Services
Web Development
I build websites that you can actually call your own. I build most of my projects using hosted Wordpress (what is this, you might ask? Click here to find out!), however, I also offer static HTML sites, and would be happy to learn Joomla or Drupal if you prefer to use those instead. I am comfortable building anything from a simple one page HTML portfolio or landing page to a complex 10+ page eCommerce, booking, or fundraising website. In addition to building/developing websites, I am also a UI/UX Designer If you're unsure as to what the difference is between development and design, click here to find out! If needed, I am also happy to do multiple consultations (first one's free) with you during the process of choosing what would be the best solution for you to the best of my knowledge, as well as teaching you how to update and maintain the chosen solution, and finally, if you don't have the time or capacity to learn, I also offer Website Maintenance.
I do also have experience working with site builders, but to be honest with you, I don't want to scam you, and I feel that their business model of locking you in to an egregiously priced subscription and not allowing you to easily move your site to another platform is a scam. I wouldn't recommend that anyone pay for development OR design services for a website built using the likes of Squarespace or Wix, because ultimately the ownership of the website that you've paid someone to design and build for you (or built yourself) belongs to the platform, and they can simply deactivate your account if you are found to be violating their terms of service, which are often quite restrictive.
UI/UX Design
First of all, some of you may be wondering what is the difference between Web Development and Web Design? That is a question I will answer in the FAQs below. But for now, let me just say that I love working collaboratively with my clients to design websites together. Whatever detail level of guidelines that you have for me, I am happy to design your website and any other branding elements you don't already have to match your requirements. I will also revise anything I design for you 3 times, or with extra payment for more revisions until you are fully satisfied, before we move on to development and implementation of said design.
I am no template merchant; I will always do my best to ensure that any designs I create for you are actually aesthetically pleasing to you. A website doesn't have to be bland and boring in order for it to look professional. I also always do my best to ensure that the designs I create are actually functional and usable on as many devices as possible. I've seen far too many websites that have a beautiful design but, for example, on mobile the sticky header covers half of it. If you'd like to hire me for design and development services as a package, I'd be happy to discuss a bundle discount. Contact me whenever you're ready for a free consultation!
Website Consultation
The first consultation meeting with me is free. However, if you feel that you need more information, but aren't ready to (or perhaps don't want to) hire me to rebuild, migrate, or redesign your existing website, or build from scratch a new website, I would be happy to offer consultation meetings for a reasonable (and of course also sliding scale) hourly rate.
In such meetings, we could discuss what might be good technological solutions for a problem that you have. For instance, I could point out UI/UX design issues that I notice on your website, such as a font being obscured by being too similar to the background color. Or perhaps you might want some functionality, for example eCommerce, but your current provider doesn't allow that on their base plan. In such a case, I will suggest to you an alternative, technological solution that would work within your budget, and explain how to use said alternative in brief. If you think you might need more indepth guidance, check out my tutorials offering.
DIY Tutorials
If you want to do things yourself rather than hiring someone else to do it for you, but you still want some guidance, I offer tutorials on hosted WordPress, as well as static HTML. Whether you're trying to set up free hosting, or add a feature to your existing website, or connect a domain, or anything else that you want to do yourself, I can offer you help for a reasonable, sliding scale hourly rate. Further, if you hire me to build your website, I include 1 tutorial session, plus some reference materials if needed, as part of the cost. I feel that it is my responsibility to teach you how to update, migrate, and maintain your newly built website, if you do wish to learn. If you don't, read about my website maintenance offering.
I can also offer assistance with other CMSs and site builders/generators/anything else you're using, as I'd love to learn as many different ways of building and deploying websites as I possibly can. If you do use a technology that I haven't used before, the rate will be cheaper, and will not be hourly as I will likely need some time to familiarize myself with the specific features and functionality of other platforms.
Website Maintenance
Perhaps you (or your organization/company) are someone who doesn't have time to handle maintenance and updates to your website. Whether I've built your website or someone else has, I will happily take on the task of maintaining your website and making minor updates (such as small content uploads, small text edits or additions, minor layout or color scheme changes, etc.) for a reasonable monthly cost. If you regularly need major content additions such as blog posts for SEO optimization, or etc., I will also consider offering you copywriting services for an additional cost.
I can also provide product updates and general maintenance for eCommerce stores, but here the price will depend on the volume of products in the store, and the rate at which updates are needed. If you require maintenance for your website, please contact me and let me know exactly what your website is for and what is the scope of my responsibilities, and I will provide you with an estimate of the monthly cost that can then be adjusted based on sliding scale.
