Hi!

I am looking for a good design company to redesign the website for my web hosting company. I know about ceonex.com, but they are too expensive (they quoted me $50k minimum). Are there other companies of comparable quality but reasonable prices? I am looking to spend $10-15k, not more. Yet I want to have a professional design like the big boys have (ipowerweb.com, hostrocket.com, powweb.com, etc).

Thank you for any info you can provide!

Personally i can reccmend www.4design.tv Nat does some real good work and it would all be well in your budget.
Regards

Originally posted by The Napster
Personally i can reccmend www.4design.tv Nat does some real good work and it would all be well in your budget.
Regards
I must agree myself. Their work is exceptional!

Originally posted by art101
Hi!

I am looking for a good design company to redesign the website for my web hosting company. I know about ceonex.com, but they are too expensive (they quoted me $50k minimum). Are there other companies of comparable quality but reasonable prices? I am looking to spend $10-15k, not more. Yet I want to have a professional design like the big boys have (ipowerweb.com, hostrocket.com, powweb.com, etc).

Thank you for any info you can provide!

Ceonex is an overpriced waste of time. If you're considering them, you may as well go with an exclusive template from TemplateMonster. Everything they produce just looks way too generic, so don't even bother.

I do all my web design myself. Your site design doesn't have to be complicated and flashy to get people's attention. Simplicity is actually advantageous because a user can scan the page for information faster and not be distracted or confused as often.

For the best bang for your buck, give something like designoutpost.com a try. You get to choose whichever design you like best, so it's hard to lose. Plus, people design for dirt cheap on that site :D

What a lot of people are missing here is that a website is used to get clients/customers. It's a marketing device and often these web design firms specialise in marketing your business. Good design doesn't come from flashy graphics or cheep templates, it comes from making your customers/clients happy and coming back for more. It comes from keeping a consistant image with your brand and really only experienced and/or talented designers and businessmen know how to do this well. You WON'T get the same result from a template or a kid in his bedroom.

*edit* forgot to reply to the original post :stickout:
If you supply some details on the business or what you are trying to achieve it could be easier to find a company. Some studios have a bit of a niche in some markets that can work to your advantage.

It's difficult to tell whether your budget is reasonable or not. It depends entirely on what types of functionality you're expecting out of your site, how wide an audience you wish to reach and how masterful you want your visual presence to be. The bulk of cost in creating a Web site comes in the functionality, coding, programming and the attention that is paid to details that make your site successful and worthy of being considered top-echelon. It may be $10-15k is more than enough to achieve what you want to achieve. It might be you're way under what you'll need to get the job done right.

Judging by your budget alone, I'm guessing you have a well thought-out plan for how you want your site to function and flow, and the types of programming you need built for your needs. If not, right now is the time to put this all together into a cohesive RFP (request for proposal). This will set a very clear baseline for what you expect from companies that choose to respond to your request, and more importantly, this will give you a clear understanding of your goals and what you need in place in order to achieve them.

I highly recommend backing down from any talk of price until you've mapped out your needs better. I would recommend asking questions that have to do with your business needs rather than asking who does good work for $X of money. I think you'll come out of it more knowledgeable and better prepared to make a decision to partner with the right design firm.

(they quoted me $50k minimum)....I am looking to spend $10-15k, not more

Holly cow!! $15k for a website!! uhm... I'll do it!! Just Kidding.

Seriously, Just because you pay more does not make it a better website. The important thing is to check out their pervious work. Ask the clients how well the job was done. Do not over look designers or companies just because their price is lower.

Alot of people do not know what they are worth and others want to retire off one site.

You have to look at the return on investment. How long will it take you to make back the 15k?? you might be better off putting that money into 5yr cd from a good bank, or atleast advertising.

Originally posted by sbishop
How long will it take you to make back the 15k??That's the million dollar question. Or the $15k question, as it were ;)

If a design company can show you how you can recoup that cost in a reasonable amount of time, and then show you how that level of an investment will return you with more profits than a site in which you've invested less money, the $15k was worth every penny. If not, then it's a waste. Yet again, you might find that by modestly increasing your budget, you can reasonably expect to multiply your earnings five-fold over the course of a determined period of time. Who knows until you've defined your goals and discussed return on investment with companies interested in your business?

In my town, I can't think of a development company that will take a contract at less than $10k. It's rare that you'll find an independent developer who takes sites at less than $5k, unless it's a friendly gesture, or non-profit, etc. If you think $15k is unreasonable for a Web site, you've been spending too much time on WHT ;)

There was an article in Time magazine about how small businesses were embracing the Web. It mentioned a bicycle shop that spent $500,000 on a Web site with various online configuration and merchant abilities, and they couldn't be happier with their investment. I'd say this is not the norm, but in the business world, even the small business world, five figures for a site is not exceptional by any means.

Guys, thank you very much for your responses!

Can you give me more URLs though? I am mostly looking for expensive companies, because I have more trust in them.

I need a "full service" solution where they will not only design the site, but also write a copy. The website should be sales-oriented, which means it has to present the product well and convince people to sign up. I think this is more than just graphic design.

Thank you for your help!

Some great advice in this thread. Sounds like you just don't know any companies or where to start :p no problem

www.blastradius.com
www.criticalmass.com
www.orbik.com
www.cubedcompanies.com
www.formfunctionfuture.com

Those are a few that I really admire and they have great business relationships already.

Thank you!!!!!

This is exactly the type of companies I've been looking for. Umm... From the looks of their websites they could quote much more than $50k but I will give it a try anyway :)

Have you tried WebProSys ? They have lot of experience in hosting website design and are reasonable. www.webprosys.com
Recently very good quality work is coming up from them...some even better than CEONex stuff. so give it a try. www.webprosys.com

Thank you pixologics! Only it is of crucial importance for me to find a company which will also write a copy for us, not just do the graphic design. I looked through WebProSys' portfolio and could not find a site with a good copy. I think they just don't do copies.

Hi! art..I am sure WebProSys has some sort of arrangement regarding copy content creation - just email them for info and best of luck in your search.

I would definately reccommend Xtreme Designz, They are a UK based website and have done some top jobs for top clients such as Radio presenters, DJ's etc.

I used them once and they quoted me happy. Could always give them a try? www.xtremedesignz.co.uk is the domain.

:)