Reasonably priced, professional, original website design - TIG - The Idea Girl

Should You Hire Me? & A word about WEBSITE DESIGN

I have been doing extra advertising recently because there are just TOO MANY Pennsylvania businesses that STILL do not have a website. Since my car is often on the road I put up a car sign. Incidentally this is a great way to promote your own website! You can get one from vistaprint.com

While I welcome ANY and ALL critiques of my work when contacting me please remember to list your name, telephone and / or email and business. If you have the extra time to critique my work I will make time to do the same for you.

Here is a comment I received recently:

"Nice car. Your webby isn't the greatest. Might invest in better graphic design software. Or perhaps invest in some proper design education. Using paint isn't really what paying customers expect."

Some may think I am crazy to put such a negative comment on my website but let me explain why.

"Your webby isn't the greatest." Hiring a website designer is like hiring a home decorator or wedding planner. You have to find the right one for your taste.

Shop around and see WHO is the best fit for you. Look at my gallery of work.. I may not have produced any designs you like. That is OK. I treat each client as an individual. I take your ideas and try to create something you will like but most importantly I try to create designs your customers will USE and keep using in the best way I know how to bring your company more business from the Internet. If I am not the best "fit" for your company DON'T GIVE UP! Try someone else.

I make a living doing what I do but would rather you HAVE a website you love than none at all.

You DO NOT need to hire locally. I have been designing websites for 13+ years and have never met most of my clients face-to-face. We get things done via phone, fax, email and IM.

"Might invest in better graphic design software." - I use a variety of programs to create my designs. I start with Corel 12 or Adobe Photoshop which are graphics design programs, slice it up with paint and hand code most of the rest. IE:html, JavaScript, CSS, php, asp, etc..

There are designers out there who simply put up pictures and call it a website but I am not one of them.

Your website needs to be functional, Search Engine friendly and user friendly. A website has many layers and a website design professional will make sure all of them work in harmony. You as a business owner will probably not know what goes into creating a good website so ASK your designer what they will do to make sure your website is the best it can be. Take that information and GOOGLE it to find out if they are knowledgeable.

Or perhaps invest in some proper design education. - I do have a BFA but do not pretend to be the very BEST designer out there. This is the main reason I offer FREE MOCKUP DESIGN. You can SEE what I can do before you decide to use my services. If my designs do not please you then you can go to someone else without spending the money. I want your business but ultimately want you to be happy spending the money.

Whoever you choose to hire as your designer, make sure they do the same. Several clients of mine have spent hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars on a website then never got anything from the company they hired. BEWARE. If you are shelling out money up front GET A CONTRACT and have your lawyer look it over first!

As mentioned above.. you need to find who works best for YOU. It's YOUR business.I will do everything I can to make sure you are completely happy with your website and that your website will work FOR you when it is made live.

GETTING NOTICED -

Most of my websites will have first page rank on the major search engines within 20 days which is almost unheard of. I do not guarantee placement on the search engines but will do everything I know how to do to make sure your site gets noticed! Customers need to be able to FIND your website online for it to do you any good.

WHAT?!@#!

Most frequently used excuses for NOT having a professional website: (The following is a little bit of tough love from The Idea Girl. It may sound mean but please keep in mind that I am only trying to HELP you and your business. When you are ready to see what I can do for your website please complete my website design questionnaire and I will create a mockup completely free of charge and without obligation.)

#1 - My daughter-in-law does it and it looks just great. This one I get a LOT! Oh it might not be your daughter-in-law, son-in-law, or your uncles friend at work who knows a guy who did your website but something like it.

Time for some tough love from The Idea Girl. Yes, I am in the business of building websites for a living but I also CARE about how that website will improve your business. If I didn't my business would not survive and I would have to resort to selling newspapers on a street corner.

PLEASE take a moment and look at your existing website.

Compare it to others in your field.
Think about how much business you are getting from it. I have been to websites which had a counter that read 452 visitors and the site was built in 2006! I get that much traffic to one site in 2 days!
Does it represent you and your company well or does it look like a train wreck? I have spoken to lots of people who are either blind or just don't care about how their website reflects their business. It baffles me. Do they really think it looks good or are they copping out due to other circumstances? Is it Money? They just can't be bothered? They have too much business as it is? Whatever the excuse is I URGE you to evaluate it and reconsider having your website designed by a professional. No one can afford to have a website that looks as if a third grader did it in their IT class and today if you do not have a professional website your business may as well not even exist. You are loosing clients and customers by the masses.

#2 - My business is mostly word of mouth and we've done well without a website so far.

Beware people. Very soon if it hasn't happened already you will be loosing your client base to the competition. People don't last forever and the new generation are almost ALL shopping or looking online for their next purchase. Do you really want to loose out to your competitor or WORSE loose out to a large company? SAVE THE MOM & POP BUSINESSES and get with the program.

#3 - I can't afford a website right now.

If you cannot afford $350 for a professionally designed brochure type website your business is in more serious trouble than you think. Hosting and domain name registration per year is about $80. That's it!

#4 - I already have a website. BUT THE WEBSITE IS NON EXISTENT and business owners don't even know it! If you think you already have a website do me a favor and just check in on it to see if you actually do have one. Then refer to #1.

Drop me an email and I will look at your website and give you a FREE evaluation. Every website could use some improvement but I will not try to talk you into anything you don't really need.