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- How much will it cost to build my Web site?
- How long does it take to build a new site?
- How much do you charge for domain registration and hosting?
- Can I have you build my Web site and then maintain it myself?
- What if I want to use another designer after it is built?
- Can you take over my existing Web site that someone else built?
- How quickly is new content/information updated once I get it to you?
- Why am I not able to see updated pages after you have loaded them?
Because each site I build is completely custom, I cannot give an actual price. Each site is handled individually and priced accordingly. The sites I have built have ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
The cost of the site depends on what type of site it is, how much content is involved (text, graphics, animation, multimedia, number of pages, etc.) and how organized you are in getting your content to me. It is always best to have a clear plan of action before we begin. Know what you want and deliver it to me in the way that I request. Most every site I have designed has been with a set budget in mind. There are many things I can do on my end to keep your cost down. You can also save yourself a lot of money if you follow the directions I give you.
My goal is to give you the site you want while staying at or under budget. There is also room to grow. You don't need the entire site built right away. We can always begin with the most important pages and add more at a later date. When working on a tight budget, I always keep my clients informed of progress and cost as the site is built. That way, you can always decide if you want to keep going or stop where we are at and add more later.
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Because each site is completely custom and they all vary greatly in size, type of content, amount of content and budget, it is impossible to give a time frame before knowing more about what you want out of your site. A small informational site, schedule permitting, can be built in just a day or two. I always treat my clients as "first come, first serve" and only deviate from that when an update is urgent. I do not honor seniority or give preference to a client that spends more on my services. Your new site and/or updates are given attention when it is your turn. After our consultation, when I know what your expectations are, I refer to my work load and then quote a price and time frame. They are always estimates but I do my best to adhere to what I have quoted. Should anything change, I always call or email as soon as I possibly can.
Domain registration and hosting are FREE! There are also no monthly fees and no minimums required.
No. I use several professional design programs to built a Web site and they are all far too complex for anyone to learn how to use straight out of the box. Each program I use took me months to learn basics and years to learn advanced skills and techniques. I still continue to learn and I will continue learning as long as I design Web sites. In addition to the complexity of the software, it is also very expensive, several hundreds of dollars for just ONE program.
I do not use templates of any kind so there is no easy "point and click" to it. If you are interested in having a Web site that you can maintain yourself, I would suggest one of the many template sites online. If your concern is that you will have many, frequent updates that are time sensitive, we can discuss that and see if it is something I am able to manage for you. Many updates are made very quickly and you can email them right to me...literally, just a few minutes and POOF, new content live on the Web.
That is up to you. If you decide to use someone else to maintain your site, you must also purchase your own hosting. You will no longer benefit from the savings I offer. This is only because in order to communicate with the hosting company or to log into the control panel for your site, I would have to provide your designer with my login information which would also allow them access to all of my other client's sites as well as my own AND my credit card information. Understandably, I cannot do that.
Your site belongs to you whether I work on it or someone else does. If at any time you choose to leave, you are free to go. I will copy your entire site onto a disk and provide you with a transfer code. You give the disk to your new designer and the transfer code to your hosting company and your site will be transferred with no down time. Seamless!
Possibly. You've heard the saying "There's more than one way to skin a cat"? The same is true for Web design. There are so many different software programs out there and everyone uses what they prefer. Also, it depends on how your previous designer organized your files. If it is an absolute mess (quite often creativity and organization do not both reside within one individual) it may be less expensive just to duplicate it from scratch. If the designer did not preserve editability of your files (which should be a crime but I've seen it happen before) it renders the site almost impossible to update/add to without reworking several elements. If your site is a template, no. I use the programs I learned in school and have spents countless hours honing my skills with for years since. I am guilty of being the old dog you can't teach new tricks in this respect. I'm not going to take my time to learn one template program for one site and I'm sure you don't want to pay me for my time to learn.
This is another question that cannot be answered without specific information about your specific site. Contact me and let's see what we can come up with.
All of my clients get "first come, first serve" service unless there it is critical that the update happen immediately. Some clients have a calendar that must be updated on the first of each month. I make sure I get that taken care of as quickly as possible, even if I am working on another client's site. If there is an event that is advertised on a client's site and weather has determined the event must be cancelled, I drop what I am doing (even if that is relaxing on a Saturday evening with my kids in front of a really good movie) and update that information. Basically, I keep it as fair as possible and use my best judgement. It really does depend on the day, the work load in front of me and how important your update is. You are always welcome to request (or in some cases even demand) a time frame be adhered to. I'll always give it my best shot!
Your browser automatically caches pages that you visit so that when you go back to them again, it doesn't have to load. The purpose is that it allows you to view the content of that page more quickly and is supposedly more convenient for you. That is not always the case.
Depending on how often you browse the internet, you need to occasionally clear that cache so that you can view fresh, new, updated content. With your browser open, select "tools" from the menu at the top of your screen, then "internet options" and delete your browsing history. Return to your site and refresh the page and I promise, you will see the updates I made.
