Creating web sites from scratch is the best part of my line of work! I love to start with scribbled design sketches on my trusty notepad, mock-up my designs into Photoshop or Fireworks, and then handcraft the html and php code using trusty Dreamweaver. It is great fun, and gives me a real sense of acheivement to convert an original germ of an idea into a fully functioning web-site.
However, this process can take time (lots of it !!), and I can easily understand why even a small website with half a dozen pages and some custom graphics can take 100 hours, or several working weeks, to complete. Even at a modest hourly rate this means the costs can mount up so that it just isn’t affordable to a small business.
To get around this problem, and to kick-start the fledgling website into the online world, I rely more and more on using WordPress with ready-made themes as a starting point to a new web design. This gives me the infrastructure to deliver a web site that can be delivered in a vanilla-format in hours, and I can get straight into working with the Client to modify the fonts and colour schemes, and tweaking the theme, giving impressive results straight away without re-inventing, and re-coding, the wheel. So even before I start coding you will have a website offering:
- Cross-browser compatibility: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari
- Your own back-end login to update the text yourself
- A choice of pre-defined colour schemes
- Functionality to upload and resize images
- Search-Engine-Optimization so Google can find you
- Translate your site for other languages
The best themes I have found for WordPress are from a company called Woothemes. Please check them out and I am sure you will agree that they have an ever-expanding range of professionally designed site templates that really look the business. Of course, this is just a starting point – unless you want a website that looks like everyone elses! – and I can work wonders using the basic framework to create a compelling, new, and original design; all for a fraction of the cost of a bespoke site.
Please have a look at my Portfolio section, or give me a call if you would like to discuss your specific requirements. I am more than happy to help, offer relaxed and comprehensive advice, or explain the options that are available to you.