INFORMATION & RESOURCES
Nowadays, everybody's on a tight budget. However, with technology the way it is today, there's no reason for a web designer to hold your site hostage.
One of the most important things to remember when choosing someone to handle your website is there are two main services to consider: (a) designing your website, and (b) ongoing updates and hosting.
You're going to want to keep your website fresh and current, and this is the least of your web designer's worries. Web designers make money on the design and setup of your site… not the ongoing updates and hosting. You have the option of hiring the web designer to setup your site and then finding someone with the right skills to maintain it. Or, you can try to wrap it all up with a web designer – but be sure to ask about the cost for updates and what it includes on the front end. Many designers charge by the hour for updates (average is about $50/hour), however it's not something you're going to be able to monitor.