Your guide down the path from idea to finished website
Your website seems like a museum piece? Perhaps it looks amateurish and is barely usable on a phone? If at all? Or the most important information is hard to find?
Or perhaps you’ve always acquired customers by word of mouth? But now you’d like your very first website, so you can reach total strangers and win them as customers?
Fancy a visually appealing, well structured and easy to navigate website that meets today’s requirements and best practices?
No idea about anything to do with websites? Doesn’t matter. We’ll establish your needs, so I can provide you with a website that meets them.
“I guide you along the path from idea to finished website.”
You fancy the benefits of having your own website?
You’ve recognised it’s time for a website of your own, so you can:
- Boost your name recognition and people’s awareness of you
- Reach more people
- And as a result, generate more enquires and sales?
Good move!
Lots of creative people and small businesses don’t even ask themselves this question any more. For many today, social media is ‘the internet’. For this reason, they are are only active there. They no longer have their own website.
So if you’re thinking about a website of your own, you’re already a step ahead!
And if you still haven’t made up your mind whether you need your own website or not, remember this:
Your own website belongs to YOU, not some enormous corporation, nominally based in Luxembourg or Ireland, where by lucky coincidence business taxes are very low.
You have complete control over your website – how it looks, what functions it has, and without risk of having your account deleted should you publish a photo of a buttock.
Your path to a finished website
So you’ve established it’s time for a website. But where to start? Perplexed by pagebuilders? What’s that WordPress thing? CMS? FTP? Eh?
If you’re new to all this, you’ll have seen there are more acronyms and incomprehensible words than in the list of ingredients in a typical supermarket ready meal.
But as your guide through the website jungle, I guide you along the path from idea to finished website.
Who designs your new website?
I’m Paul Jackson, a European of British origin who lives in Germany. I designed and created my first website for a customer way back in 1999, with around 70 more following in the years since.
After a longstanding and initially lucrative professional diversion as a German–English translator, the AI revolution meant it was time to leave that behind me.
As a result, in the meantime I have been rekindling my passion for websites, thoroughly immersing myself in current theory, technologies and all the related stuff. As a result of this continuous professional development, the extent of my knowledge is growing like Japanese knotweed on a railway embankment.
With ChatGPT even now snapping hungrily at my heels, I’m hereby returning to the roots, with my head stuffed full of expertise and ideas.
And it seems to be working, as I helped one customer increase her four-figure monthly page views by more than 232% in 30 months.
I provide you with a smooth-functioning small to medium-sized website that meets the following criteria, among others:
- Visually appealing
- Well thought out and well structured
- Responsive (works on all screen sizes)
- Easy to navigate
- Loads as fast as possible
- Meets today’s standards
- and more
Your benefits at a glance
- (Almost) a one-stop shop – benefit from sound expertise in the relevant areas
- Around 70 websites successfully created over the course of the years
- You benefit from a lovingly created, individually tailored website that meets the needs of you and your business
- You’re only looking for a small, simple and low-maintenance website? You receive a small, simple and low-maintenance website
“… Attractive and thoughtful design ideas”
“Paul’s attractive and thoughtful design ideas have created a colourful, modern and visitor-friendly website that I’m really proud of.”
Berlie Doherty
Award-winning author
“… Expertise and professionalism”
“Paul’s expertise and professionalism made him very easy to work with. My original website was old and in need of updating, but Paul created a new, modern, accessible site that gave a clear and coherent focus to me as a writer, keeping me informed and making helpful suggestions when he needed material from me. It made me revisit my backlist and gave me ideas for working with this. It’s been an enjoyable process, and I am delighted with the outcome.”
Danuta Reah
Award-winning author
“… A pleasure to work with Paul”
“It has been a pleasure to work with Paul in setting up my website. His patient advice and instruction have helped me to write about my work in a new way, based on Paul’s analysis of what my readers are actually searching for, and hopefully to attract new readers too.”
Berlie Doherty
Award-winning author
What do I offer whom?
Because I’m currently returning to the roots, I’m currently reliant on word of mouth.
Instead of sitting here in my cosy office, thinking up detailed but purely theoretical services and prices that nobody’s interested in, I’m listening carefully to customers and prospective customers, to find out exactly what their needs are.
