Looking For A Web Designer

[Tornado]

(also posted on the Phuket Forum thread - sorry to double post, but it is a little urgent - delete it if you need to admin/Mods..)

I have been after another website to be built for quite a while now. The quotes I get are ridiculous! why does a website cost so much in this country?

I am looking for a web guy or gal who can design a "classified add type" website that is graphically colourfull and easy to use.

As it will be a "search add" type site, it will have to have a "brain" like the phuket gazette search engine (not as many seach variables though) - obviously I would like it much "prettier" than that. ( I currently have a seach engine database on a site I own now, that could also be used? as it would save me money?

The web designer must be able to write fluent in English and give me a deadline that is adhered to..

I dont want to pay per page or be offered a 5 page static site, I want what I have posted.

do not pm me your links to your websites, give me a rough estimate first please.

rough estimates here please.

cheers.

[Insight]

At the end of the day, it sounds you're looking for a simple website with a back end database running behind it, not a full-blown enterprise solution. Even still, it's on these "customisations" where developers like to hike up the price, often to unrelastic expectations. However, although the concept for the new site might be similar to what you have now, some requirements may dramatically alter the database structure and website design meaning a substantial amount of redevelopment.

The price that you mentioned a while back for the previous work you had done sounded reasonable to me. According to a few figures I've heard recently, I doubt that development costs have fluctuated beyond that in recent years.

[udon]

Torny, why not call James @ www.3ix.us

He lives in Phuket.

[Tornado]

Thanks Udon, I have emailed them, so Ill see what comes of it. There prices look great BTW, thats if you can get their website to work .. many links dont work

anymore ideas appreciated.

insight wrote = The price that you mentioned a while back for the previous work you had done sounded reasonable to me. According to a few figures I've heard recently, I doubt that development costs have fluctuated beyond that in recent years.

It seems strange to me that six years ago I made 3 websites via a great designer for 150k and now Im being quoted the same for 1 site with similiar "ingredients".

Back then he had to build my database from scratch, now you can buy a similiar database "off the shelf" for peanuts. Im prepared to pay up to 60k and I think that should be ok as even I can build an average site in two days (no database though)

anyway mate, Im feeling around in unknown territory. I have a mate in Phuket that said he would help with this over 1 year ago - oh he happens to be a member here to

Edited June 9, 2005 by Tornado

[girlx]

my thai friend Keng at hostify.com can do it for you, he speaks good english also.

[girlx]

p.s. 60k should be fine for your needs

[h90]

"and give me a deadline that is adhered to"

never got a true deadline from any computer guy.

not for money, not for asking, not with angry word, not with drinking beer together.

time planning and computer knowlege is stored in the same place in the brain, so you either have this one or the other one.....

[steverino]

Try Habbt.net designer, Ray Schoot, at Key22.com or Kim at Carsena-tech.net, both guys are excellent designers and live in Thailand

[Striking Impact]

Hello Tornado,

When you pay for a website do you want -

1. A cheap deal from a Thai freelancer that might dissapear 1 week after the payment

OR

2. A professional job by an established company, impressive design, database that actually works and future support when you need to change something?

If you choose 1, the website you described might cost as low as 35K.

If you choose 2, prices can be around 50K - 600K. (and the sky is the limit).

We provides web services with uncompromising deadlines, professional design, every text is proofed by a fluent English speaker and our charges are pretty low compared to market prices. We also have translation service in case you require it to be both in English and Thai.

For a serious quotation you will need to be more specific and describe your current system - what you want to keep and what you want to change. Which functions should the database support? How many total pages you require? Do you manage users? Will you have any online payments?

Our charges are based on development time + domain and hosting expenses.

Roughly 60K-80K will get you a full package including 1-year support.

For more info, you are welcome to email us at [email protected]

[bkkmadness]

Don't take this as too rude StrikingImpact but your own website doesn't look very professionsal or impressively designed, it doesn't install much faith in others.

Do you have other examples of your work?

You also say that you promote the websites after they are completed, how do you aim to do this?