I believe in transparency, so I want to make it clear that this service is Not Needed if you have a simple website that doesn't require any regular updates or changes. There are plenty of developers who will charge you a monthly cost only to do nothing, because you don't actually have a need for website maintenance services. I am not one of those developers. During our initial free consultation, we can discuss whether you feel that you might need website maintenance, and I will give you the most transparent answer that I can based on what you tell me your website is for and what your capacity for learning is.
SPECIAL: DISCOUNTED WIX MIGRATIONS
As a Special offer in Solidarity, for the foreseeable future, I will be offering discounted rebuilds for any websites built using Wix or Elementor, whether they belong to individuals, organizations, or companies. Wix is an Israeli company, and at least as long as the genocide in Gaza continues, and probably long after as well, I will do everything in my power to take money out of their pockets. Now, you might be someone who doesn't know much about said genocide. In that case, here's a "reputable" article explaining the case for calling what they're doing genocide, and here is a guide full of resources to learn more, and finally (for now), here is a website highlighting tech alternatives to Israeli Companies.
Perhaps you are a pragmatic person, and don't think that you alone boycotting Wix will do anything to further world peace. Fair enough, I can understand that perspective, I also believe that collective action is more important than individual boycotts. However, what boycotting Wix will do for You personally is save you a fuck ton of money on the extortionate pricing that site builders like Wix and Squarespace charge. I am guaranteeing you that the total, one time labor cost of rebuilding your website on WordPress will be at most the same as the cost of one year of your current Wix plan (barring any major additions of functionality or aesthetics that don't already exist on your current website, in which case of course I'll still offer you a sliding scale price based on your budget).
If you, or someone you know has a website on Wix, or built using Elementor, I urge you to consider finding an alternative immediately (even if you don't hire me to migrate the website for you), and contacting customer support to ask for a refund due to Wix and Elementor Ltd.'s lack of resistance to the genocide being perpetrated by their government. If you do hire me, I will rebuild your existing website as exactly as possible using either Hosted Wordpress (what is this, you might ask? Click here to find out!), or static HTML (which is how the site you're currently reading is built, and is entirely free to host).
After the one time investment of paying me a price that will be at most the cost of one year of your Wix subscription, you will have a website you actually own, and your hosting costs will be between free to 8$ per month, with the option of having multiple websites on the same plan to lower that hosting cost even more. If you have a Wix or Elementor Website, please contact me to schedule a free consultation!
If you are like me and like to do everything yourself, then I will here list the best alternatives to Wix, in my opinion, as and when I find them, in no particular order aside from perhaps my familiarity with them and my ability to offer you support if you choose to use it.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the difference between Web development and Web design?
Good question! The primary difference is that the work of a Web UI/UX designer Usually is limited to creating a mockup of the website design (including typography, colors, logo if you don't already have one, etc.) and layout. Often, people will confuse design and development because of site builders which supposedly are so easy to use that you can just drag and drop a design and not have to worry about building anything. In the case of hosted WordPress, or static HTML, or any other technology that isn't marketed as drag and drop, the developer is responsible for actually building and implementing the functionality of the design using either the CMS (Content Mangagement System) chosen by you, or using code.
2. So why don't you just suggest that people use a site builder that isn't on the BDS list?
I don't use site builders because I find most of their pricing models to be extortionate, and also because, if I were in your shoes, paying someone to design a website for me, I would make damn sure that I had full control over said website and not have to pay someone to recreate it entirely from scratch if I ever wanted to switch builders for any reason. This is why I use hosted WordPress.
3. So what actually is hosted WordPress?
When I say Hosted WordPress, I am referring to the open source Content Management System available at wordpress.org, NOT wordpress.com. WordPress.com is entirely a scam in terms of pricing, perhaps even more so than Squarespace, so I implore you to please avoid it if at possible. Anyway, getting back to the explanation. First of all, in order to host any CMS, one requires a web hosting provider. Once you have that, depending on the specific provider you choose, installing WordPress may be as easy as one click, or it may require more steps. Installing WordPress and connecting your chosen domain name to your hosting provider is the first thing a developer does.
4. What are some reasonably priced web hosting providers?
There are many examples that have wildly varying prices, but the ones I have used the most are hostinger.com (shared hosting price is 3-9$ per month for up to 100 websites) and tinkerhost.net (free). There is also another option that I haven't gotten to try yet called spaceship.com (shared hosting price is 20-40$ per Year for 5 websites). This is generally the range of pricing that I'd suggest you look for from a shared hosting provider.
5. What happens after WordPress is installed?
If you already have a website designed (if you don't, we can discuss a bundled price for design and development), I will then start the process of implementing said design using a variety of themes and plugins that are available through WordPress and offer a metric ton of added functionality that one could never dream of even from the most expensive plans on some site builders. This is because WordPress, just like its main alternative CMSes like Joomla and Drupal, is open source, so anyone (yes, even you) can create a theme or plugin for WordPress and make it available for free or for a price.
