There is a ton of competition out there in the low end web design market. Instant web sites, web site tonight, site ground sites, the list goes on and on. In many ways this is a great thing for the consumer that is wanting to get a web site up and running without working with a professional designer. If you have some knowledge about HTML, CSS and PHP, and the ability to edit photographs - then you will likely be able to create something that has some style and represents who you are. What you won't get ... as much as they try to tell you otherwise ... is custom web design. 

Yesterday I was looking at the site of a fairly well known 'marketing and self-publishing guru.' As soon as I arrived at the site I knew where he had gotten the template for the site, for free. He bills himself as a highly effective seller of 'high end' products, and yet he created a website from an easily recognizable theme - one used on literally thousands of other web sites - added a stuck on logo in the header, and called it a day. And sometimes - there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe all you need is to get yourself out there at the most simple level, or maybe you don't think that you have enough money to work with a professional designer. I understand. 

And I have a very simple question - how much is your time worth? The one night web solutions ... aren't. The average person will spend 20-30 hours putting together a site that is billed to take 2 hours. What you will learn as soon as you begin working on the on-line interface is that only certain aspects of the site are editable and that in order to actually get things to line up and look the way you want them too, you have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to game the system. And as far as custom graphics, imagery and style that reflect your brand identity or match your logo, there are none. 

Many of us tackle a problem by saying that we want to just plow through it. I am certainly guilty of the 'ready, fire, aim' approach sometimes.  The reality is that taking some time up front to talk with a professional designer and web developer before starting your engine can save you A LOT of time and A LOT of money in the long run. 

I can help you get started and build something that works and is ready to expand and grow as your business grows. I will work with you as a collaborator. Most of the sites I build these days are made to be managed by the client.  Let me help you get the custom look that you want - and THEN you can have control over your creation and use your valuable time and energy to add to the impact of your site with fresh content - rather than mediocre design.

Give me a call to get started. H2O Marketing - 413-241-7119 - Web design, marketing and graphics with a purpose. 

Hall Associates Flying Effects is another site that I did custom design work for while with HTN. This is a custom WordPress theme. Many of the clients that I am working with these days are choosing WordPress as a very effective and highly customizable solution for the web sites. Wordpress, at its most basic level, is a blogging platform. The interesting shift takes place when you have someone like me come in and customize your installation to function, and look, like a web site, not a blog. You end up with the best of both worlds. 

Sea Change Media is the brainchild of Francesca Rheannon and Bill Baue. I was hired by Bill and Francesca to design a logo for their new venture - which is a weekly radio show focusing on sustainability and corporate responsibility - and later HTN was engaged to build their web site. The architecture is Wordpress, the most versatile and easy to build Content Management System that I have worked with.

The design and functionality of this site are based on multiple factors. The client needs something that would be responsive to the needs of their guests, sponsors and many readers. They needed a web site that had advanced navigation possibilities and effective SEO built in. And they wanted it to look good. This is where we ended up. I am proud to know and work with Bill and Francesca. They are doing valiant work in the world. 

In my time at HTN , I worked closely with the folks at Doyle and Doyle Fine Estate Jewelry in New York City's lower east side to build a compelling and functional e-commerce store. The design on this site was developed by a local designer in NYC and adapted for the web. 

This store runs a very nice e-commerce package called PDG Commerce . PDG provides a good level of basic commerce functionality. For the Doyle and Doyle site - we went much further. There are aspects of this site that I am very proud to have worked on ... check out the Jewelry History section and the Press section of the site for some especially nice Javascript work. Hen's Teeth Network can really do amazing things with PDG commerce. 

If you are interested in designing and building a store for online sales - give me a call! I can help you get going in the RIGHT direction. Don't make the mistake of following a path that looks easy. Online sales are not simple. There are many things you will need to know, and having someone guide your first steps is very valuable.