Edited June 10, 2005 by bkkmadness

[Crushdepth]

If your needs are fairly standard, you should be able to use an existing website construction tool / content management system like Mambo, XOOPS etc. to provide the framework for the site. Many are available for free, no development needed. You would just need a graphic designer to make a customised 'skin' or theme for the site.

[TheAceFace]

I can highly recommend www.Thaiwebpro.com

Do a fantastic job for me, reasonable price too.

Good luck

TAF

[~G~]

Edited June 10, 2005 by ~G~

[Oleg_Rus]

Don't take this as too rude StrikingImpact but your own website doesn't look very professionsal or impressively designed, it doesn't install much faith in others.

You also say that you promote the websites after they are completed, how do you aim to do this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bravo, nice hit.

Allow me to give easier look on subj.

1. If you need exactly what you said - just buy CMS (content management system) - it's an engine that runs all content on your wbsite / or more - info portal.

that will cost you 375$ or free, if you lucky

2. Ask anyone who ever use colors on PC to change some fonts+pics = to "customised look" = will cost you lotsa beer or 200$ max

3. "update" of content you can do at home - all pages are self generated

nowadays, all sites with content are made like this.

only if someone too lazy to do so - they just draw dozen of pages from TemplateMonsterDotCom for 69$.

P.S. today is 10th of June - soi 22

[Striking Impact]

Don't take this as too rude StrikingImpact but your own website doesn't look very professionsal or impressively designed, it doesn't install much faith in others.

Do you have other examples of your work?

You also say that you promote the websites after they are completed, how do you aim to do this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We are happy to receive any feedbacks - I must say the feedbacks are usually much better than that A large % of the requests we get are through the website.

Anyway, strikingimpact.com was designed to provide clear and concise overview of our services. I do agree that for marketing purposes it might have been better to spend the same resources for it as we do for our customers. However, when we need to choose between redoing our mainpage or spending this time in a customer's project - the customer always wins.

For more examples you might wish to check -

http://www.bangsaenroyalsea.com

http://www.edss.co.th/

As for the promotion of websites - this is done by placing keywords chosen by the client in specific areas used by search engines in indexing. Whether trivially - in Meta Tags or in other places. This is certainly not the only thing search engines check about the website, and can not guarantee top places, but will give an advantage over websites which do not do that. Then, submitting the websites to search engines makes the inclusion quicker.

In case clients wish to allocate more budget for that, we can guide them as to how to efficiently use programs of leading search engines and web directories for guaranteed top places.

Edited June 10, 2005 by Striking Impact

[bkkmadness]

Striking Impact, I feel a bit more work on your own website might help bring in some more customers, it would certainly turn me off using you.

Just curious are you a Thai of farang company since you had a bit of a go at Thai freelancers?

Checked your examples, just two have you got any more websites under your belt?

www.bangsaenroyalsea.com - missing link, empty pages, still under construction.

http://www.edss.co.th/ - extremely basic looking website, products open up into seperate pages (bit of a no no for website design isn't it?).

With regards to your promotion:

What keyword density would you use for a customers page?

Just use those keywords in meta tags? what do you think of the use of meta keywords/descriptions?

Header tabs for the keywords?

How do you get the search engines to spider the website more efficiently and quickly?

What search engine programmes do you use?

How do you submit sites to the search engines, manually or with a programme?

Do you work on any link development for the client?

Sorry for all the questions but it's just fristrating to see all these web design companies offering a so called great service, and coming up with a sub standard product because the client doesn't know any better. It'd be nice to see if your worth the money, but your example sites and main site doesn't seem to show this.

Don't take this has me having a moan at you, just want to know about your credentials to back up your professional website designer claim.

Edited June 10, 2005 by bkkmadness

[LivinLOS]

anyway mate, Im feeling around in unknown territory. I have a mate in Phuket that said he would help with this over 1 year ago - oh he happens to be a member here to 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Funny that... I had a mate who was bugging me to do a job I didnt want to take also...

[Striking Impact]

Striking Impact, I feel a bit more work on your own website might help bring in some more customers, it would certainly turn me off using you.

