Web Page Design
11-04-2011 | 11:30 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Needs more Lemon Pledge
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 52,768
Likes: 2,000
From: Phoenix, AZ
Web Page Design
I am looking to have a commercial page designed and need to find a vendor to do the work.
How does one go about choosing a site creator/builder?
Do I base it solely on other designs he/she has done?
Is there a guideline for approximate pricing per page?
Should I sketch out what I want and show that to the builder or just describe it?
If I buy the domain from, say, GoDaddy, does GoDaddy host the site and I send them the site files or does it work differently?
What if I need changes made to the site after it goes live? How do I make that happen?
Sorry for all the noob questions... Thanks in advance.
How does one go about choosing a site creator/builder?
Do I base it solely on other designs he/she has done?
Is there a guideline for approximate pricing per page?
Should I sketch out what I want and show that to the builder or just describe it?
If I buy the domain from, say, GoDaddy, does GoDaddy host the site and I send them the site files or does it work differently?
What if I need changes made to the site after it goes live? How do I make that happen?
Sorry for all the noob questions... Thanks in advance.
11-06-2011 | 01:15 PM
#3
Creepy guy in the mirror.
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,631
Likes: 35
From: Ontario, Canada
I am assuming this is going to be a small business page. The costs of developing a site is going to vary wildly depending on what you have already got done.
Have you already developed your branding and logo? Have you selected colors and the navigation layout you want?
Certainly ask your creator if you can see prior work and make sure you like their work.
Sketch out what you want and do up a site map documenting links between the various pages.
Many creators will build you a page template that can be integrated with a content management system like Drupal or Joomla. This gives you your page and gives you the ability to add pages and edit content, etc down the road without having to engage your designer again. Basically they create the look and feel and you add the content.
A provider like GoDaddy can provide you with domain registration and then you can host with any other service provider or you can host with GoDaddy. GoDaddy has a cookbook of templates if you don't need anything too fancy and want to go with one of their layouts. That would have you up and running without needing to engage a designer.
I would recommend that you build your site around a content management system rather than get some website guy to build your whole website. If you rely on a developer you are less likely to update your content regularly and keep your site dynamic.
If you find a designer - they should be able to help you find a hoster.
Have you already developed your branding and logo? Have you selected colors and the navigation layout you want?
Certainly ask your creator if you can see prior work and make sure you like their work.
Sketch out what you want and do up a site map documenting links between the various pages.
Many creators will build you a page template that can be integrated with a content management system like Drupal or Joomla. This gives you your page and gives you the ability to add pages and edit content, etc down the road without having to engage your designer again. Basically they create the look and feel and you add the content.
A provider like GoDaddy can provide you with domain registration and then you can host with any other service provider or you can host with GoDaddy. GoDaddy has a cookbook of templates if you don't need anything too fancy and want to go with one of their layouts. That would have you up and running without needing to engage a designer.
I would recommend that you build your site around a content management system rather than get some website guy to build your whole website. If you rely on a developer you are less likely to update your content regularly and keep your site dynamic.
If you find a designer - they should be able to help you find a hoster.
11-07-2011 | 12:26 PM
#6
Suzuka Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,846
Likes: 24
From: Oreland, Pa
I have a friend who is a graphic designer and who can do web design (people he works with do most of the actual coding). I have no idea how much it would cost though, I could ask or get you some contact for his company if you'd like.
11-07-2011 | 12:47 PM
#7
Creepy guy in the mirror.
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,631
Likes: 35
From: Ontario, Canada
I would ask around - perhaps go to some sites you like and ask who designed them.
I work for a company that does designs mostly for municipal government so we are often into sites with hundreds of total pages. We are not a good fit for independents or startups as we would not be competitively priced. We get most of our business from word of mouth and I think that is how the business works as a whole.
Sorry I cant be much more help than that.
I work for a company that does designs mostly for municipal government so we are often into sites with hundreds of total pages. We are not a good fit for independents or startups as we would not be competitively priced. We get most of our business from word of mouth and I think that is how the business works as a whole.
Sorry I cant be much more help than that.
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11-07-2011 | 12:56 PM
#8
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,669
Likes: 72
From: Northern VA
My previous company used a web design service from Intuit. Not sure how well it is, it should at least give you a place to start.
http://www.intuit.com/website-building-software/
http://www.intuit.com/website-building-software/
11-07-2011 | 02:38 PM
#10
I am looking to have a commercial page designed and need to find a vendor to do the work.
How does one go about choosing a site creator/builder?
It all depends on what you are looking for and how well you want the job to be done. Unfortunately, web designing and web development are sort of expensive. The more things you want to have on your website the more money you will end up paying for. Now, it will be expensive if you have two people working on different things (one person designing the site and the other one developing the codes), so try two find one that can do both. The downside however, is that depending upon what you want on your site, it could take a bit longer than when two people work on the same project at the same time.
