Web sites
The first two web-development packages are for people who can tell us exactly what they want or who have purchased our E Z design package:
5 pages and under: $400
6 to 10 pages: $600
Both packages include a contact form and any web programming needed to implement the site-navigation menu. Please see the business practices section for complete information about all of our web-site work.
Custom sites: Larger sites, design work from scratch, or sites needing more web programming require an individualized quote. Use our quote system to begin this process.
Add-on services: With the purchase of a web-design package, you can add other services at discounted prices: search optimization for $250, favicon development for $99, graphics development for a custom background $150, accessibility-coding work for $225, and ongoing minor corrections and enhancements for $45 a month (six-month limit).
Touch-up services
Search optimization: $579
This service is designed for small businesses, and includes a written set of coding recommendations, no limit on the number of search keywords, and two months of follow-up keyword adjustment and search-engine testing. You can purchase additional months of testing and adjustment for $45 a month (six-month limit).
This service is offered at half price when purchased along with new web-site development.
Handyman special: $199
This service includes up to 5 touch-up, non-design alterations to your web site. Examples include adjusting CSS color settings, moving items on one page, minor text additions to one page, one page of text editing, adjusting the size of an item, and cropping pictures for one page.
This service does not include Photoshop picture alterations other than sizing and cropping. Tasks included in this package are entirely at the discretion of Pleasant Web Design.
Background development: $199 (you provide the design idea or select from the E Z design process) or $399 (3 designs provided, and one hour of follow-up enhancement)
The background is the empty space around and behind the container that holds all of the text for your web pages. Common backgrounds include a single-color background, a "watermark" design, or lines drawn horizontally across the space.
Single-color backgrounds, those chosen as part of the E Z design process, or those created using graphics provided by you are included in the price of web-site development. Additional background-design development is offered at half price when purchased along with new web-site development.
Favicon creation: $99 (you provide the design idea) or $299 (3 designs provided, and one hour of follow-up enhancement)
The favicon is the small image that appears to the left of the title or address of your web site. Here is an example of three favicons as they appear in web-browser tabs:
Accessibility coding: Starting at $450 (use our quote system for a more accurate assessment).
For those of you doing business with the United States government or Canada, you are required by law to use accessible code for your web site. The United States requires adherence to Section 508, and Canada requires adherence to the W3C accessibility standards.
Pleasant Web Design will analyze your existing site, provide a written recommendation for work to be done, re-code the site as instructed by you, and provide the documentation required by both standards.
This service is offered at half price when purchased along with new web-site development.
Usability testing: $750
This service includes 2 hours of meetings with you to gather requirements for the design, designing the contextual-inquiry test, 3 hours of testing, and a written, follow-up report. You are responsible for locating space and equipment for the test, enrolling additional testers (if necessary), and enrolling test subjects.
Text writing and editing: By quote
Other graphic arts: By quote
Interactive forms: By quote
Interactive forms automatically adjust what the user sees on the page as that user types or selects items. The effect is that the page changes dynamically as it is being used, instead of having to "leave the current page and go to another one" to see additional information. It provides better flow, less clutter, and a more pleasant user experience. Examples of this technology include search forms that offer different suggestions that match what the user has typed so far, and questionnaires that automatically alter the next question based on the answer to the previous question. (The underlying technology for this type of service is called Ajax or Web 2.0.)
Training for your administrative staff: By quote
Most updates to web sites involve only text editing, which you or your administrative assistants can easily do; they do not require the expertise of a web developer. If you would like to take over basic editing maintenance of your site after I help launch your site, then I can develop and deliver training, so that you or your staff can take over from that point.
Follow-up maintenance: $45 a month (for up to six months)
You know how it is when you're hard at work writing a new document? You may be convinced at the time that it's great and contains no errors...but, if you put it aside for a week or two and look at it with fresh eyes, you'll find ways to improve what you wrote? Well, it can be the same way with web sites.
To address this, Pleasant Web Design offers to its web-development customers the option of purchasing up to six additional months of minor, follow-up work, "just in case." This package provides one hour a month of minor adjustments for your web site.
Purchase of this package must be made at the time of final payment for your web site. For those who are months beyond their final payment or who did not have their sites developed by Pleasant Web Design, we can refer you to a web-site maintainer, you can purchase our Handyman-special package when you have up to five minor alterations for us to perform, or you can contract with us to deliver basic web-site-maintenance training for you or your administrative staff (this training would include topics such as accessing your site files, changing text, adding a new page, and adding a link).
