jessica_dark said:
Well I've had my site for close to a year now...and it was done as I asked.
A web site's design depends entirely on what you want it to do for you. So you need to be clear about what you want from your website prior to talking to a designer. I'm referring to outcomes such as increased number of client contacts, increasing client knowledge about your services, increased market awareness not the actual layout and look of the site. If you have ideas about the look and layout be sure to pass them on to your potential designers but realize that you are restricting their creativity as you add more requirements.
Before you enter into a deal ask your designer for a proposal and a prototype, some will offer a number of alternative designs. These should be provided free of charge but will be relatively low quality as designers don't want to give away work that can be easily copied. Be sure that both parties are clear about who is responsible for which aspects of the site.
As a general rule, the more technologically advanced (i.e. dynamic) your site is the more it will cost. Your current site is a little dated but as others have pointed out, it serves the basic purpose of providing basic information to potential clients. A relatively inexperienced designer could reproduce you site from scratch in about 5-6 hours depending upon the production tools at his or her disposal. A reasonable cost would be around $250-300. You can expect to pay more for things like fullly standard complient (will work well on any browser), dhtml, javascript, flash, ajax, etc. because these things can take a little more time to write, debug and test.
