Website Designer and Builder for Operators Who Need a Site That Works
I design the pages people actually use, then I build them. You get one person for look, structure, forms, and launch, not a mood board handed to a junior coder.
Outcomes that survive real users
- DesignLayout, type, and page jobs before pixels get precious
- BuildThe same person ships the live site
- OwnedYour accounts, your domain, your content
- Design
- Layout, type, and page jobs before pixels get precious
- Build
- The same person ships the live site
- Owned
- Your accounts, your domain, your content
Direct answer
What this page is about
Zack Shields is a website designer and builder. He designs the sitemap and the look, then ships the live site on accounts you own. This page is the design hub. Next.js engineering, redesign migrations, and custom apps have their own URLs. Typical project builds run $2,500 to $15,000 after a written page list.
Key facts
- Zack Shields, independent consultant in Orlando, FL
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time
- Email: zack@zack-shields.com
- Nationwide remote work, on-site in Central Florida
- $2,500 to $15,000 for typical project builds
- Free 30-minute workflow review
- Designer and builder in one seat
- Fixed quote after the sitemap
- Distinct from web development engineering pages
Last updated
A template is not a website design. A decision tree is.
Most “design” quotes are a stock theme, a stock photo, and a contact form that lands in spam. Real website design starts with who arrives, what they need to believe, and which action they should take on a phone. I draw that path, write the page jobs, then build the site so the path survives real traffic.
People searching for a website designer are usually tired of two outcomes. The first is a freelancer who delivers mockups and disappears when the form breaks. The second is a developer who ships a technically fine site that still looks like every other template on the block. I am Zack Shields. I sit in the middle on purpose. I design the information architecture, the conversion path, and the visual system, then I build the site so those decisions are not lost in handoff.
This page is the hub for website design and website builder work. It is not the Orlando web development page, which is about Next.js performance budgets, local schema, and code ownership for engineering buyers. It is not a redesign-and-migration page, not a paid-traffic landing page factory, and not a custom application brief. If you want someone who will decide what the homepage should do, how services should be grouped, and how a stranger on a phone gets to a call or a form, start here.
I work from Orlando and remotely across the United States. The businesses that hire this offer already know what they sell. They need the site to say it clearly, look like a grown operation, and collect the right lead. Typical first sites are a focused marketing presence: home, services, proof, about, contact, plus a few pages that match how customers actually search. Larger programs get a written sitemap before anyone argues about button colors.
Pricing is a fixed quote after we agree on the page list and the integrations. This site already publishes a project range of $2,500 to $15,000 for typical builds. A tight brochure site sits toward the focused end. Extra languages, large photo libraries, or unusual booking rules push the quote up. You will not get a mystery hourly meter. You will get a written scope.
Why “we need a new website” usually fails
The brief is often a vibe. “Make it modern.” “Make it pop.” Nobody writes down the job of each URL. The homepage tries to say everything. Service pages repeat the same paragraph. Contact is a footer afterthought. Designers who only paint cannot save that. Builders who only code will faithfully implement the mess.
The second failure is rented design. The site lives inside a page builder the owner cannot export. Fonts and spacing look fine in the demo and collapse on a mid-range Android. When the relationship ends, the business starts over. A website builder who also ships code should leave you with files you can move.
The third failure is design without a next step. A gallery of screenshots is not a site. Forms need destinations. Events need a path that is not “email us and wait.” Menus and hours need a place an owner can edit on a Saturday. I treat those as design problems, not afterthoughts for “phase two.”
Bring the site that is embarrassing you
Share the current URL, who it is for, and the action that should happen more often. I will tell you whether you need website design, a development build, or a smaller fix.
What a website design engagement includes
Look, structure, and a working site. Not a deck of unused frames.
- 01
Page jobs and sitemap
We name every URL and the one job it has: explain, prove, locate, or convert. That list is the contract. Extra pages wait until the first set is honest.
- 02
Visual system you can reuse
Type, color, spacing, and a small set of blocks: hero, proof, services, FAQ, form. New pages later should look like they belong without a new designer.
- 03
Conversion paths on a phone
Primary action in the thumb zone. Forms that ask only what you will actually use. Event, booking, or inquiry flows when the business lives on those leads.
