Professional and Affordable Freelance Web Design

For any content management system work, please visit my new site tojoomla.com for more information.

Overview of Services Offered

Zimmertech offers affordable and professional freelance web and graphic design services. From the creation of a company logo or letterhead, to a large scale ecommerce solution, Zimmertech can help your dream become reality. Read more to learn about the "Zimmertech" method of webdesign, and how I can work with you to achieve your web site goals.

I use the following languages for creating webpages.

PHP
XHTML
CSS
Javascript
DHTML
MySQL

I have had experience with site design using these content management systems:

Joomla (Mambo)
osCommerce
Sitellite
Exponent
phpwcms

About Zimmertech

I have been doing web design since 2000. I have worked on a variety of projects, from personal and family sites to large small ecommerce solutions. Zimmertech was started in 2002, first as a site about Paint Shop Pro, and then was expanded to offer help covering almost all web design related topics. Now, it also serves as home for my freelance services page and my portfolio. This site continues to expand with the "quality" motto--most of my tutorials and articles are unique and cover techniques that are not addressed on many other sites. My goal is to help others learn how to create great websites.

Portfolio

Want to see what I have done before? Click here to view my portfolio.

Objectives

We design all of our sites with these things in mind.

Site Image: The design of the site should communicate the image that you want. It's a fact: customers judge with looks. If your site looks professional, your company looks more professional. It's that simple. A site that looks like Apple or HP will be much more likely to recive business than an ugly site. Just because you run your business out of your garage doesn't mean your site can't look like that of a Fortune 500 company.
Usability: Usaility is the most important aspect of web design. If users cannot use your site, or find what they are looking for, even the most beautiful design is a failure. Here at Zimmertech, we merge usability with professional design on all of our sites. Here are some of the most important components of usability.
- Navigation: Viewers want to know what is on your site, and how to get there. That is why I focus an creating the most usable navigation I can. Whether you are a business owner who wants your visitor to find the product they want, or a person that just wants to put information on your own website, good navigation is critical.
- Speed: In the world today, speed is key. We constantly are shown commercials that have to make a point in 30 seconds. On the web, peoples patience is even lower. Studies have shown that if a viewer has to wait more than 8 seconds, many will leave the site. You don't want to lose business because your site is slow loading. I optimize your site for speed with a variety of methods. First, I optimize all of the graphics so they will download more quickly. Second, your site will be designed with XHTML/CSS standards compliant design. You can read more about this below. This will decrease page load times because the styling of the page is stored in one css file that can be "cached" by the browser. Cached files do not need to be downloaded again, which is where the decrease in page load time comes from.
- Cross Browser and Version Compatiblity: While most people use Internet Explorer, other browsers such as Firefox and Opera out becoming more popular (I highly recommend Firefox by the way, it's what I use). Also, many people use older versions of browser. When I design your site, I will test it on a variety of browsers, screen resolutions, and versions to make sure that your site will display correctly for all of your viewers. What good is a site that only looks good for half of its visitors?
Backend: I will usually set up your site with a Content Management System. This means that you will be able to edit and add to your site after I am done with development. This will save you time and money, and give you power over your design.

Standards Complaint Design with XHTML/CSS

What is standards compliant design?

Standards Compliant Design means coding pages in valid XHTML and CSS. Tables are not used for layout, and content is seperated from design. Coding this way is gaining popularity, and has many advantages.

Popularity

Standards Compliant Design is becoming more widely used every day. Recently sites such as ESPN and MSN have switched over. Standards are the future, and any web site that doesn't use them will soon be at a disadvantage.

Advantages

Faster: As I mentioned earlier, XHTML pages are smaller and the CSS file is cached so pages load more quickly.
Cheaper: Reduction in file size will not only speed up pages, but also make your site cheaper to run. When Wired News switched over to XHTML, they had a 64% reduction in file size. Hostings costs depend largly on two components--disk space (the size of the file on the server) and bandwidth (how many bytes are supplied by the host). When ESPN redesigned with XHTMl and standards, its bandwidth savings were around 730 Terabytes per year.
Easily redesigned: This is one of standard's greatest advantages--the seperation of content and design. The whole site design, layout, and color scheme can easily be changed by changing one file. This means that it will be cheaper to redesign your site in the future. Coupled with a templete system, upgrading is even easier.
More Accessibe: Standards compliant design makes your site accessible to people with disabilities.

Process

1. Brainstorming: Here is where I listen to what you want from the site. Do you have any main objectives? Do you have an exhisting color scheme or logo that you want to use? Are there any sites that you like, whether it be the type of navigation or a layout? Do you need a content management system (below)? From here I can take your ideas and translate them into ideas for a web site.
2. Project Proposel: Here I will send you what I am planning to do. At this point I can provide a quote of how much the site is probably going to cost. To avoid "feature creep", I will stick to the plan unless you really want to change something. Input is welcome for every step of the design.
3. Drafts: This is where you will see your site start to take shape. Based on your input, I will create a proposal for the site. From there, we can change the draft or make a whole new one until you are happy with the design. This will just be a graphic file for now.
4. Page Design: The site is coded in XHTML, and uploaded onto the internet. Content pages are developed. You continue to provide feedback to ensure that the site will fit your needs. The site is almost complete.
5. Publish: All of the pages are tested. Final tweaks are made. Site is done!

Options

Content Management System: If you want to be able to add your own content, or edit your pages, I can install a content management system that will help you do this. Unless you have one in mind, I can choose one based on your needs and create your site with it.

Exponent CMS Consulting

The Exponent CMS is one of the easiest to use and most powerful Content Management Systems around. I can help you use Exponent to achieve your web design needs:

Installation: Install and configure Exponent on your server.
Customization: Create custom modules for your Exponent site.
Theme Design: Custom theme design is available. If budget is a concern, check out my Exponent Themes
Theme Conversion: Do you already have a site that you would like to be able to easily edit and add to with Exponent? Do you have a template that you want to turn into an Exponent site? I can take any design and turn it into an Exponent theme.

Click here to get started

Pricing

I am very flexible when it comes to pricing. My rate is $50 per hour, but I will also provide a quote if you prefer. Contact me and we can work out a plan that works with your budget.

Hire Me

Either email me at brian@zimmertech.com or contact me via a web form to get started.