separately from the initial project when they are needed.

We define a scope and fixed price before work begins. If you later request work outside that scope, we explain the added cost and receive approval before proceeding.

Our pricing guide lists current starting prices and explains what moves a project above them.

Yes. The consultation is a free 30-minute conversation with no obligation to hire us.

We use the time to understand the problem, review what you already have when possible, and explain the next step we would recommend. That may be a project with MIS, a smaller repair, a tool you already own, or no immediate work at all.

Yes. Our nonprofit web design service covers websites, donations, memberships, program information, events, and volunteer signups.

Our nonprofit work includes Honor Flight of Northern New Mexico, the New Mexico Chile Association, UR Art & Culture, and national organizations such as the Election Reformers Network.

Tell us about the available budget and approval process. We can identify the essential scope first and discuss phasing or timing when appropriate.

That concern is reasonable, especially after a project with unclear pricing, missed deadlines, or poor communication.

Our process makes the commitments visible. You receive a written scope and fixed price before work begins, added work requires approval, review points are agreed in advance, and Karim remains directly involved throughout the relationship. We also discuss who owns each account, what can be handed over, and who will maintain the result after launch.

Our portfolio includes long-running client relationships and testimonials you can evaluate for yourself. One client who came to us after several difficult agency experiences describes his experience on the Cheezie Chews project.

Karim, who founded MIS in 1995, is your primary contact and remains involved from the first conversation through delivery and support.

Other specialists may contribute when a project requires particular design, development, content, or technical expertise. We explain who is involved and what each person is responsible for rather than handing the relationship to an account-management layer.

The practical benefit of a studio this size is continuity. The person discussing the goals and tradeoffs with you remains connected to the work after the proposal is signed.

You do not need to manage the project, but we do need access to the people who understand the organization and can approve decisions.

At the beginning, we agree on goals, audiences, content responsibilities, required systems, and who has final approval. During the work, we ask for feedback at defined review points rather than sending a constant stream of small questions.

If you want MIS to write content, organize photography, or migrate existing material, include that in the scope from the start. Clear ownership of those tasks keeps the schedule realistic.

No. You can hire MIS for one defined service, such as a website, SEO assessment, email campaign, integration, or AI consultation.

Some problems cross service boundaries. A search issue may require changes to the website, or a new store may need email and point-of-sale integration. When that happens, we explain which pieces belong together and which can wait.

You are not required to buy a package or commit to future services.

We usually build client-managed marketing sites on Webflow. When a project benefits from a custom codebase or static publishing, we may use the Astro framework instead.

For commerce, Square Online often fits businesses already using Square in person. Shopify provides more depth when ecommerce is the main operation, while Ecwid can add a store to an existing website.

MIS has formal partner relationships with these platforms, although the credentials and programs differ. We choose around the project requirements, operating costs, and the person who will maintain the site. Our platforms page explains each recommendation and its limitations.

We no longer choose WordPress for new MIS website builds.

WordPress remains capable, actively maintained software, and a well-managed installation can be secure and reliable. It is still a good fit for organizations that depend on its publishing model, plugin ecosystem, or an experienced internal team.

For most of our small business and nonprofit clients, Webflow provides the editing tools they need without requiring them to manage hosting, themes, and plugins. We also build custom sites with the Astro framework when a code-based approach fits better.

Our WordPress platform page explains the tradeoffs, including when staying on WordPress is the right decision.

Yes, when that is part of the requirement.

On Webflow, approved editors can update text, images, blog posts, case studies, team members, and other structured content through a visual interface. We organize the editable content and provide training before launch.

On a custom Astro build, content may live in version-controlled files or connect to a separate CMS, depending on who needs to publish and how often. Changes can be handled by MIS, an internal technical person, or another qualified developer.

Tell us what you expect to update and who will do it. That decision helps determine the right foundation.

You should own the domain, your content and uploaded assets, and the client accounts created for the project. We prefer to register important services in the client’s name or provide a clear transfer at handover.

Ownership of the underlying website depends on how it is built. A hosted platform such as Webflow, Shopify, Square, or Ecwid licenses its software and may not provide a portable working copy of every feature. A custom codebase has different handover terms, along with any third-party licenses or services it uses.

We explain those distinctions before choosing the platform and provide the files, exports, access, and documentation included in the project scope.

There is no single change that puts a website at the top, and the result is different for every search, location, and competitor.

We begin by understanding what qualified customers search for and whether the site provides the most useful page for those needs. Technical accessibility, crawlability, content, internal structure, links, reputation, and page experience can all contribute.

Local results add another set of considerations. Google describes the main local factors as relevance, distance, and prominence. A complete Google Business Profile and useful reviews matter, but the website and information found elsewhere on the web also contribute.

Our SEO service focuses on the searches that can bring useful business rather than promising one universal top position.

No. Search engines control their results, competitors continue working, and local visibility changes with the searcher’s location.

We can identify technical barriers, unclear or missing content, weak site structure, incomplete local information, and other issues within your control. We then measure rankings, search traffic, important actions, and qualified inquiries where the required tracking is available.

We do not buy questionable links or promise a position that no agency controls. Our proposal explains the work, reporting, and commitment before the engagement begins.

We can improve whether AI-assisted search systems are able to discover and understand accurate information about your business. We cannot guarantee that a particular assistant will name or cite it.

The work may include checking crawler access, making services and locations explicit, correcting inconsistent public information, improving useful answers, and adding appropriate structured data. Structured data can clarify what a page describes, but it does not guarantee inclusion.

This work overlaps with SEO while adding monitoring for answer-driven search and crawler-specific technical checks. Our Answer Engine Optimization page explains the scope and limitations.

AI consulting begins with a workflow or decision, not a product demonstration.

We may assess repetitive work, compare tools, review data and privacy concerns, establish staff policies, provide training, or plan a focused implementation. If the opportunity justifies custom work, that may lead to an AI agent, integration, or another software tool.

AI is not always the right method. A fixed rule, ordinary automation, better form, or change in process may be less expensive and more dependable. The purpose of consulting is to determine where AI provides enough value to justify its cost and risk.