6. Why do you call wordpress.com a scam? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?
Fabulous question! In my opinion, it is no exaggeration, because wordpress.com, even on their two lower tier plans, is an artificially and unnecessarily stripped down version of the full functionality of WordPress. In order to access the most useful features of WordPress CMS, you have to pay a Queen's ransom. For instance, eCommerce integration, which on wordpress.com costs about 500$ per year can be integrated for no additional cost using the WooCommerce plugin. This is why I will always recommend that people choose WordPress or another open source CMS over proprietary site builders, even if they aren't on the BDS list, and that includes wordpress.com. That's not even to mention that installing Any plugins or themes at all costs about 300$ a year on wordpress.com, or the fact that they're planning to sell all the website data hosted directly on wordpress.com to OpenAI for LLM training.
7. How hard is it to learn to update, edit, and migrate my own website if it is built using WordPress?
Well, WordPress in my opinion is super easy to use. Some things are in fact easier to do on WordPress than on supposedly "easy" site builders like Squarespace. You can read about an example of this from my experience working with a client who'd already paid for an annual squarespace subscription on my portfolio page. Generally, I use Kadence Theme and Blocks (free version of both) to set up websites, as I feel that Kadence is a very beginner friendly theme, and makes it very easy for people new to development to edit and update their own website. However, if you have a lot of experience with a drag and drop builder, it may be a bit more challenging to get used to setting up layouts. In that case, there are other WordPress themes and plugins we can use to make it more similar to the Squarespace experience. Just let me know during our consultation call that you'd prefer to have a more drag and drop experience.
8. Wait didn't you say you do static HTML sites as well? What is the difference between WordPress and static HTML?
Funny you should ask, immediately after a question about ease of use. Static HTML websites are harder to develop (unless we use something like Publii which is less customizable), and just as hard to edit and update. I suggest this option primarily for websites that have very few moving parts, such as a portfolio website, static landing page, local business advertisement, etc. because for websites that don't require much in the way of updates and changes, static HTML websites are free to host up to a pretty ridiculous amount of traffic (free hosts for WordPress do exist but are much less reliable than free hosts for static HTML websites), and also are blazingly fast, which is fantastic for Search Engine Optimization.
In comparison, WordPress comes with a lot of features and functionality that may not actually be necessary if you don't need things like eCommerce, blog comments, user logins, etc., and don't intend to make a lot of changes to your website for a while. So ultimately, the decision on which one to use depends on what you want your website to be able to do, and how often and how much you want to change it. So, in other words, not only do I offer sliding scale labor costs, I also ensure that the technologies I recommend you use are "sliding scale" in a sense, based on what your actual needs are, rather than taking a one site builder fits all approach.
9. You mentioned sliding scale pricing? What does that mean?
I've been thinking about whether or not to make a separate pricing page to discuss this. If you, dear reader, think that I should, please let me know. One of my core beliefs is that everyone deserves to have a voice and a platform regardless of their access to financial resources. In order to help create a more accessible, affordable internet, I offer sliding scale, which means that labor cost depends on your (or your organization/company/business/group's) budget. For fellow QPOC who have limited resources, I offer essentially a pay what you can model. On the other hand, clients who have the ability to pay more, I ask you to please do so in order to help sustain me in being able to offer lower prices, and hopefully someday soon, even free services to people who otherwise would not be able to afford to have a platform that truly belongs to them and can't be snatched away based on the whims of megacorporations.
The most important thing to keep in mind about pricing, however, is that whatever price you pay me will be a one time payment (unless you have the budget and need and desire to hire me for ongoing maintenance and updates or a redesign or something else in the future). The only ongoing cost will be the yearly domain renewal, and the hosting costs, which as I said about WordPress and Static HTML range from free to under 10$ per month, and allow for at least 5, and up to 100 websites on the 8$/month plans. In comparison, if you were to hire a Squarespace designer, you would still be paying 16$ per month Per Website, and you wouldn't be able to customize your website and add as much functionality as you can for no extra ongoing cost on WordPress or even Static HTML.
10. I'm now even more confused/overwhelmed than I was before. What do?
No worries at all, that's completely understandable. I've put a lot of information on this page, and it's a lot to take in all at once. That's why I offer a free consultation for everyone. Please, feel free to contact me for one of those so that we can discuss and hopefully I can explain better over video call (but be warned, I do have a tendency to ramble 😿). If you have any feedback about anything that's unclear or not explained well or not explained at all, I would also love to hear that!