Just about anyone. From businesses, artists, traders, charities and so on, I never take on more work than I can handle and I will make sure I can meet your needs at all times. After you provide me with all the information I need to get it going, I will design the initial template for you and a few variations on colour for a wider choice. I will do this following your directions and suggestions if so you wish, totally FREE. At that point, you will have the choice to decline or to suggest a few changes, still at not price at all. Bear in mind that your Web site will be coded following the latest techniques and recommendations of the W3C, it will validate for XHTML and CSS and it will work fine in all main browsers. For more about Web site Validation and W3C check out the Web Authoring section of this Web site.
I will consider designing any Web site or working with any program for you as long as it does not include any sexual, racist or otherwise abusive, illegal or offensive material. I can build your Web site from the very beginning to the stage of connection, and maintain it thereafter, if that is what you need, regardless of the number of pages it might have or regardless of the nature of your business. I have been trained in many aspects of Web designing and Web Authoring, so I can manage both the actual coding necessary for the structure (XHTML), presentation (CSS) as well as all your imaging, audio and video needs.
These days, we almost assume that just about anyone and everyone is already Internet and computer literate, but I would think that is not really the case. If you need a Web site, but you are totally lost on the world of the net and/or computing, please do not hesitate to contact me for some simple advice on what to do as well as some simple advice on what kind of computer and Internet package you might need if you are thinking of buying one and getting online either at home or at work.
You can suggest any design. If you have seen a Web site you like, I can start from that. If you don't have any ideas at all, I can suggest something, depending on your needs. It would be easier to find the main concept for the look and feel of your site if you have an idea already. To help you to customise your Web site, you can take advantage of all the techniques I have used throughout the pages of this one.
It is extremely important to remember, though, that no matter how good your Web site looks, if it does not work properly in all browsers, it has bad coding or "old" one or if it fails on usability and accessibility aspects. On top of that, think also of the actual contents and organisation of your site. No point for it to be beautiful if it is not effective, properly constructed or if it doesn't provide the right information. Remember, what you want is people to have a pleasant experience when they visit your site and to provide the information they might be looking for, so you can increase the volume of your business. You don't just want people to say "how beautiful", and never come back or contact your business because they were unable to find the information they were initially looking for and, supposedly, you had in there.
There are so many options when looking for a Domain name and a Hosting plan, so many companies, that I am not going to give you any recommendations. The only one I would really recommend is the one I use:
This is because I have been using them for years, and I have never had a problem. I have heard of people having some or many problems with other hosting companies, so I can tell at least, Plugsocket are fine. They never once let me down or gave me any kind of grief. They are UK based, very helpful, you can contact them on the phone for support (national rate) at any working hours and they reply emails fairly quick. If you don't have a domain name or hosting for your site, they can arrange both for you in a few minutes. I am always glad to connect new Web sites with them.
Since I don't want to take any positions here and I can only recommend "Plugsocket" for my experiences, the only alternative I would give you would be to "Glooge" it. Stick in the search box something like "Web Hosting " and " Web domain names" and you can be sure you will get an immense amount of choices and prices. Be very careful before you sign up to any deal in any case and don't feel afraid to ask for any and all the details before you agree to any. You might be saving a few quid sometimes by signing to a particular cheaper Hosting company, but it might be a problem later and cost you more for upgrades or give you some unexpected headaches. Send me an email if you are having problems finding the right hosting package for your Web site or if you have any queries or problems with domain names.
If you already have a domain name and a hosting plan, it shouldn't be a problem for me to take over as long as you can provide me with the details of the account (password, login, etc...). You normally get this when you sign up and pay your hosting plan.
If you have a Web site but need or want someone to maintain it or to provide a new design or to tidy up old or bad coding, you can contact me for a free quote. Please take a look to the "Web Authoring" section of this site to find out how the kind of coding your Web site uses can greatly affect its effectiveness.
If, for any reason at all whichever it might be, you need any of the above and have no means of getting them, I will be glad to help you. You might need a short video, some photos you don't have and can't take for any reason. You might need the scanning of the photos you have, even some photo effects or background music ...Whatever it is, if you decide you want me to implement your site, I will make sure you get the means to see your goal achieved. I can take photos on a digital or analogue format, arrange a video for you so it can be inserted on your page or work on the resizing, optimising or altering effects of your images. Please check the imaging section of this Web site to find out how images can enhance your Web site looks.
Computer colour resolutions are quite low, which means that the quality of the images is nowhere near as good as in printed images (assuming here we are talking about professional printing, of course). For that reason, photos and images for the web do not need to be especially high in resolution. That does not mean that you shouldn't bother to get a decent take. It is always best to have a good photo or image to begin with. I work a lot with images, and I would gladly help.
If you are a Photographer or you do drawings, I can help you to optimise your images for the Web, provide some photo slideshows, effects and even animation. And a lot more.
I always work from the beginning aiming to validate the pages for XHTML and CSS. I test the pages on all main browsers. Here again, I am going to stick the link of ...
I also consider and try to keep up with Web accessibility issues, which I find a very important. Normally, I code using XHTML 1.0 Transitional, but I can code to other versions too. Again, take a look at the Web Authoring section of this site to find out why using good coding is important for all the aspects of building your Web site, from accessibility and usability, quick downloading, file size management, search engines to even avoiding Web site "crashing" in some browsers.
I find it hard to believe some designers still design only for Internet Explorer. I have seen quite a Web few sites "crash" on Firefox (and Opera and Safari, most likely, if it crashes on Firefox). They do normally stick a bit of text stating "Best viewed on Internet Explorer" at least. I find that so very bad practice ...since you are limiting your audience to Internet explorer users only. It is bad for your business in any case and surely a massive usability flaw.
Once you decide you need a Web site and before you contact a designer or someone to implement it, I would advice you to plan your site further. Sit down with some pen and paper and draw your strategy. There are many important aspects to it, and many of them are up to you since you are the one who knows your business best. Consider the following, and remember you can contact me to talk about this at no cost at all:
Once I have the contents, I will start implementing the Web site based on the initial Template(s) you choose. Depending on the size of the site and after implementing it, optimising it and testing it, I will connect it. You will get a confirmation then and will be able to see your Web site online with your own domain name. All throughout this process I will be in contact with you as much as needed and you will be able to see how your site is coming up in a special space online that I will set up for you on my own Web site.
It really depends on the size of your Web site. Having all the contents ready, is really the first step you should take after you go through the process of drawing your plan. At the very least, you should work on the text that it will need for all the pages. If you don't have the images you need, something might be arranged. Remember, you can contact me even before you start planning it if you are having problems doing so. After we talk about your site and once I have all the information about it, I will be able to give you an estimate of how long it will take.
Once your Web site is online, I will hand you over a disk with all the contents, files, folders and so on and my role as a designer will be over. We can talk about maintenance if so you wish,even before it is finished, as I will be willing to keep updating your site as you need it and I offer several choices depending on the amount of updates you need and how often these are.