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Website Maintenance, Repairs, Updates, ReDesign; Costs
Why should code be updated? How much are Repairs?
Quick Reliable Inexpensive Repairs. Trouble-Free designs.
We've Specialized in Maintenance, Repair, Updates and Redesign since 2002
--- before most web designers even thought about it. (See our 2004 site on web.Archive)
To succeed, you must design for maintainability to save time and money later.
WE are THE experts for Updates / Repairs --- We set the standards.
For quick affordable repairs and installs, small jobs to large:
- To repair broken sites- mis-alignments, bad links/menus, wrong or out-of-date content/images
- To install affiliate or site visitor statistics tracking code
- Add Download, Buy and Paypal buttons, Like Me Buttons, Images, Fix text --- etc.
Your site needs to be portable with easier improvements for more sales. That requires clean code:
- To be ready for Testing Appeals, Headlines, Subheads, Landing Pages, Features, Revisions
- For faster easier Updates for Search Engine Ranking, by organic or PPC promotion.
- For businesses who need to Improve and Keep their website up-to-date
When Designing, we prioritize maintainability for easy updates.
How Much does Repair or Update Cost?
RATES: HTML $35/hr. Forms Repair $45/hr. PHP $65/hr.
We are among the most-affordable in the USA. Pay-as-you-go, as little as $17.50 mimimum- 30 minutes, can install a link, change wording or may make some repairs or diagnose a problem you have. Typically small repairs or updates are about 1/2 to 2 hours.
Except for VERY SIMPLE small sites and small problems, we have a $35 "set up Fee" for new customers ($75 for large or Php sites (to study site) (very complex script driven websites with databases setup fee will be on a case by case basis-ask for a quote).
Some PHP or script jobs may be more. See our Fees page. We do not require a maintenance contract like some do.
Understand that some repairs to poorly-coded or "generated" WYSIWYG sites can take many hours and may even be impractical. We will advise when a "redesign" or a customized template might be a better choice than pouring money into an obsolete and/or messed-up site.
Most often new clients need about 2 to 6 hours of emergency "fix up" and repair to improve appearance, change text on a few pages, or images, fix a couple of links and install another few links with text, or a banner or tracking code for Google or StatCounter.
Costs Generally:
Cost depends on what type of update is required, and what kind of site and code is involved. It depends on how cryptic and how bad the code is, and what level or age of program code or scripts are existing. If it is old and bad, or newer and program-generated and not working right, we may not be able to fix it or update it. Script or cart updates can be expensive when data from the old cart may not be importable.
In cases where code is obsolete, overly complex or messed up, we will tell you exactly what and why it could be difficult, and suggest economical alternatives. We often suggest simple, inexpensive templates and scripts that can be customized as you go. Or we may suggest simplifying the site or redesigning it.
Importance of Maintenance:
Real businesses know that maintenance and updates are important.--- They plan and budget for it.
What many may not know or think about is that:
- Internet competition is increasing and styles change;
- More importantly, testing appeals and improving site landing pages and targeting for customer segments is a long and almost constant task, to do right;
- Security and server updates, new releases of scripts, shopping cart versions, language updates (PHP 5.2 for example) and new browser versions--- can all have major affects on web sites.
- eCommerce shopping carts require frequent security patches and must be kept up to the latest version not later than 6 months after release, or risk hacking or going down; Server updates can make a cart not work right.
We don't work on some sites or some CMS systems:
Normally, we only maintain sites which we built or updated, or where substantial updates or revisions are planned within three months (or where the existing site has well-written code).
We usually DO NOT fix CMS content managers or WYSIWYG "Generated" sites unless we can fairly readily ascertain what might be the nature of the problem. (If we have an existing client with a separate section where CMS or Worpress is used for a text edit area, then we try to help with that, or for an adjunct blog).
If we have not repaired, redesigned or replaced your old site, then it likely has serious problems already. That's a good reason to build a new one or mostly redesign or update it. On those, don't expect maintenance to be as simple or cheap as those built by us.
What is Web Site Maintenance?
"Site Maintenance" involves things like repairs/fixes, image or text updates or re sizing, changes to page layouts, menu and page additions, small or major revisions, tweaking of multi-browser appearance, adding or updating cart data or items, installing script patches/updates, or re-organizing for better landing pages. Updates to a site often include adding functionality, a password protected area, a secure new web input form, a news, blog or article area, links to Facebook or sister site, or a special offer or pricing.
Updates can include news items, sales, promotional information, product specials, more recent testimonials, new product introductions, newsletters, recipes, tips/tricks, etc. Adding a customer feedback medium such as message forum boards (bulletin boards) can give a business valuable feedback of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Many businesses are adding Blogs to their websites to invite customer comments.
Website maintenance can be simple or complex or a combination of the two. Is there a way to tell before submitting your maintenance request whether the update is simple or a bit more complex and therefore cost more to get done? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. The web designer will need to evaluate the impact to the structure of the web page before making a determination on whether the changes will impact the surrounding visual area on the page and whether a redesign will be required to accommodate the new text and/or image changes. A few phrases of text replacing old text is in most cases a simple revision which will require no structural changes.
But, occasionally what may appear to be simple may not be, due to the location of the text change where one word makes a difference within a tight rigid space can require a major overhaul of the affected area. This does not happen often but it can and does occur. When we build or mostly revise a site, we try to build it so that does not happen, or seldom. If you are on a tight budget, careful planning can avoid a costly update.
Here are a few things you should remember before sending in that maintenance request:
Simple Website maintenance consists of the following:
- Content revisions - text additions and changes to an existing website
- Content image additions and/or removals to existing website pages without image preparation or modifications/ improvements
- Updates of code to more current versions to avoid unreadability or (breaking); This can be HTML or certain commands in PHP. Sometimes even database utilities/formats change.
- Sometimes updates are required, especially of functional programs like Shopping Carts, where new releases may be crucial to keep it working, or to prevent or reduce vulnerabilities to hackers.
- Seldom a hosting server is updated and causes some problem, which may have to do with presentation to browsers, or cause something to be lost or missing.
The last three types of updates above can become complex.
Complex Website maintenance consists of:
Design changes such as tables adjustments, sections changes, image revisions, menu major changes, and php output layout or template changes. These can be simple or complex, or near impossible on some generated sites when they break.
For sites that we build or revise, we offer Pay-As-You-Go Web Site Maintenance.
If you need to add or change pictures, logos, text to your existing Web Site, this is the way to go. Affordable ongoing maintenance for as little as $17.50 per half hour for small quick changes. More extensive changes and/or adds are charged at $35.00 per hour. (Hours are rounded up to the nearest half hour. Minimum charge is $17.50.)
Setup Fee on Existing Site Maintenance (ONLY IF you intend a major revision or replacement soon after minor fixes):
We only do crucial minimum maintenance to get a site going or fix something that looks really bad IF we have your commitment to redesign or begin replacing the website within 3 months.
A one time setup fee of $35.00-$75.00 is charged to download and study the existing site files in preparation for updates, adds, changes and/or deletions. The setup fee depends on the number of files existing on your web server. An evaluation and time estimate will be given before you accept our services. A work estimate will be completed and a work agreement will be signed. Work will begin after setup fee and initial payment is made to Buyer's Group (BG Design is a division of Buyers' Group).
See How We Work.
See the FAQ's page, near the end, for other reasons to update a website.
All payments to us are received through PayPal check or credit card.
Fill out and send us a MAINTENANCE INQUIRY for an estimate or questions.
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Contact Us for more information.
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