Consultation
Small-business consultation: $300
As an experienced Life Consultant, I often provide career and basic small-business guidance. Examples of this work include tips for researching the market and competition, basic business planning, obtaining business mentoring, developing an elevator pitch, and more.
This package includes 4 one-hour meetings.
Web-site analysis: $349
Before making any decisions about work you may want to do with an existing web site, it can be helpful to have a thorough evaluation that clarifies your choices.
This package includes a detailed, written report, which assesses how well the site functions as an Internet Marketing tool, evaluates your current search-results rankings, provides recommendations for improving those rankings, analyzes common keywords used on your competitor's websites, assesses how easily someone can use your website, and provides tips for improving the professional appearance of the site.
E Z design consultation: starting at $350
This package is designed to help those of you who need significant assistance with the design of your web site, but who do not have the interest, time, or money to help us create a design from scratch.
Instead of providing you with canned, hard-to-customize templates, our E Z design system lets you mix and match pre-designed sections until you find an attractive combination for your web pages. Then, after you meet with us to discuss refinements, Pleasant Web Design will create a mock-up of your custom design!
If our mock-up meets your needs and requires only minor fine-tuning, then there will be no extra charge. If you would like significant design alterations, we will bill you for the additional work (you can estimate $50 an hour).
This is a great way to develop a unique web site quickly without breaking the bank. To find out if this method of site design best fits your personality and needs, see our design decisions page.
This package includes 2 one-hour meetings.
Business practices
This section contains some general guidelines about how we work with clients. We find that our business partnerships are more pleasant when everything is stated clearly up front.
Free consultation meeting: Pleasant Web Design offers a free, 30- to 45-minute consultation meeting for all potential clients. This meeting can be in person or on the phone. We can travel to meet you within the Route 128 belt around Boston; those living outside of Route 128, please consider either meeting at our office or using a phone consultation.
Payment: For services under $200, payment is due before we begin work. For services between $200 and $1000, half of the fee is due before work begins, and the remaining half is due upon completion of the work. For larger jobs, payments may be made in thirds.
Payments may be made in cash or in checks payable to "Gerry Fisher."
Web-site development: Pleasant Web Design offers the 5- and 10-page web-design packages to streamline the process for customers who already know exactly what they want. To qualify for these packages, you must provide us with clear, detailed, and complete design preferences or options, and you must provide us with any complex graphics required to implement the design. Also, we are very happy to "work to spec." For those customers who do not yet know what they want, we offer an E Z design package, a design decisions page, as well as a business consultation package.
All web-site development includes at no extra charge two design reviews (one for concept and one for finalizing minor design details), a two-week final-review period for non-design alterations, picture cropping and sizing, CSS-only borders, setting up your domain name and hosting service, and a brief document of instructions for further maintenance of your web site. All sites are tested on Windows Vista using the latest versions of these web browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.
The creation of additional site-design mock ups for comparison to your free-of-charge mock-up, logo design from scratch, complex artwork, complex borders or framing, interactivity (for example, giving people the ability to log into your site, record profile information, apply comments directly to a page, or use a shopping cart), or non-menu web programming will incur additional fees beyond the 5- and 10-page package pricing.
Unless otherwise directed, the coding for all web pages will be validated for XHTML Version 1.0 Transitional, using W3C validation tools. This ensures proper coding, maximum design flexibility (should you want to change your design later), and improved ease of maintenance. Also, Pleasant Web Design prefers to use open technologies, such as PHP and MySQL.
Additional costs: Our prices for web-site development do not include the cost of purchasing a domain name or setting up a hosting service. Pleasant web design has experience with a few companies that offer these services, and we would be happy to use these companies on your behalf. However, if you would like to comparison shop or set up these services on your own, that works for us. Please feel free to work with us when researching these services; we can help with defining terminology and clarifying purchase options. Just make sure that your hosting service supports PHP and MySQL programming.
Photography and graphics: On the one hand, I can take digital pictures, scan pictures, manipulate stock or other photography, and use Photoshop to achieve some very attractive effects. On the other hand, I am not a professional photographer or graphic artist. If having the sharpest, most professional logo, banner, and other graphic effects are important to you, consider working with a photographer or graphic artist, and I will work with that person to incorporate her or his work into the web site.