I must admit one more thing. I began designing web sites out of ego. Now, let me qualify this statement. I was surfing and surfing and coming across all kinds of web design business sites. I noticed the fees that were being charged (ego now kicks in). I said to myself, "I can do better than that!" Common sense told me, as an Internet user, that surfers can't be appreciating these sites. I know I didn't enjoy waiting for these sites to load, I didn't enjoy trying to wade through the typos and I certainly didn't enjoy all those spinning animations that in no way enhanced the site. So, I began teaching myself HTML(the language of the web). I started reading web design books, learning all the nifty little tricks the industry professionals use. I started distinguishing between original content and "cookie-cutter" sites. A cookie-cutter site is a site that is created with a template and they all appear the same.
After deciding I had learned enough to hang out my shingle, I began researching costs and pricing. I found that a person could pay nothing to hundreds of thousands of dollars. When I started marketing myself, people were shocked at my fee($50 an hour). I then patiently tried to explain the reason for the fee(I averaged the designers in my region, Pennsylvania, and came up with the rate), which is this- You will get an original site, you will get a site that loads quickly, your visitors will be able to navigate easily, etc., etc..
(This really is not shameless self-promotion, I am getting to a point).
Point being, the most common response is, "My nephew can do it for free or Joe Blow will only charge me $50 for a twenty page site with all the graphics and goodies I want." Now, my comment to them is a polite, "Okay," but to myself I begin thinking, have you seen this persons site? Can your nephew promote your site successfully? It certainly is frustrating! Alas, I have a solution! When, as an individual or company, you begin looking for web site designers, look at their sites. After you look at their sites, look at others sites, look, look, look! Compare apples to oranges, count sheep, whatever...just realize that it isn't just all about coding a site and parking it on the 'net. If a designers' site is less than attractive, then chances are your site will be less than attractive. Approach your web site like it is a movie poster or a magazine ad, it has more capabilities than a brochure or classified ad. Also, when you do find a designer, if he or she tries to tell you that you have to have JavaScript or special plug-ins, ask why? Ask, do you charge a special fee for this? If a site designer isn't honest enough to tell you that you may not need a site at this point in time, do you really want to work with them?
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