  Just curious are you a Thai of farang company since you had a bit of a go at Thai freelancers?

Checked your examples, just two have you got any more websites under your belt?

www.bangsaenroyalsea.com - missing link, empty pages, still under construction.

http://www.edss.co.th/ - extremely basic looking website, products open up into seperate pages (bit of a no no for website design isn't it?).

With regards to your promotion:

What keyword density would you use for a customers page?

Just use those keywords in meta tags? what do you think of the use of meta    keywords/descriptions?

Header tabs for the keywords?

How do you get the search engines to spider the website more efficiently and quickly?

What search engine programmes do you use?

How do you submit sites to the search engines, manually or with a programme?

Do you work on any link development for the client?

Sorry for all the questions but it's just fristrating to see all these web design companies offering a so called great service, and coming up with a sub standard product because the client doesn't know any better.  It'd be nice to see if your worth the money, but your example sites and main site doesn't seem to show this.

Don't take this has me having a moan at you, just want to know about your credentials to back up your professional website designer claim.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is becoming a bashing thread and not a serious discussion. I am not interested in the former.

I will not discuss details of optimizing a website in an open forum.

Did you consider maybe an "under construction" page is due to resources not yet supplied by client? Or that a separate window for product might be a specific requirement? Do you know that the "thai freelancer" remark originally came from my *thai* web developers and is actually a very mild version of it?

The websites are not there in order to demonstrate abstract design concepts - this is nice for final project in art schools. They are there to supply an efficient marketing/selling tool for the companies that use them - and they do this job very successfully.

[bkkmadness]

This is becoming a bashing thread and not a serious discussion. I am not interested in the former.

You have joined this forum to help promote your website and your business, yet when someone asks you what services you are providing clients with you become very vague and will not answer even basic questions about them? What's the reasons for this? If you do not want to promote and sell your services why offer them in the first place?

I will not discuss details of optimizing a website in an open forum.

Why not? At a basic level it's no big secret, webmasterworld had thousands of open discussions about it.

Did you consider maybe an "under construction" page is due to resources not yet supplied by client?

Yep, one page was under construction, some were just blank. Take the link of it, nothing worse than going to a 'dead' page.

Or that a separate window for product might be a specific requirement?

Then you should have advised that it doesn't look nice, a new window opens and the product diplayed in a small pic in the corner of the screen.

The websites are not there in order to demonstrate abstract design concepts - this is nice for final project in art schools. They are there to supply an efficient marketing/selling tool for the companies that use them - and they do this job very successfully.

Does this page provide and efficient and sucessful marketing tool for the resort?

http://www.bangsaenroyalsea.com/index.htm

That page would be clicked off my screen if I found it in a search. It sells me nothing and it's bad quality reflects the resort it is trying to sell.

I cannot believe you have the audacity to come onto this forum and promote yourself as a web design company that offers a

professional job

professional design

and a

impressive design

if that is the only two examples of work you have to offer.

If you was a car company, your nick would be Skoda.

Excuse the rant, the bangsaeroyalsea site is still open in another window now and the looping wave sound ("to make you feel like your in the tropics already" I can you hear saying to a client ) has driven me crazy.

[TizMe]

http://www.edss.co.th/

Any company that expects me to wait for 1.65 meg to load their front page has lost my business.

i sugest that you have a good look at Web Pages That Suck

[CarlBkk]

Guys, I'd been looking for a Thailand-based web design/development company for a pretty sophisticated e-commerce site for a year. I checked out several recommended options including all Thai companies at "low" prices, the foreign freelance worker, the foreign-owned company using Thai designers and outsourcing to Europe for development. In the end, no proposals really came up to standard (some proposals didn't even come at all, some companies were incredibly patronising and some made be positively scared of paying them!). The key for me was to feel confident that they were actually good enough to tailor a packaged program within budget without slacking off. I'd been through the mill before.

In the end I went back to an English company, just a 2-man team who responded quickly, called me regularly and gave me the same price as I'd expect here in Thailand. I'm happy with the result so far. Just something to consider...

[h90]

I see these webpages as prof. made. Sure on every webpage you can find something what you don't like.

