How much would it cost for you to design a website for me?

This is probably the most common question I am asked by new clients. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most difficult to answer without a clear idea of exactly what the client wants and needs.

The cost of a website can range from a hundreds of dollars to millions of dollars, depending on the site and what it entails. Consider shopping for a website to be like shopping for a car. If someone were to walk up to a car dealer and ask, "how much does a car cost?" the car dealer would need to know what kind of car the person was looking to buy before he/she could start quoting relevant prices to the customer. In that same respect, before I can give an estimate on a how much a website is going to cost, I need to discuss with the potential client exactly what it is that they hope to achieve with the website.

How long does it take to design a website?

This another one of those questions that isn't easy to answer, as there are a lot of factors involved in designing, developing, and launching a website. Theoretically, a very rudimentary site could be designed, developed and launched in a day (I wouldn't recommend doing this, by the way), while a large and complex site could be in development for many months.

Typically, I deal with small to medium-scale sites, with turnaround time generally in the 1-3 month range.

Is there anything I can do to decrease the cost and turnaround time for my website?

As a matter of fact, there are a few things that can cut down on turnaround time and cost.

Having a clear idea of what you want to get out of your website and what kind of content you want to appear on your site before attempting to start the design process can make a big difference. When someone comes to me and says, "I want a website," but has put no thought into what he/she wants out of the site, it makes design process extremely difficult.

One of the biggest hold-ups that I see in terms of turnaround time for non-CMS sites (sites in which the client does not directly update the site) is a lack of client-provided content for a website. I can put together a user-friendly and visually appealing site, be ready to go, but without the content from the client, the website is pretty much worthless.

Another big time-consumer for me is editing and enhancing client provided photos for a website. It typically takes far less time to take a good picture, than it does to attempt to make a poorly shot photo look presentable for a website. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. If you happen to snap a blurry photo of Bigfoot and really want to put it up on your site, then I'd be happy to spend the time making the photo presentable. However, if you send me blurry, underexposed product photos. It's probably not in your best interest, from an economic standpoint, for me to spend a couple of hours trying to clean up the photos, when they could just be retaken.

Along the same lines, another thing that I encounter frequently involves client supplied images that are intended to placed into an area with fixed dimensions (for example, a header banner image, or an image slide show), but the images do not conform to a similar aspect ratio of the areas where they are intended to be place . If a space that is intended for a landscape image (one that is wider than it is tall) and I am supplied with a portrait image (one that is taller than it is wide), I'm likely going to have to recreate the background of the photo in order to fit it into the available space, which can be very time consuming.

What is a CMS, and do I need one?

A CMS (Content Management System) allows clients to add content to their websites without the need for any knowledge of HTML. A CMS is particularly valuable for clients who intend to routinely add new information to a website (or update existing information). Of course, the catch is that integrating a CMS into the development of site will increase the cost of the website, so it is important to weigh the cost of being able to update the site versus how likely the site is going to be updated routinely.

For clients with fairly static content and few updates, if is often more cost-effective to have a static site. This does not mean that the site can't be updated or changed, however. It simply means that the source files for that make up the website must be directly updated, which requires an understanding of the markup language used in the source file. In cases where clients only update a website a few times a year, it's generally more cost-effective for me to update the site for the client.

What CMS products do you use and why?

For CMS driven websites, I use ExpressionEngine. From the designer's perspective, I choose ExpressionEngine because it allows for easy customization and implementation and has a great track record when it comes to security. Unlike some of the open source CMS products available, ExpressionEngine is a commercial product. While it is not a free product, the security and support benefits of ExpressionEngine more than make the purchase price worthwhile.

From a client perspective, ExpressionEngine's control panel allows the interface for data-entry to be easily customized to make the content management process as user-friendly as possible.

In addition, to ExpressionEngine, I also use WordPress for blog-centered sites. While I don't find WordPress to be anywhere near as versatile as ExpressionEngine, the strength of WordPress exists in the fact that it is practically ready to use as soon as it's installed. WordPress is also a free product, so for clients on a tight budget who are simply looking for a blogging outlet, WordPress is often times an attractive option.

Do you offer web hosting?

GTP Designs does not directly offer web hosting. However, many of my clients host with my partner company New River Computing, which offers website hosting for $50/quarter ($200/year). This hosting fee includes maintenance and support for hosting related issues.

Can you explain domain names and website hosting?

Website hosting refers to the computer that "hosts" your website. Every website you visit is comprised of files that exist somewhere on a server. This server is your website's "host". When somebody types your domain name into a browser, information associated with your domain name directs your browser to the host computer that serves up your website.

It should be noted that having a domain name is NOT the same as having a hosting provided, although many domain name registrars also offer hosting plans. Your site's domain name is essentially a set of directions to where your site is hosted. After the files that comprise a site are uploaded to a host, the domain name is essentially edited to include the directions to where your site is located. Once this occurs, when somebody types your domain name into a web browser the browser will be taken directly to your website.

In order for your website to be viewed in the world wide web, you will need to have both a domain name and a host.

Can I host my website with another hosting provider?

Absolutely! You can host your website wherever you please. While a bulk of my clients are hosted through New River Computing, I have multiple clients who have sites hosted with various hosting providers.

I've seen other companies that offer to build me a website for $200. Why don't you do that?

The short answer is that you get what you pay for, but there's really more to it than that. Every site that I build is "hand-coded" and started from the ground up. I do not use templates that can result in what I consider to be "cookie cutter" websites. Often times, these mass-produced site designs are also a big mess when you start looking at the site's source files, which means that if you ever decide to modify or update your site, it is probably going to be an arduous task for the person who has to deal with the existing markup.

That being said, there is clearly a market for these kinds of "designs," and if a quick and easy, low-cost website is what somebody is looking for, a company that offers $200 sites might very well be a better choice, in those cases.

I am not in the market of mass-producing websites nor trying to make a quick buck off of repeatedly selling the same site design with a few minor aesthetic changes here and there. My target website clients are those who are looking for a custom-designed website built around their unique identity and needs.

Can I get an email addres setup with my website's domain name?

You sure can, but this is really more of a hosting issue than a design aspect. That being said, almost any reputable hosting provider out there will offer the option of email accounts with your hosting plan.

Can you provide photography services for my website or other design?

Can you get my site ranked #1 on Google?

Hmm, that depends on what search term you want your site to be hitting the #1 spot for. If your site is offering something unique, or you are trying to target a specific area, there are ways to effectively make the site visible to potential search terms and phrases.

For example, if you were opening up an antique thimble store in the remote town of Probstville, and you were hoping to get your new site ranked #1 for the search string "Probstville antique thimbles," it's probably a safe bet that I could get you ranked very high on Google for that particular search string. However, if you just opened a new chain of toy stores and expect to claim a #1 ranking for organic searches on "toy store," you're going to be in for a disappointment.

My site just launched. Why isn't it showing up on Google and other search engines?

When your site first launches, it might take a while for Google (and other search engines) to index your pages. There are legitimate techniques and practices to help facilitate this process, but sometimes it might take some time before the pages on your site are indexed and appearing in Google searches.