Need opinions on amount of time to do work - new designer quote seems high

[tankman1989]

I am hosting a site for a client and the designer has programmed the page first in HTML then Java then PHP and now, IDK. Here is a link:
http://www.utopianlandscapesllc.com/

Now the thing is that the index file is like 90K as it contains all the data for every page on the site. The site use to have a page for each topic or heading but IDK why the designer changed it. It seems very counter intuitive to SEO practices but I've heard that the main page of the site is what is valued most by SEO - so would a huge single file site like this be better?

I asked what it would cost him to move the site over to his CMS theme that he already has establish on a number of sites. Now keep in mind that the entire site is already designed content wise and graphics so all this should be is cut and past into the CMS template and he would be done, as far as I know. His estimate was 10-15 days work at 7 hours a day. Now this sounds like an awful lot of time to basically change the layout but keep the same content.

Does anyone else think that this is a little high time wise?

 

[anglian]

Looking at the site, I am surprised that there is a designer involved at all, unless it is someones 8yr old nephew!

If you use wordpress (free) and buy a theme ($40) I would be looking at about $100 to get the site into the theme, including adding plugins and css customisation.
It would probably take a week to finish entirely, but mainly because of the client reviewing and requesting modifications, overall wouldn't be more than 3-4 hours work

 

[tankman1989]

Looking at the site, I am surprised that there is a designer involved at all, unless it is someones 8yr old nephew!

If you use wordpress (free) and buy a theme ($40) I would be looking at about $100 to get the site into the theme, including adding plugins and css customisation.
It would probably take a week to finish entirely, but mainly because of the client reviewing and requesting modifications, overall wouldn't be more than 3-4 hours work

Disclaimer: I have had nothing to do with the site except fixing coding and spelling errors in critical areas (like mis-spelling Landscape in the header title!) so yeah, it may be an 8 year old doing it, lol.

That is what I was thinking. So the estimate of 100+ hours is totally bogus correct? Especially since the designer already has his own theme that he created. It just sounded like total BS to me. I hate when I get designers like this and this is the main reason I have not offered web design because I haven't found a designer that bills honestly.

 

[mraikes]

Looking at the site, I am surprised that there is a designer involved at all, unless it is someones 8yr old nephew!

---snipped----

Wow, I second this ^^^^.

Based only on appearance, your client is getting ripped off regardless of the amount paid. Free templates from Wordpress look as good or better.

 

[anglian]

That is what I was thinking. So the estimate of 100+ hours is totally bogus correct? Especially since the guy already has his own theme that he created. It just sounded like total BS to me.

Dunno, if the design is anything to go by, it might very well take them 100 hours to do anything with it!

 

[OfficeTechs]

10-15 days at 7 hours a day?? lol isnt there a saying about chimps and typewriters and coming up with the works of shakespeare in that sort of time frame?

Also with SEO isn't it pages are ranked NOT sites unless you own a brand domain with some age and authority.

 

[16k_zx81]

I am hosting a site for a client and the designer has programmed the page first in HTML then Java then PHP and now, IDK. Here is a link:
http://www.utopianlandscapesllc.com/

Now the thing is that the index file is like 90K as it contains all the data for every page on the site. The site use to have a page for each topic or heading but IDK why the designer changed it. It seems very counter intuitive to SEO practices but I've heard that the main page of the site is what is valued most by SEO - so would a huge single file site like this be better?

I asked what it would cost him to move the site over to his CMS theme that he already has establish on a number of sites. Now keep in mind that the entire site is already designed content wise and graphics so all this should be is cut and past into the CMS template and he would be done, as far as I know. His estimate was 10-15 days work at 7 hours a day. Now this sounds like an awful lot of time to basically change the layout but keep the same content.

Does anyone else think that this is a little high time wise?

4-5hours max (no offsite SEO)

Conclude from his quote that he doesnt want the job.

.

 

[seedubya]

Conclude from his quote that he doesnt want the job..

Was he wearing a balaclava when he said this?

 

[bsil]

I'm just sort of happy to see someone still calls it Christmas. If I had more money I'd almost be willing to pay the 8 year old for the outrageous quote.

 

[hacknscan]

Check scriptlance for designers. Thats where I go when I don't have the time to do a project myself.

 

[tankman1989]

Was he wearing a balaclava when he said this?

I'm lost on this joke (I'm assuming it is a joke). What are you inferring?

 

[tankman1989]

4-5hours max (no offsite SEO)

Conclude from his quote that he doesnt want the job.

.

The guy is just trying to run a scam thinking that people who don't know web design don't have any idea about the times it takes to do it. He wants the work as he has been emailing me and IM'ing me constantly and we spoke on Skype for 30 mins about a working arraignment. Well, maybe he doesn't REALLY want the "work" but will take easy money if he can get it.

He tried to pass this photoshop image off as 5 hours work with all content copied from existing sources.

So if he is billing 5 hours for a very general layout, copied content and no coding then he is trying to run a scam.

 

[Lefty]

Yep, definitely way too many man-hours.

If we're strictly talking about only layout here...I would estimate 3 - 5 hours.

If the site is coded correctly to begin with (external css etc)

 

[ZenMike]

I use both WordPress and Joomla pretty extensively and I'd recommend Joomla for a site like this. I'd probably guess 8-24 hours to create a template out of this design and import all the menus and content. If I was doing it myself I'd probably budget 8-12 hours.

Generally I'd charge $750-$1250 to migrate an existing site (of comparable complexity to this) to a CMS.

 

[Xander]

I'm lost on this joke (I'm assuming it is a joke). What are you inferring?

He's not. In this context, he'd be implying; you'd be inferring.

 

[seedubya]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)

Is that enough to make it clearer?