I don't know how much Baht these pages were, but they look very good and sure not like a beginners work.

Striking Impact, I feel a bit more work on your own website might help bring in some more customers, it would certainly turn me off using you.

  Just curious are you a Thai of farang company since you had a bit of a go at Thai freelancers?

Checked your examples, just two have you got any more websites under your belt?

www.bangsaenroyalsea.com - missing link, empty pages, still under construction.

http://www.edss.co.th/ - extremely basic looking website, products open up into seperate pages (bit of a no no for website design isn't it?).

With regards to your promotion:

What keyword density would you use for a customers page?

Just use those keywords in meta tags? what do you think of the use of meta    keywords/descriptions?

Header tabs for the keywords?

How do you get the search engines to spider the website more efficiently and quickly?

What search engine programmes do you use?

How do you submit sites to the search engines, manually or with a programme?

Do you work on any link development for the client?

Sorry for all the questions but it's just fristrating to see all these web design companies offering a so called great service, and coming up with a sub standard product because the client doesn't know any better.  It'd be nice to see if your worth the money, but your example sites and main site doesn't seem to show this.

Don't take this has me having a moan at you, just want to know about your credentials to back up your professional website designer claim.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is becoming a bashing thread and not a serious discussion. I am not interested in the former.

I will not discuss details of optimizing a website in an open forum.

Did you consider maybe an "under construction" page is due to resources not yet supplied by client? Or that a separate window for product might be a specific requirement? Do you know that the "thai freelancer" remark originally came from my *thai* web developers and is actually a very mild version of it?

The websites are not there in order to demonstrate abstract design concepts - this is nice for final project in art schools. They are there to supply an efficient marketing/selling tool for the companies that use them - and they do this job very successfully.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Striking Impact]

I see these webpages as prof. made. Sure on every webpage you can find something what you don't like.

I don't know how much Baht these pages were, but they look very good and sure not like a beginners work.

Thanks, h90 - good to get this kind of feedback as well. If you enter a website with an intention to find faults - you can do that with almost any website.

For example, check out http://www.loftbangkok.com/

This is the website of the famous Loft (siam discovery center). It is a real beauty. Yet, when you click on a product - it opens in a separate window in the corner - the same horrible "design no no" bkkmadness was so concerned about.

Now you ask why? It comes down to budget. Many clients want to have an impressive main page and but not to keep the same standard for the internal pages - to cut costs. I can advice to my customers up to a certain point - it's their website, their business, they have the last word. Is it that bad for their business? I don't believe so - most visitors are interested in what the company is offering, not trying to find out if the website was made by their preconceived ideas.

We are very happy to give any details about our work to seriously interested customers - preferably in a personal meeting, either in the client's place or our offices. Not interested to reply to rude/insulting comments - and will certainly not accept such people as our customers.

[bkkmadness]

Thanks, h90 - good to get this kind of feedback as well.

A lot easier to respond to I expect.

It comes down to budget.

Well where are the examples of your high budget works then, or even your 80 k jobs, not just the two low budget unfinished works you have offered here as an example. I have a scary feeling that's the only 2 websites you have ever made apart from your own. Did you not have enough budget to make your own company website of some standard?

This is the website of the famous Loft (siam discovery center). It is a real beauty. Yet, when you click on a product - it opens in a separate window in the corner - the same horrible "design no no" bkkmadness was so concerned about.

I was concerned by many factors, all conveniently forgotten, or unanswerable at your companies level.

We are very happy to give any details about our work to seriously interested customers - preferably in a personal meeting, either in the client's place or our offices. Not interested to reply to rude/insulting comments - and will certainly not accept such people as our customers.

If you consider direct questions about your services rude then I think like most of these amateur web design companies that seem to have sprung up all over the place, your clients will only be people who do not know better and are easily fooled into believing that the sub standard service they have received is a professional job.

How long have you been in business?

What qualifications for website building do you have?

How many and what websites have you built before?

Simple questions for a reputable business.

[Totster]

Thanks, h90 - good to get this kind of feedback as well.

