Website Design F.A.Q.

How Much Does Web Design Typically Cost?

This is the most commonly asked question of all. So much so, that it has earned its own page.

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How Long Will It Take To Design The Website?

I've been a web designer here in NJ for a while now, and once we've discussed your needs, I can come up with a pretty good time estimate based on my current schedule and what the site will entail. If you have a deadline that needs to be met, I will let you know early on if I will be able to meet it. This is usually not a problem, but if a site needs to be completed for an unusually short deadline, I will let you know if it is realistic and how much added cost will be incurred.

With that said, an average website might take three to four weeks, start to finish. There are several small time-consuming elements involved which typically add up here. These include the back-and-forth time while the client decides about drafts and suggests changes, and the usually underestimated task of writing good copy text.

Please remember that this is just a ballpark figure. Some sites go quickly, and larger or more complicated projects will naturally take longer to complete. Again, I will be able to supply a more accurate time estimate during our early consultations. The final comment on this is that good communication always makes things happen more quickly.

Do You Take On Web Design For New Jersey Clients Exclusively?

The short answer for this is no. Web design, by its very nature, lends itself to being performed anywhere in the world. The New Jersey theme you see on this site is reflective of my own location, not that of my clients. I can work with you wherever you are located.

The domain name and business name NJ WebGuy helps me answer a few questions that potential clients often look for answers to within any industry or relationship. In just eight letters, it offers a minuscule dose of who I am, where I am and what I do.

How Does The Web Design Process Work?

This is another question that I get asked most frequently. Even friends and acquaintances who aren't interested in web design ask me this once they find out that I am a web designer. The whole thing can seem mysterious and involved for someone who isn't familiar with the process. This answer has earned its own detailed page.

What Do I Need To Have Ready As A Web Design Client?

At its most basic, three things are needed to get a site live; a registered domain name, hosting, and the actual website design code. The design code will ultimately be supplied by me, so no need to worry about that right now. I can get your domain name and hosting set up as well, or you may already have these things in place.

Of course, for a usable design, there's more to it. We'll usually base the design to some extent around your logo, so you should have this available in a digital format. No logo? No problem. I can design one for you.

Next comes imagery. You may have screenshots; photos of products, facilities or staff; or other specific images to be used. This is not at all necessary for a successful site, and many clients do not have, or do not choose to use these kinds of images. They are only beneficial to the site if they somehow assist in the overall goals of the site. If you do have them, it is cheaper and faster if they are in digital format (and you know where they are located). You may have ideas of imagery that you'd like for the site, which can either be created by me or purchased from a stock photo gallery. Examples of this might be something like a guy with muscles, someone on the phone, a classic car or clouds or other scenery. All are easily handled.

In my own experience, the most underestimated aspect of a new site is the copy. The text used on the site needs to make the end user do something. What that something is will depend of course on the nature of the site. You might want them to buy or subscribe to something, make a phone call, or join a group. You might want them to get excited. Perhaps you're just doing some reputation management, and need to instill confidence. Whatever the website goals, the words chosen are very important. Where it's applicable, I usually recommend to check out the sites of competitors, or other sites which serve a purpose similar to your goals, and take notes of things that seem to stand out as exceptionally good and exceptionally bad, and work from there.

I can certainly do this research and write the site copy in all but the most specialized cases (If there's a lot of obscure jargon in your industry that I won't understand, I won't be a very effective copywriter). Do be aware that this is a time consuming process, and will add time and cost to the proposal. You might be surprised how many times I've been asked to, "just type something awesome about our customer service."

How Will The Site Get Updated?

Often a site will require regular or irregular updates to its content. If there is going to be a news or current events section, a blog or catalog of product or service offerings, this will need to be addressed. There are several ways this can be handled.

If the updates won't be very frequent, or if they will be regularly scheduled but not of a large volume, clients may choose to leave the updates to me. We can make set up an inexpensive monthly maintenance agreement and I will handle the updates as they are sent. For sites that rarely need to be updated, we can skip even that, and I can take care of updates if and when they are needed for a one-off fee. For example, a staff member bio and photo might need to be added or removed, or the company's mission statement or policies might need to be changed.

Incidentally, so long as your server supports php (they usually do), I insert a small piece of code into all sites which displays the current year in the copyright notice. Outdated copyright notices are just a pet peeve of mine.

Alternatively, there are software options available, of varying complexity, which will allow you to log in and edit your own site content. Shopping carts, blog frameworks, and customizable CMS systems are all options. If you need to make frequent changes or additions, this is the way to go. The development time and start up costs are increased, but the ability to do your own updates will pay for itself quickly if you need to be able to do unlimited and immediate content updating.

Can You Set Up E-Mail Accounts?

Absolutely. Even if you have already made arrangements for your hosting and domain set up, I will be happy to get you set up with as many email addresses as you need.

What About The Search Engines?

All the code I write is search engine friendly. This is not as big of a deal as some make it out to be. Any halfway decent web designer writes "search engine friendly" code automatically. The search engines then automatically find new sites within a few days or weeks, with a minimum of help.

Then there's SEO (search engine optimization), which is the attempt to make a site appear high in search engine results for certain keywords. This topic will be getting its own page soon. We will decide together what your best keywords should be, and I can better explain how this works when we speak together. Depending on the site and how it will be promoted, SEO may or may not be helpful.

Are There Any Hidden Or Recurring Costs?

No hidden costs here. I wouldn't get very many recommendations if I treated my clients this way. We will get very detailed with regard to how the site is to be built, and I will give you a price. The only potential miscommunication would be a situation where a client tells me they will supply all the site copy and content and it turns out that I end up writing it. Writing copy is not a problem for me, but it is billable, and I need to know up front in order to deliver a proper price. I've mentioned good communication earlier on this page, and its value in the design process cannot be understated. The price only changes if the scope of the work changes from what we agree upon.

Regarding recurring costs, there are two mandatories. Domain names and hosting. You may handle these through a dedicated provider, or handle them through me. The only other cost that might be payable to me would be a maintenance agreement, which is optional, and of course you would know about it up front (that's half of why they call it an agreement). The only other fees I can think of would be for an e-commerce site. There are significant upfront and recurring charges involved with the ability to accept credit cards online. At some point I'll devote a page to that, as well.

OK, It's Decided. You're My Guy, And I'm Ready To Start. What Do I Need To Do Now?

Let's get started! I'm easily reached in any one of three ways. The company phone and email are located in the top right corner of every page on this site. The third way to get things started is by using the contact form.

Even if the good old fashioned contact form is not your style, you might want to have a look at it just to get a feel for the kinds of things that commonly come up during the early discussions.

What are you waiting for? Someone could be looking for you on the web right now!