Web Design and Website Update Services

Need a new author site, online journal, or literary press website? I can build new sites, update existing ones, and provide other creative services for an affordable price. Read on to see what I can do for you.

Here are some of the web design and creative services I provide

• Build you a brand new site using the platform of your choice
• Revamp menus, page structure, and redesign site architecture
• Redirect and rename headings, menus, page titles, and page slugs
• Make site more SEO (search engine optimization) friendly
• Manual redirects
• Write meta data for your new and existing content
• Revamp heading structure (which contributes to your indexing and SEO)
• Provide image editing via Photoshop
• Create promotional graphics and logos
• Write copy
• Create promotional videos (think book trailers)
• Create media (audio, image, and YouTube) galleries
• Add calendars and other dynamic functionality to your website
• Make your website look professional
• Integrate an email program like MailChimp
• Provide basic WordPress training
• Install plugins and do other updates and maintenance
• Provide general consulting for your site, whether it’s an author site, journal, press, or other small business

Fees

I have affordable packages for new designs and work hourly for updates, graphics, and other creative work. Unless it is a minor/focused update, graphic additions, or SEO work, it is usually less expensive to build a new site than it is to troubleshoot other peoples’ work. At the risk of being negative, nearly every site I have looked at was improperly structured as most sites aren’t created by trained web designers. Sadly there are a lot of charlatans in the profession, but also, a tech savvy dad or your average graphic designer isn’t necessarily trained in web design, and this can hurt you up the road. I’ve seen sites not indexed by Google and sites permanently de-indexed due to improper redirections. Some things can’t be fixed once they are done incorrectly. Google is a god in this regard, and good luck trying to reason with them when something goes wrong.

For an estimate, please send a detailed message using my contact form and include the purpose of your site, URL to your current site if you have one, and indicate a ballpark figure for how many pages, images, and links you need (with as much detail as you can), and I’ll get back to you with an estimate.

Examples

Contact me via social and I am happy to provide you with a list.

How it Works

You send me a contact message, I look at your site, and we have a free, no-obligation phone conversation. I give you an estimate and schedule a time to work on your site. You send me the files and information I need in an organized format. I work on the site. Your website work is completed, in most cases, very quickly. I like to finish one job before starting the next. Author sites are usually finished in a few days. Small business sites could take 1-2 weeks on average. I take a deposit upfront, and the balance is due after the completion of the site.

Experience

I have an art, design, copywriting, and web design background (work and college). I’m also a former fine art, design, and typography instructor, so I know how to make things look pretty, cool, edgy, or whatever you need. I worked for over 15 years in e-commerce in marketing, copywriting, and web content, part of which included extensive WordPress management.

I learned in the early days to code websites by hand, the hard way (I have a CIS degree in web development). While I studied some programming, I don’t consider myself a programmer, but rather, a creative with strong UX skills who writes scripts (HTML and CSS). About 40% of websites are now WordPress, likely because of the user-friendly interface and because the platform enables rapid production of dynamic websites at a fraction of the time and cost it takes to hand code.

*Note, I can also work in Squarespace, Wix, and some other platforms.

My specialty is making clean, streamlined sites from existing templates. This is how I can make them more affordable. However, if you have the desire and budget to create a more complex, customized site, I can get really creative and work with you.

Why Hire Me?

• I’m fast, efficient, and affordable
• I’m a creative, so I get you
• I have an unusual skill set in being both technical and creative

Because I worked in e-commerce for ad and SEO agencies, plus have backgrounds in visual arts and SEO writing, I bring more skills to the job than your average web designer. I’ll warn you of potential pitfalls and help you get the most out of your website. If you want a custom-made site with a Windows server, Javascript, extensive databases, etc., I’m not the one for you, however (although, WordPress is all about databases, and I have some really creative solutions to leverage their power in your site design).

If you’ve ever hired a programmer who made a hideous site with terrible navigation, you’ll appreciate the range of my creative skills, attention to detail, and ability to make the process understandable to laypeople.

If you are in the arts, literary or visual, you might appreciate that I also have experience in these fields as a creative writer and fine artist. Being a subject matter expert means less research. Plus I’m fast, efficient, honest, approachable, communicative, and affordable. So if you need a site or other creative work, let’s talk. Please send a message via my contact form to get started with a free consultation.

Testimonials