Do I base it solely on other designs he/she has done? Is there a guideline for approximate pricing per page?
Should I sketch out what I want and show that to the builder or just describe it?
Absolutely! Regarding the price, as a webdesigner i would suggest that you should write on a piece of paper the ideas of how you want your webstie to look like, what contents it will have, the number of pages, etc. If you have an example of a website (for example. www.thiswebsite.com) let him/her know about it. the designer/developer will never make the same exact website, however, he/she will work with the standars that that website was created from in order to create a different yet similar website. (a better example would be eBay, and Amazon. If you look at both sites, you will see that they don't look the same, however, they both perform the same function wich is to sell products online)
Remember the more information you can provide the designer/developer with the better he/she will understand what you want, therefore, he/she would more likely give you an stimate for the amount of time it will take to designe/develop your site.
If I buy the domain from, say, GoDaddy, does GoDaddy host the site and I send them the site files or does it work differently?
I think they can do that, however, you will have to pay for that. You can always do it yourself, it is not that difficult.
What if I need changes made to the site after it goes live? How do I make that happen?
This depends upon the type of changes you will do, and how often these changes need to occur. If you don't have any knowledge of XHTML, etc. then you can always pay the person who designed/developed your site to do the changes for you. Or, you can always have someone built your site with a CMS like someone on here said(content management system ). This is very easy, all you need to do is to change the content (for example, text or image and then save the file).
CMS can be a bit expensive but like i said before if you are planning to do changes on your website very often then i would go with CMS if i were you. Because paying someone to do the changes on your site will be the same as having a CMS.
Sorry for all the noob questions... Thanks in advance.
How does one go about choosing a site creator/builder?
It all depends on what you are looking for and how well you want the job to be done. Unfortunately, web designing and web development are sort of expensive. The more things you want to have on your website the more money you will end up paying for. Now, it will be expensive if you have two people working on different things (one person designing the site and the other one developing the codes), so try two find one that can do both. The downside however, is that depending upon what you want on your site, it could take a bit longer than when two people work on the same project at the same time.
Do I base it solely on other designs he/she has done? Is there a guideline for approximate pricing per page?
Should I sketch out what I want and show that to the builder or just describe it?
Absolutely! Regarding the price, as a webdesigner i would suggest that you should write on a piece of paper the ideas of how you want your webstie to look like, what contents it will have, the number of pages, etc. If you have an example of a website (for example. www.thiswebsite.com) let him/her know about it. the designer/developer will never make the same exact website, however, he/she will work with the standars that that website was created from in order to create a different yet similar website. (a better example would be eBay, and Amazon. If you look at both sites, you will see that they don't look the same, however, they both perform the same function wich is to sell products online)
Remember the more information you can provide the designer/developer with the better he/she will understand what you want, therefore, he/she would more likely give you an stimate for the amount of time it will take to designe/develop your site.
If I buy the domain from, say, GoDaddy, does GoDaddy host the site and I send them the site files or does it work differently?
I think they can do that, however, you will have to pay for that. You can always do it yourself, it is not that difficult.
What if I need changes made to the site after it goes live? How do I make that happen?
This depends upon the type of changes you will do, and how often these changes need to occur. If you don't have any knowledge of XHTML, etc. then you can always pay the person who designed/developed your site to do the changes for you. Or, you can always have someone built your site with a CMS like someone on here said(content management system ). This is very easy, all you need to do is to change the content (for example, text or image and then save the file).
CMS can be a bit expensive but like i said before if you are planning to do changes on your website very often then i would go with CMS if i were you. Because paying someone to do the changes on your site will be the same as having a CMS.
Sorry for all the noob questions... Thanks in advance.
Hope this help
Last edited by 24no7; 11-07-2011 at 02:45 PM.
11-08-2011 | 10:50 AM
#12
when i design a site it includes 4 hrs of phone support and 1 month of website change/re-design support. -perhaps you can work this out with whoever you choose to design your site.
11-08-2011 | 05:48 PM
#14
^that's true, i learned that long time ago. Now i said for this extra work, i need this extra money lol
11-13-2011 | 03:06 PM
#15
Thread Starter
Needs more Lemon Pledge
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 52,768
Likes: 2,000
From: Phoenix, AZ
I am not in any way one of those people who think lifetime support should be free, but it's always a good idea to know the hourly rates for someone and get a clear understanding of how much time a change will take to implement (meaning cost in time).
Again, thanks guys.
Again, thanks guys.
11-13-2011 | 05:56 PM
#16
Depending on the change (full page? Error in a sentence? Image replacement? Color change?) it ranges from overnight (usually the case) to 1 week. On weekends I usually get it done within 6 hrs.
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