Website Design help... (universities, costs, designer)

[restoguy]

Ok I need some help with my website. I am a photographer and have been searching website development companies that are geared towards photography studios and photographers. A few companies that I have seen at trade shows have some competitive pricing packages but they all seem to vary.

Website templates sell for about $100-300 [depending on if they upload the images or if they do] hosting for the site is $100 a year and they all have the ability for me to go into a back office space to update the images in the future.

Could I get a talented web designer to build a site with flash as well as pay for hosting for a year for $400 or is that insulting to a private designer? I would rather use a local designer than a company but do not want to insult their time or talents and could just use a company to do the work instead.

Thanks for your help

[readymade]

I'd go with the template if I were you. Personally, I usually charge about $1000 and up for a flash site.

[hostingdiva]

I think you could get what you want for $400. I would probably post an ad on craigslist.com in your area.

But, honestly, I would not use flash. It's very hard on the browser and if people don't have the latest plugins, they often can't see your website.

You can also go the route of building the website yourself. You can take a look at system like pagebuzz.com where you pay $9.99 a month and still have all the features. Plus, you avoid the costs of hiring someone to build the website and then keep paying them for updates. It could be worth a shot particularly if you're strapped for cash.

[haberstroh]

Check out the universities and colleges. I am sure you could find a talented student or even teacher to help you out.