Only in this way will I know precisely what to offer whom, and at what price.
There’s no point enthusing about exciting but in some cases relatively exotic content management systems if people like you – visitors to my website – just want a WordPress website more or less off the shelf. Or the other way round.
Nevertheless, I’ve listed some possible scenarios for you below.
These are purely examples, and of course don’t exclude any others. If you’re unsure whether I’d be a fit for your project, simply ask. I look forward to hearing from you.
Web design and website maintenance: How can I help you?
You’re more or less happy with your existing website?
But you simply don’t have the time, interest or knowhow to add your news items, keep your content up to date or make any other changes? Whether these are one-offs or occur regularly?
You don’t currently have your own website?
You’ve perhaps never really been interested in websites up to now, but finally want your own website? Either small and perfectly formed, but comparatively simple and low maintenance, to function as an online business card? Or a more comprehensive website that you can actively drive forwards? And in either case, of course visually appealing?
You’ve realised it’s time to have a new website designed and created?
You’re unsatisfied with your existing business website? Maybe it looks old-fashioned and can’t easily be used on phones, meaning it’s long since behind the times?
So prospective customers can get a better idea of you, you products or services, and easily get in touch with you?
You’d like your existing website to be more easily findable online, so it can generate more enquiries and therefore more bookings, orders or sales?
But you have absolutely no idea how to bring this about?
What’s included in your web design project?
No two websites are the same. As a result, the work during website projects is also not the same.
However, if you engage me to plan, design and create your website, some things are always required:
- Jointly establishing your requirements
- Analysis of the current situation (if you are replacing an existing website)
- Conception and planning of the website structure
- Conception and planning of the website design (screens)
- Selecting the appropriate content management system for your website (not necessarily WordPress; for many kinds of websites, alternatives can be more suitable)
- Installing and configuring the content management system and any relevant extensions
- Implementing the website design
- Help with GDPR compliance (based on many years’ experience as a website owner – I’m not a lawyer!)
- Testing, inspecting and optimising your website
- Putting your website online
- Help and support over the course of your web design project
- If you will later be adding website content yourself: Teaching you how it’s done (method and scope depends on your website)
Also possible as part of your web design project
If required, I am also pleased to help in the following areas, and possibly also in others too (you’re welcome to ask).
- Inserting your initial content – text, pictures and perhaps video, audio or downloads etc (scope upon agreement)
- Keyword research, so you can create the right content for your target audience
- On-page SEO (search engine optimisation), so your website can more easily be found in search engines
- Setting your website up to be multilingual
- Translating your German or Dutch website into English (depending on your website’s subject matter – former English translator [GB])
- Looking after and maintaining your website in future – either its content, the technical stuff or both – from the minimum necessary to a more active role
What happens after you click the red button?
When you send me a message, a notification flies through the air and various cables to me in my office.
I then contact you to explain the rest.
Small jobs, such as making modest changes to an existing website, can usually be dealt with by email.
In the case of web design projects, a Zoom meeting is usually needed, so I can better understand your needs. On the basis of these, I then prepare a quotation for you. If this is accepted, I can get going with your website project!
How long do I need to plan, design and create your website?
It depends. (I know this answer is of next to no use to you.)
I’m not usually just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I’m usually busy with other things.
Broadly speaking: To create a small, perfectly formed, low-maintenance website, assume an implementation timeframe of one month or more.
For more comprehensive website projects, I need more time. Let’s say two months or more.
The bigger the project, the longer it takes.
Therefore, the sooner you ask, the sooner I can finish your dream website and the sooner you can benefit from it.
Secure your appealing new website today!
- (Almost) a one-stop shop
- An individually tailored website that meets the needs of you and your business
- With your guide through the website jungle, there’s no need to worry about all the acronyms you’ve probably come across
Take the first step towards securing your appealing new website today!
Web design portfolio
Well, this is embarrassing. Nothing much happening here …
A supposed self-described web designer who shows next to no samples of websites he’s designed on his very own website.
As the AI revolution has propelled me back to the roots, I don’t currently have much to show here.
But of course, I designed and created this website you’re reading now.
Now, who’s next?