- 04
Build and handoff
I implement the design on a stack you own. You get admin notes, a short style guide, and hosting in your account. Engineering depth lives on the web development pages when the job is an app, not a marketing site.
How I decide what a website design should include
Start with the expensive action
If the business lives on phone calls, the design is a phone-first service site. If it lives on events, the design is inquiry forms and calendar landers. If it lives on direct booking, the design is property pages and a path that does not dump people back to a marketplace. The expensive action decides the homepage, not a trend on Dribbble.
I write that action at the top of the scope. Everything that does not serve it becomes optional. Optional work can wait. That is how a website builder stays cheaper than an agency that sells a 40-page mythology.
Content is a design material
A layout that assumes long case studies will look empty if you have two honest paragraphs. A layout that assumes one sentence will choke if you have a real menu and a tap list. I design against the content you can actually maintain, then we fill gaps with structure, not lorem ipsum.
When copy is missing, I will draft plain language. I will not invent awards. I will not write “trusted by hundreds of happy clients” unless you can stand behind the sentence.
Where this hub stops
Replatforming an old URL set without losing rankings is website redesign work. Campaign pages that must match ads are landing page development. Realtor IDX search is real estate web development. If your first sentence is “we need a custom portal,” that is a custom web application. I will route you rather than mash those jobs into one brochure.
The rest of this cluster covers Orlando design, small business design, restaurant and bar sites, vacation rental sites, agent sites, and a portfolio of real builds described without brand names.
What changes when one person designs and builds
Fewer translation errors
The person who decided the homepage job is the person who ships the CSS. You are not paying to re-explain the brief to a second team.
A site staff will update
Editable hours, menus, photos, and posts beat a museum piece. Design that cannot be maintained is decoration.
Search and share that match the offer
Titles, headings, and internal links follow the sitemap. I will not invent ranking promises. I will make the site readable to people and to search engines.
A clean next project
When you later need a campaign lander, a redesign migration, or a custom tool, the design system already exists. Those jobs have their own URLs on this site.
How a design-and-build engagement runs
Short enough to stay honest. Long enough that we do not guess the sitemap.
- 011
Intake and page list
We review who you serve, what they search, and which action pays the bills. I return a sitemap and a fixed quote. If a template is enough, I will say so.
- 022
Structure and look
Wire the paths first. Then type, color, and a homepage that can be argued over in one sitting. Copy can be yours, mine, or a mix. I will not invent testimonials.
- 033
Build on your accounts
I implement the pages, forms, and analytics in infrastructure you control. Redirects are planned if an old site exists. That migration detail lives with the redesign page when the move is the hard part.
- 044
Launch and teach
We check phones, forms, and the primary calls to action. You get a short recording or live session on how to edit the pieces you will actually change.
Example: first marketing site for an owner-operated company
A shape I use when the current site is a Facebook page and a Google listing.
Trigger
The owner can explain the offer in two minutes and has photos, hours, and a service area.
Action
I write a six to twelve page sitemap and mark the single conversion on each URL.
Result
We stop arguing about extra pages that nobody will write.
Trigger
The sitemap is approved and the quote is signed.
Action
I design the homepage and one inner template, then build the rest from that system.
Result
The live site matches the plan instead of a surprise theme.
Trigger
Forms and phone links are tested on a real device.
Action
I move DNS when the owner is ready and walk through the two or three edits they will make monthly.
Result
Launch is a cutover, not a treasure hunt.
Why hire me as the website designer and builder
I have designed and shipped sites for businesses I also operate: hospitality venues that need event inquiry, cabin rental properties that need direct booking paths, and agent-facing real estate pages that need neighborhood content. I will not name those brands here. The point is that I have sat on the owner side when a pretty site still failed to collect a usable lead.
You get an Orlando-based operator who will also write the code. Agencies split design and development and charge you to translate between them. I keep the loop short. If the job is really an IDX search product or a multi-team portal, I will send you to those service pages instead of forcing a brochure-shaped answer.
What you get
- One person for design decisions and the live build
- Written sitemap and fixed quote before production
- No invented testimonials, logos, or traffic claims
- Orlando based, nationwide remote, on-site in Central Florida
- Clear boundary with web development, redesign, and landing page work
- You keep the accounts and the files
What I usually design and build on
Chosen for the site, not for a partnership.