A lot easier to respond to I expect.

It comes down to budget.

Well where are the examples of your high budget works then, or even your 80 k jobs, not just the two low budget unfinished works you have offered here as an example. I have a scary feeling that's the only 2 websites you have ever made apart from your own. Did you not have enough budget to make your own company website of some standard?

This is the website of the famous Loft (siam discovery center). It is a real beauty. Yet, when you click on a product - it opens in a separate window in the corner - the same horrible "design no no" bkkmadness was so concerned about.

I was concerned by many factors, all conveniently forgotten, or unanswerable at your companies level.

We are very happy to give any details about our work to seriously interested customers - preferably in a personal meeting, either in the client's place or our offices. Not interested to reply to rude/insulting comments - and will certainly not accept such people as our customers.

If you consider direct questions about your services rude then I think like most of these amateur web design companies that seem to have sprung up all over the place, your clients will only be people who do not know better and are easily fooled into believing that the sub standard service they have received is a professional job.

How long have you been in business?

What qualifications for website building do you have?

How many and what websites have you built before?

Simple questions for a reputable business.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh forget it will you.... if you don't like the product, then don't buy.. simple, no need to keep going on at them in here ...

totster

[bkkmadness]

Totster, perhaps your right. It just bugs the h.ell out of me when someone trys to sell a sub standard pruduct, claim proressionalism, slag off people who are unprofessional and when questioned about basic aspects of their work, evade the answers.

Might as well paint a pigeon green and try to sell it as a parrot.

I just feel if they are on here to solicite business then people should be aware that that perhaps they are not as good as they claim to be, to save any of the members here getting overcharged for sub standard work.

Edited June 11, 2005 by bkkmadness

[Totster]

Totster, perhaps your right.  It just bugs the h.ell out of me when someone trys to sell a sub standard pruduct, claim proressionalism, slag off people who are unprofessional and when questioned about basic aspects of their work, evade the answers.

Might as well paint a pigeon green and try to sell it as a parrot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I completely understand your reasons BKKmadness, I also think that he is running a fine line between just posting and spamming, by posting his services on here he has also opened himself up to scrutiny etc...

But it seems you two will just carry on playing this game of "tennis" unless someone just thinks "ah well"..

totster

[Crossy]

For more examples you might wish to check -

http://www.bangsaenroyalsea.com

http://www.edss.co.th/

One comment on the edss website. It needs a skip intro button that works BEFORE I've spent 5 minutes downloading the blxxdy video that I don't want to see

[bino]

This edss.co.th site is really quite sad.

While it is true that you can find faults in websites if you specifically go looking for them, it would be wise for you as developer to do this yourself before publishing and advertising the site. It is called proofreading 101.

In a quick look through- several items jumped out at me. Many typos / spelling mistakes / grammatical errors and design errors;

I don't understand the two small blue boxes at the bottom of every page. One has a black outline, the other does not. What is the logic behind this?

"would like to meet salesperson (s) "

Should be capitalized, and meet A salesperson (people).

"Cromium Coating"

Should be Chromium. You got this right in the flash introduction and the Coating Service page... so seems like sloppy work to me.

Q & A page should have a title other than "Untitled Document"

Products --> Stationary

Should be Stationery

Enlarged map should have a title other than the URL.

The mission statement should have a comma after "service", not a period.

There are many more- but I've devoted enough time to this already.

I don't know about other people but finding careless typos and errors like this is a surefire way to turn me off. I'll close the page and move on to another site that is correct. Much more confidence inspiring to me if the people care enough to ensure their site is correct. Otherwise, it speaks volumes about the kind of business it really is.

Edited June 11, 2005 by bino

[bkkmadness]

One of the highpoints of Striking Imapcts work for me is the main company website.

http://www.strikingimpact.com/

It was a real moment of design genius when somebody chose to put that small barely noticeable purple graph button in the corner that opens out to:

http://www.thaivisa.com/topsites/index.php?act=stats&id=52

What a masterful stroke and surely one to dazzle webdesigners for years to come. A truly useful and well designed link button. Congrats.