Frequently Asked Questions

Website costs range from $2,000 to $10,000+ depending on complexity. A basic 5-page site runs $2,000-$4,000. A business site with CMS runs $4,000-$8,000. E-commerce or custom projects start at $8,000+. Every project gets a custom quote.

Most websites take 4-8 weeks from start to launch. Simple sites can be ready in 3-4 weeks, while complex projects may take 8-12 weeks. Timeline depends on content readiness and feedback speed.

Both. We recommend the best tool for your needs. Custom HTML/CSS/JS for maximum performance, WordPress for content-heavy sites needing a CMS. We'll help you choose what's right for your business.

Absolutely. Every site we build is responsive and mobile-first. Over 60% of web traffic is mobile — your site will look and work great on every device.

Yes. We offer monthly maintenance plans that include updates, security monitoring, backups, and content changes so your site stays healthy and current.

A redesign hurts conversions when the new site changes the buyer's path without anyone realizing it. The aesthetic improves, but the buying experience gets harder — bigger hero sections push key information below the fold, longer forms add friction, animations slow page speed, and softer headlines remove urgency. Mobile users feel it most. We run a free 3-check diagnostic to find the exact bottleneck. Read the full breakdown →

Only as a last resort. A rollback resets the clock, signals instability to Google, and confuses returning visitors. The faster path is usually to fix the new site: restore the original CTA placement, add 301 redirects for any URLs that changed, and run a Lighthouse audit to find performance regressions. Rolling back makes sense only when the new site is fundamentally broken or unsafe.

No. A redesign hurts SEO when URLs change without 301 redirects, when content gets stripped down, or when load times get worse. A redesign that preserves URL structure, keeps existing content depth, improves page speed, and adds structured data will improve SEO, not hurt it. The damage comes from skipping the technical groundwork, not from the redesign itself.

AI can power chatbots for customer service, automated scheduling, content generation, data analysis, and workflow automation. We assess your specific needs and recommend the tools that will have the biggest impact.

Not at all. We handle all the setup, configuration, and training. Our solutions are designed for non-technical business owners — if you can use email, you can use the AI tools we implement.

AI consulting starts at $500 for an initial assessment. Implementation projects vary based on scope and complexity. We provide transparent pricing with a custom proposal before any work begins.

Optimizing for AI search (also called GEO or Answer Engine Optimization) requires structured data with Schema.org markup (LocalBusiness, FAQPage, BlogPosting), semantic HTML with clear headings, TL;DR-style opening paragraphs, an llms.txt file at your site root, and a robots.txt that explicitly allows AI crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot. We offer a free AI-readiness audit that checks all of these and more.

llms.txt is a proposed web standard — a plain-text Markdown file at your site root that tells AI agents what your site is about and where to find key pages. It's like robots.txt, but for large language models. No major LLM officially reads it yet, but it costs nothing to ship, forces you to write a clear summary of your site, and signals to AI systems that your content is LLM-friendly. Every Mezcal Studio client site includes one.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) are the new SEO. Instead of ranking on Google, the goal is to be cited by AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews when users ask them questions. Gartner projects 25% of organic search traffic will shift to AI chatbots by 2026. It requires a different playbook: structured data, answer-first content, community mentions, and freshness signals. We help Chattanooga businesses get ready for both.