Next.js or a focused CMS
Marketing sites you can host and move
Your domain and email
Trust signals that belong to you
Forms to inbox or CRM
Leads that arrive with the page they came from
Analytics you can read
Which pages get used, not vanity animations
Google Business Profile
When local search is part of the job
Website design jobs this hub is for
If the job is an app or a storefront catalog, use the matching development page.
- Owner-operated services
The company is real. The site still looks like a placeholder.
Outcome: A designed marketing site with a clear call and an about page that sounds like a person.
- Hospitality and food
Guests need hours, menus, and a way to inquire about a private event.
Outcome: A venue site. Event landers and deeper engineering sit on sibling pages.
- Hosts and agents
The offer is local and visual. Marketplaces already exist.
Outcome: A branded site that captures the people who want to deal with you directly.
- Professional practices
Trust matters more than motion graphics.
Outcome: Quiet design, readable type, and contact that does not hide behind a chat widget.
Website designer versus theme shop versus engineering-only build
Hire for the gap you actually have.
Aspect
DIY / off-the-shelf
Working with me
Starting question
Which theme looks closest to a competitor
Which page does the expensive action, and what must that page say
Who ships it
A painter, then a different person who never heard the brief
The same person designs the path and puts it on the web
When I send you elsewhere
One package for apps, stores, IDX, and brochures
I point you at the development or redesign URL when that is the real job
Proof
Stock photos and invented quotes
Your real work, described without fake metrics
Frequently asked questions.
Who is Zack Shields as a website designer?
An Orlando-based designer and builder who ships the site himself. The deliverable is a launched marketing site, not a mockup handed to someone else.
What does a website designer and builder actually deliver?
A sitemap, a visual system, the live pages, working forms, and notes so your team can edit what they will actually edit. The deliverable is a launched site, not a Figma file that never ships.
How is this different from your web development pages?
Those pages are for engineering buyers: Next.js architecture, performance budgets, IDX rules, ecommerce catalogs, and custom applications. This page is for people hiring a website designer. The same operator may do both. The search intent and the first questions are different.
Do you only design, or do you also build the site?
Both. I will not leave you with mockups and a list of plugins. If you already have a developer, we can still do a design-only scope, but the default is design plus implementation.
How much does website design cost?
Typical project builds on this site run $2,500 to $15,000. A focused marketing site is usually at the lower half of that range. You get a written number after the sitemap, not a public price list that pretends every business is the same.
Can you work from my existing brand guidelines?
Yes. Bring logos, colors, and any rules you already have. If you have none, we set a small, boring system that will not fight print or social later.
Will you invent reviews or traffic numbers for the site?
No. Proof on your site should be real: photos you own, processes you run, locations you serve. I will leave a gap rather than write a fake quote.
Ask them in a free workflow review
Tell me the process. I will reply within one business day with a time for a 30-minute call. No pitch.
About your website designer and builder.
I am Zack Shields. I design and build websites, and I also implement AI automation for the operations behind those sites. The design work is not a side door. It is how several of my own businesses reach guests, buyers, and operators.
You work with one person in Orlando. I will tell you when a template is enough, when you need a designer-builder, and when you need the heavier web development pages on this site.
In this website design cluster
Orlando website designer
Local page for Central Florida businesses who want a designer based in Orlando.
Read moreSmall business website design
Right-sized marketing sites for owner-operated companies.
Read moreWebsite design portfolio
Real builds described without invented client names or metrics.
Read moreNext.js development
Engineering page when the stack and performance budget are the brief.
Read moreWebsite redesign
Migration and rebuild work when rankings and URLs must survive.
Read moreWeb development Orlando
Local engineering: speed, schema, and owned Next.js code.
Read more
Getting started is simple.
The first step is a no-obligation 30-minute workflow review. We map your actual workflows, identify high-leverage agentic opportunities, and give you an honest picture of fit. No pitch.
- 01
Book your call
Schedule a focused conversation about the workflow you want to improve.
- 02
Share your challenges
Walk through the systems, users, exceptions, and reporting gaps that shape the work.
- 03
Get your roadmap
Leave with practical next steps for discovery, pilot scope, or implementation.
Bring the site that is embarrassing you
Share the current URL, who it is for, and the action that should happen more often. I will tell you whether you need website design, a development build, or a smaller fix.
- Free
- Cost
- 30 min
- Length
- None
- Pressure