Web Site Design

The design and implementation of your web site will vary, depending on your needs, your audience, and the message you are trying to convey. I don’t believe in big, flashly, slow-loading websites full of confusing technology.

“Order and simplification are the first steps
toward mastery of a subject.”
— Thomas Mann

I believe the keys to a successful web presentation are

  • Simple graphics which catch the viewer’s attention;
  • A site layout which makes it clear what is being presented; and
  • Well-organized, current detail.

The goal is to attract your readers the first time they see your site, get them interested, and keep them coming back.

Rates

  • Dynamic (WordPress) website with your logo and your layout, setup for you to be able to edit the content (requires Database hosting below), $500.
  • Annual web hosting and e-mail on wlindley.com’s dedicated server, without databases, $240.
  • Per database or database-enabled managed application (e.g., WordPress), $120 additional annually.
  • Javascript / dynamic HTML / database tie-ins, $75/hour.
  • Photo scanning, $10 apiece.
  • Technical writing, Photo retouching, $50/hour.
  • General consulting and system administration, at my site, $60/hour.
  • General consulting and system administration, at your site, $75/hour.
  • Advanced consulting, programming, or system administration, at your site, $90/hour.
  • Evenings, weekends or onsite priority support, $15/hour surcharge.
  • Call or e-mail for special rates and individual quotes. I would be pleased to specify the work to be done “at a cost not to exceed” your budget.

Examples

Here are a few sites I have built:

Commercial

Non-Profit

What about Search Engines?

Search engines like Google are continuously revised to give better results. Thus, trickery to get higher rankings is not only dishonest but not worth the bother. A Google algorithm update in November 2003 pushed many formerly highly ranked sites, ones that used trickery to boost their scores, way down in the lists.

It is far better to concentrate on real, usable features that your audience — human beings, your clients and potential customers — will appreciate. When these features are added correctly, the search engines will love your site too. Features like:

  • Unique, useful content.
  • Site maps.
  • Accessibility from text-based browsers. This is especially important for the blind, for people reaching your site from tiny cellphone web browsers, and for search engines (which can’t decipher pretty graphics).
  • A hierarchical structure. This makes your site easy to navigate, and prevents people from feeling lost.
  • Organization into a single domain (www.yourcompany.com) containing mini-sites like chapters in a book, instead of many different domain names.

wlindley.com websites use a tool we have developed called AutoSite to automatically create hierarchical structures and site maps.

I’d also like to quote Corey Schwartz on the difficulties involved.