Web Design

Web design is a part of web site development life cycle process that includes planning structure and creating appearance of the web site. We charge from $120 for initial web site design; we do custom, unique web design for all our projects. However if you want a web site designed from a template, the initial web site design fee does not apply.

 Web Development

Web site development includes analysis and specification of web site's requirements, design, implementation, testing, marketing (SEO, PPC, etc.), analysis of statistics, and maintenance. As you can see from this brief description, web site development is a very complex process that includes specific stages. Web site design and initial Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are already included in the price of a new build or web site redesign project.

We build both static (XHTML, CSS) and dynamic (PHP, MySQL, JavaScript) web pages. Static web pages do not change every time the page loads into the browser, and they also do not react on user's behavior. Dynamic pages can change every time they load and they can change the content based on user's behavior (clicking on some areas, filling out forms, etc.). One of the most widely spread types of dynamic web pages is the database driven type - it means that a web page grabs stored information from a database (we use MySQL open source database). However web pages can be dynamic and interactive irrespective of the database - we use PHP and JavaScript programming languages to add interactivity.

 Web Site Redesign

Web site redesign occurs when the technologies used to build your web site are obsolete and the web site lacks cross browser compatibility, or ranking in Search Engines, or when the web site looks outdated even if the content is still fine. Using modern technologies, we can update your web site's appearance to make it look more professional and represent your company or organization on the Web better. Depending on the amount of work, it might cost the same as a new web site or less.

 Content Management System (CMS)

For those clients who want to update portions their web site themselves, we can develop their web sites on a Content Management System (CMS). Utilizing the user-friendly Web-based interface, these clients can make modifications to their content themselves and request help from Dream Web Design only for the more complicated tasks.

At its most basic, CMS is a software program that makes building and maintaining Web sites faster and easier. Let's say you're using a Web site without a CMS. If you want to post an event and have that event show up in five different places on the site, you have to perform the same activity five separate times on five separate pages. With a CMS, you only have to post the event once, and any staff member can do it, regardless of their technical expertise. How does this work?

Content management systems store the actual content (text and images) in a database. The system can then automatically pull the content out and show it on the appropriate pages based on rules that you set up in advance. The ways you can organize it, and the types of rules you can use, depend on how structurally flexible the CMS is. This setup makes it easy for all your content administrators - the staff members who are writing and publishing the actual information on the site - to create content without worrying about technical issues, or even knowing all the places the content should go.

Content management systems also separate graphic design from the content itself. This is accomplished through the use of "themes" - graphic design layers that control graphic elements, font and navigation styles, and page layouts for each page on the site. You simply choose a pre-packaged theme for your site, or create a theme that's completely customized to your own look and needs.

Please check out the full report about comparison of the most popular open source content management systems (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone) at http://www.idealware.org/comparing_os_cms/.

Price for CMS installation and set up depends on project's complexity.

 Logo Design

Let us explain you some advantages of having a logo: logo is an essential part of any business that gives the first impression of it, promotes, uniquely and professionally identifies the business in the market.

We create professional, colorful, attractive, eye catching, and simple logos that will be a memorable illustration of your business. The key to creating a good logo is to have effective but simple color palette, which expresses the idea of the business and shows its uniqueness.

Our standard price for logo design is $160 per logo. The price includes design of 3 unique logo concepts, 3 variations of each concept, and 2 revisions of selected concept.

 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very complex process that should be implemented on both web site building and promotion stages, but no one can guarantee that your web site will appear in top search results immediately. SEO requires analysis to take necessary steps to improve the web site's ranking in search engines. If your web site lacks proper SEO, your business loses customers, and you lose money regardless of your site's appearance. If you want your web site to work for you, you should hire a professional to make initial SEO during web site's development process or to improve the existing site's SEO.

When we do web site design or redesign, the initial SEO is already included. We implement SEO of existing web sites on hourly basis.

Note: For a monthly fee, we can use the following Search Engine Marketing (SEM) methods to promote your web site: SEO, paid Internet advertising, paid inclusion, and contextual advertising. Additionally we can teach you how to start, manage and optimize your own Google AdWords campaigns.

 Maintenance/Support

We enjoy having long term relationships with our clients, that's why we are glad to offer you our web site maintenance services. There are two options for website maintenance services at Dream Web Design: hourly based payment and signed contract.

If you need minor occasional updates, we suggest working with us on hourly basis - we only charge for the actual time you need our help. We charge $35 per hour for our work, and we have 30-minute minimum for each request. We suggest combining multiple changes into one maintenance request to save money and speed up the process.

If you request constant web site support, we are glad to offer you a signed contract. 10% discount is available for non-profit organizations. We sign contracts for maintenance services for at least 3 months period.

Please check out our monthly maintenance plans below:

Bronze - 5 hours for $200/month Up to five (5) hours a month for $200/month 48 hour turnaround for urgent edits 48-72 hour turnaround for general edits 72-96 hour turnaround for serious database changes and custom programming Additional work at $30/hour

Silver - 10 hours for $350/month Up to ten (10) hours a month for $350/month 48 hour turnaround for urgent edits 48-72 hour turnaround for general edits 72-96 hour turnaround for serious database changes and custom programming Additional work at $30/hour

Gold - 20 hours for $650/month Up to twenty (20) hours a month for $650/month 48 hour turnaround for urgent edits 48-72 hour turnaround for general edits 72-96 hour turnaround for serious database changes and custom programming Additional work at $30/hour

Emergency service (72 hour turnaround) is a premium service which is billed at $60 per hour with one hour minimum. Prepayment of first hour minimum is required.

 Other Services

We provide a wide range of web development services that include but are not limited to the list on our Pricing page. Please feel free to request a quote or send us an email for detailed information.

Featured services: shopping cart configuration, installation and setup of image gallery, blog, forum, or newsletter software, custom programming, database development (for survey, subscription list, etc.), multiple languages support.