This might seem like an oversimplification, given the ever-expanding list of considerations involved in building a website.
Performance, hosting, security, accessibility, networking, content management and creation, device testing, and compliance with legal requirements (both domestic and international) are just some of the critical areas to address. Not to mention the constantly evolving technologies, frameworks, platforms and best practices.
And we haven’t even begun to discuss the actual construction of the “website” itself.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but a client deosn’t need to worry about or understand all these details. That’s my responsibility.
So, what do I do? I handle everything related to all types and sizes of websites, including their creation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and hosting.
All kinds and all sizes.
Ecommerce (Magento 2) sites selling a handfull of products, to sites with a catalogue of 1000s of products
Competition sites where customers buy a bottle of water, enter the code on the website and discover if you are the winner of a range of prizes
Internal site for staff at a global communicatiions company, after hosting massive staff activity events across the country, an online “yearbook” was created to summarise the days and showcase everyone that attended.
Websites for cocktail bar serving afood,
Whilst the large majority of what I do is making websites. My nerdy skills also extend to the creation of mobile apps, web apps, interactive touchscreens. As well as video and motion-graphics for a range of needs including broadcast and in-store point of sale. I dabble in a bit of 3D modelling with Sketchup and starting to use Autodesk Fusion for CAD work for 3D printing.
I am also really interested in home automation and IoT (using Home Assistant, MQTT and AWS), multiple Raspnerry Pi computers dotted around the house for various things. Voice control using the Amazon Echo where I have developed several custom Alexa Skills that I use for tasks around the house. If you have an idea for an Alexa Skill I would be very interested in discussing this.
Technology is great, I love everything about it, I especially love doing what I do and working with it everyday. It is a passion of mine and one which I’m very good at.
But technology is just the tool that I use. My biggest skill is problem solving.
Working with a client I help them to evolve their initial requirement of “I need a website” into something that provides value to their business.
A client might think they need a content management system with 20 different page templates, online ordering, live web chat and a custom branded video player. Yet after talking to them we work out that a simple site, with some help to grow and maintain a targeted mailing list, would be much better suited to their goals and budget.
I never upsell or talk a client into something they don’t need or understand just to be able to invoice for it.
Every project is different so it is good to get the conversation rolling first. I really like to get the conversation started with a call on the phone. Ten minutes on the phone will tell us both whether or not we are a good match.
I have used such a comprehenisve range of different technologies over the years and if you really want a list of acronyms, platforms and services, here you go:
HTML, PHP, WordPress, WooCommerce, Amazon Web Services (S3, Route53, Lambda, AWS IoT, Congnito, API Gateway, Cloudfront), DigitalOcean, Javascript, Jquery, Node, Node-Red, Raspbian, Debian, Ubuntu, macOS, AppleScript, Python, MQTT, CSS/Sass, Gulp, Grunt, Nginx, reverse proxys, Apache, SSL (LetsEncrypt), OAuth, Jekyll, Kirby, GitHub, Google APIs.
I tend to host things myself these days using a combination of AWS and DigitalOcean services. So I know my way around a server and understand networking and I am slightly obsessed with security (in a good way).
But I can’t stress enough that it very easy to get distracted by the technology, the problem that is being solved is more important than the technology that is used to solve it.
Budget is very important, even though you may not have any idea how much this type of work costs. You should have an idea of an amount you are prepared to spend.
Similar to buying a house or a car, the first thing you need to know is the amount you can spend. You can get a banger for £500 that would get you to the shops and back. You can also spend £100,000 on a Bentley, which would also get you to the shops and back.
So please, even if you have no idea how much these things cost, have an amount in your head that you are prepared to spend.
Knowing what we are working with allows us to keep focused on the main goal of the site.
Feel free to ask questions or call for a chat to ask about costs. There is little point in either of us spending time talking about an exciting project, or for me to work up a detailed breakdown of costs that total around £7,000 when you were only thinking of spending £500.
There is a lot you could do with £500, that is a lot of emails sent with MailChimp and quite a few Adwords.
It does depend on the project (and problem) but as a guide my minimum price for a web project starts around the £1000 mark.