Burned Out Big Time

[Mojo]

I know we needed a complete revamp of our website but have put it off till now. Something that is very professional, upscale, classy and a little flashy. I am so burnt out with doing our website and it still looking like a homemade site done in publisher that I decided to turn to the pro's.

I went out looking for web developers and found one company in Tampa that had a great portfolio. I sent them the link to my site and asked for a quote. They quoted me $ 30 K. Really ?? They were also going to structure it so I had to go back, pay another fee anytime I wanted a change made. I told my son and he laughed and pointed me towards freelance sites and said stay away from web development companies who employ multiple developers and have teams. They will nickle and dime you to death.

So I placed an ad ( free ) on Guru.com. I specified what I wanted in regards to site requirements in addition to being up front and saying " You must be based in the USA and exceptional with grammar and the english language ". I listed our website and asked for quotes. Within 8 hours I had close to 20. The prices ranged from $ 350 - $ 2,000. Of course I got quotes from companies in India and Pakistan along with one from Vietnam. Actually the Indians do great work and cheap. :)

I went through them all, checked their portfolios and chatted with a few through private messaging on the Guru site and by the end of day I narrowed it down to the top 3. One I found that has the edge is located 20 miles from me. He is a young individual freelancer and quoted me a fair price and has a great background in web development with an awesome portfolio. His quote was $ 1,300. All of these quotes included a CMS or better known as a content management system which means I can go in myself on the back end and make changes such as text and pictures. ( You cannot change the layout of the site obviously ).

Everyone is submitting all the technical aspects of the job and then I am submitting those to my son as well as Miami's consultant ( Miami agreed to allow their consultant to be involved ). They will pour over the portfolios and specs and then recommend to me who would be the best candidate for the job. I haven't a clue as to what some of the specs even mean as you have to be a developer to understand them.

I am so relieved and will be even more so once this job is done. I have struggled with building and maintaining our website since we went into business. It has been a frustrating experience because I have years of marketing and advertising experience and a hundred great ideas but completely lack the skills to put my vision onto a web site. I am plain and simple not a tech guy and web development is now a very complicated business. Some of the better programs are extremely difficult to learn and I also do not know HTML code. You need speed in loading and it has to work across numerous platforms, laptops/desktops, Windows, Linux, Apple, Ipads, notebooks, android phones, apple phones, etc. not to mention the thousands of apps out there. I also got tired of or website looking like someone with little experience using a cheap developers program made it. ( which is true ). It was time to call in a pro to take us to the next level with our website.

Our web traffic is growing every month so we really need to step up our game.
This is what $ 1,200 can buy you. This site was submitted with one of the quotes and included in his portfolio:  http://thebellevue.com/ I myself liked it. Very professional, classy, clean and crisp.

Will post more info on this adventure once I get it. You might say I am a guinea pig for the rest of you and I will be sure to post my experiences here. :)

Chris

[Mike]

I was sent to a hotel chris nothing about awnings

[SteveA]

Mike I think you have some of what I have !
SA

[gene]

I'm about your age Mojo, and I have a different reaction to the bellevue website.

To me it looks too busy. Too much stuff and too much of the same colors in the pics and the letters and phone numbers look too small.

If most of your customers are older folks I wonder if they might feel the same?

KISS works for me.

Just some feedback for you, and no intention at all to take away from your awesome business growth that is going on.

gene

[Mike]

I see it was a sample  I find it well done but the word with pjotos faded behind them I find harder to read with my older eyes

[kodydog]

Be sure to ask about a mobile ready website. If your going to do it do it right. And your customers are definitely mobile. People looking for information on smart phones just surpassed those on desktop computers. I've had my site analyzed and I am apparently way off. Mostly in page size but also font size. A lot of info to cram into those little screens. I don't even own a smart phone. This is something I wish I thought of when I built my website but just don't have time to work on right now.

[Mojo]

Ed:  This is why I have turned it over to the Pro's. Websites used to be so easy to build and throw up. MS Frontpage was easy to use and had templates as well. I could do a website in one night using Frontpage. But it got way behind the times in code building and then web hosting servers quit supporting Frontpage code. Then Flash came in, java, and other codes and things went from easy to difficult. The pro's were using dreamweaver but you need to spend time at a University taking courses to learn how to efficiently use it. One of the most complicated programs I have ever seen and ultra expensive.

Most of the Pro's now days build your website to run across numerous platforms so they work with any type of device. It was in my specs and I requested quotes. The bidders all supplied me with what codes/programs/formats they were going to use.

In regards to the hotel website I linked to, I posted it as an example of what a pro can do versus someone like me who throws together an amateur website. The Pro's produce clean, classy and professional looking websites. Mine is a clustered amateur mess and I cannot afford to have that look on the website. I deal with customers who are used to flash, class and in some cases elegance. besides a poorly put together amateur website reflects badly on a business. Consumers believe that if you throw up a rinky dink website, they must do the same with their work.

$ 1,200 for a brand new state of the art website professionally done is less then two orders for us. I think of the money I lost screwing around building a website and I could have probably paid for new websites for all of us on this forum due to lost productivity. I had hundreds of hours tied up in trying to build a decent website and it still looked like an amateur.

In a nutshell, I am outclassed and lack the technical expertise to build websites that will run on all devices seamlessly. I used to be able to build them but the tech world, servers and internet have changed dramatically. I have not kept up with the changes and now I do not have the time.

Chris

[scott_san_diego]

Over the past couple of weeks I have been getting quotes to have my website rebuilt.  My current site is done in html, whick is very outdated.  I have been getting quotes to having it redone in Wordpress.  Price $400 - $6,000.  The new site like you said, would be compatible with pc/smart phone/ipad.  Also would include some search engine optimization. 

[Mojo]

Scott:

I would recommend that if you decide to update your website you visit the Guru.com website and consider listing an ad there. It is a great site for freelancers and the prices typically run cheaper.

Myself I am down to two developers and will let my Son and the consultant decide. My competitors are stepping up there game and have new web sites that were professionally done. I have no choice as mine resembles that home built amateur site and theirs stand out better. In my sector appearance is everything.

Will see how it goes.

Chris

[Dede]

...html, which is very outdated.

Wait... what?  Crap.

Edited to add:  I finally feel comfortable with HTML (not proficient, just not terrified to mess with it) and now there's something new and shiny I have to learn?  I hate technology.  Yes, I realize I sound old and cranky.  Get off my lawn!