Website Design
A good website does quiet, steady work. It answers questions before anyone calls, it reflects who you are, and your team can keep it current without calling a developer for every change. I'm Shawn Wright, a Birmingham designer, and I've been designing websites since the mid-1990s for universities, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and professional firms.
Most of my web work is for organizations with real content to manage: research programs, services, staff, events, and news. I build sites that keep that information organized today and easy to update next year.
Website clients have included:
UAB Center for the Study of Community Health · Southeast STD/HIV Prevention Training Center · Alabama Department of Environmental Management · American Cancer Society, Mid-South Division · The Comer Foundation · JBS Mental Health Authority · Wings Across Alabama · McCool & Bhuta ENT · St. Martin's in the Pines · MEDICC · TIXiMED · Terramoor · First Avenue Ventures · Signs of Excellence · Market Table · Birmingham Olympic Soccer · and many others
What I Handle
- Site planning: pages, structure, and navigation built around what your visitors need
- Design: consistent with your brand, or developed alongside a new one
- WordPress development: responsive on phones, tablets, and desktops
- Search basics: page titles, descriptions, and clean page addresses
- Accessibility: good practice built into the design, with deeper compliance work available when your organization requires it
- Content migration: moving what's worth keeping from your current site
- Launch walkthrough: a short Zoom call so your team knows how to make updates
How It Works
- Planning. We talk through your goals, audience, pages, and content.
- Structure and design. I map out the site and develop the design direction for your approval.
- Build. I build the site in WordPress, including search basics and accessibility fundamentals.
- Review and launch. Your team reviews the site, I refine it, and we launch.
- Walkthrough. A short Zoom call shows your team how to update content on their own.
Built on WordPress
WordPress powers a large share of the web, which means it's well supported, widely understood, and not tied to any one designer. Your site belongs to you. If your team, your IT department, or another developer ever needs to work on it, they'll know where to start.
Build Your Brand and Website Together
Several clients have come to me for a new brand and a website at the same time, including Terramoor, JBS Mental Health Authority, and Sonology Hearing Aid Clinic. When the same designer handles both, the website starts from the brand instead of trying to match it later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a website cost?
It depends on the number of pages, the amount of content, and any special features. Every project starts with a conversation and a written estimate.
How long does it take?
Most sites take 6 to 12 weeks. Timelines depend mostly on when content is ready and how long internal approvals take.
Can we update the site ourselves?
Yes. You own the site, and you can do whatever you want with it. Keep in mind that making changes requires basic knowledge of WordPress. To help you during the transition, I offer a short walkthrough on Zoom so you and your team know what you can handle on your own.
Do you offer hosting or maintenance plans?
No, and that's by choice. Many organizations pay a monthly maintenance fee for far more than they actually receive. A well-built WordPress site needs occasional attention, not a subscription. You host the site with the provider of your choice, and after launch I'm available by the hour for anything large or small, so you pay only for work you actually need.
We're unhappy with our current web provider. Can you help?
Yes. Many of my clients come to me after outgrowing a maintenance plan that no longer makes sense, often with a site that's also due for a refresh. Whether your site needs a few updates or a full rebuild, we'll start with what you have and make a plan so the site is fully yours going forward.
Will we lose our search rankings if we replace our current site?
No one can guarantee rankings, since that's up to Google. What I can do is document your current page titles, descriptions, and addresses before we start, so what's working carries over to the new site.
Is the site accessible?
Good accessibility practice, like readable contrast, clear links, and logical headings, is part of how I design. If your organization must meet a formal standard, I can take the work further to meet it.
Can you work within university or corporate brand standards?
Yes. Many of my larger corporate clients have detailed brand and web standards.
Planning a New Website?
Whether you're starting fresh or replacing a site that's grown out of date, the first step is a conversation. Call 205.223.4415 or send a note.