Build
A new site from scratch
Built for how you actually work. I carry your content over and handle redirects so the traffic you have today still finds you tomorrow.
JD Blackman · Freelance
web developerJD Blackman · Freelance web developer
Custom websites, built to last.
I build the parts your site builder won't: booking flows, directories, calculators. You get an editor you can run yourself.I build the parts your site builder won't: booking flows, member portals, quote calculators. You get an editor you can run yourself afterwards.
Services
What I do.
Most jobs fit one of these six. If yours is close, just ask and I'll tell you straight.
Build
A rebuild of what you have
Your site, but better. Clearer structure, tighter design, and an editor you can run yourself when we're done.
Build
Something added on
Booking, a directory, a calculator, a members area, whatever's missing. I build it and make it look like it was always part of the site.
Fix
Rescue work
Slow pages, a dead form, a plugin nobody's touched since 2019, a developer who ghosted. One problem, $850, two weeks.
Hand over
Editing you can do yourself
Prices, hours, photos, staff, the stuff that changes often should be yours to update. You shouldn't pay me to swap a picture.
Own
You own it all
Code, content, domain, accounts, all in your name from day one. Want the repo? It's yours anytime, no fee. Nothing locks you in.
How a project runs.
- Week one
We scope it
Send a brief and I'll reply with a fixed price in writing.
- Weeks 2–5
You watch it get built
Live preview from week one, plus a short update every Friday.
- Launch day
You get the keys
Handover notes, a recorded walkthrough, and you own everything.
What it costs.
The numbers are real and they're right here. We agree on a fixed build fee before I start, half up front and half at launch, then a monthly plan for hosting and changes. I don't bill hourly on builds.
ESSENTIAL
$3,5003–4 weeks
A solid small site, designed for you instead of pulled off a shelf.
- 4–6 pages, custom design
- A content editor built around your business, not generic fields
- Preview before you publish
- Contact form with notifications
- SEO foundation, analytics, Google Business Profile
- Mobile-first, accessible, fast
- Launch, DNS, and a recorded walkthrough
- Two rounds of design revisions
STANDARDIncludes one custom feature
$7,5005–7 weeks
This is where most projects land. Full site plus one custom piece built in.
- Everything in Essential
- 8–15 pages
- Your existing content migrated in full
- One real custom feature: booking, a directory, a calculator, an event system, or a link to software you already run
- An editing interface built around that feature
- Redirect map from your old URLs, so the rankings come with you
- Three rounds of design revisions
CUSTOM
From $15,000
Quoted individually: ecommerce, multiple integrations, user accounts, anything that feels more like an app than a website.
- Paid discovery first, $1,500, credited to the build if you go ahead
- Payment in three parts: 40 / 30 / 30
- Scope, timeline and price written down before anything is built
50% deposit, 50% at launch.The deposit books your slot and it's non-refundable. Custom tier is 40 / 30 / 30.
Extra revisions beyond what's included, $125/hr. If the scope changes, you get a written change order with a price and date before I touch anything.
You own everything. Code, content, accounts, and domain in your name where we can, and I'll hand it all over whenever you ask.
Need it sooner? Rush is +25%. I take two clients at a time, so the next opening is a real date.
After launch
Care plans.
Every plan includes hosting, backups, monitoring, and updates. What changes is how much of my time you get and how fast I turn things around. The contract spells out what counts as a change.
Foundation$95/mo
Keeps the site alive, patched, and backed up. Required for the first 12 months on a custom build.- Hosting, domain, SSL
- Daily backups
- Uptime monitoring
- Security and dependency updates
- 1 change a month
- Turnaround: 5 business days
Care$225/mo
For a site that changes with the season, the campaign, or the menu.- Everything in Foundation
- 4 changes a month
- Turnaround: 2 business days
- Quarterly performance and SEO review
- Priority contact
Partner$495/mo
For a site doing real work every week that can't sit in a queue.- Everything in Care
- 10 changes a month
- Turnaround: next business day
- A written review of the site every month
- A call available if you want one
- Small feature work included
Over your changes? $125/hr in half-hour chunks, or bump up a tier if that's cheaper. I'll tell you which.
No rollover.Unused changes don't carry forward. Keeps the plan honest instead of stacking up one impossible month.
Pay annually and get twelve months for the price of eleven.
Foundation is required for the first 12 months on every custom build, or take the repo and host it yourself with a documented handover.
I also build Firesky.
Churches want a prayer wall, an event calendar that isn't a PDF, signup forms that don't look like 2008. Getting any of it usually means rebuilding the entire site or hiring a developer. So we built a set of features they can paste onto whatever site they already have, plus an analytics layer that tells them which actual person did what instead of handing them a pageview count.
I co-own it and write most of the code. It isn't client work. It's just the thing I build when nobody's paying me.
See Firesky
About me
I'm JD Blackman, a freelance web designer and developer in Phoenix. I build custom websites for small businesses, and I build them so you can actually run them yourself.
My day job is web developer for a three-campus church, where I maintain several sites for dozens of staff who each own a piece of them. That's where most of what I know comes from.
I prefer to work in writing. Briefs, questions, decisions, updates, all typed, so you can answer whenever it suits you and nothing waits on a calendar. If you'd rather talk, just ask and I'll call you. You just shouldn't have to book a meeting to get a website built.
Everything I build is yours from day one. Code, content, domain, accounts, all in your name. If you ever want to take it somewhere else, I'll hand it over and help you move. That's not a policy, it's just the only version of this I'd want to be on the other side of.
- Name:
- JD Blackman
- Based in:
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Availability:
- Taking new projects
- Email:
- contact@jdblackman.com
Questions
Questions people ask first.
Templates are fine when they fit. It gets tricky when you need a site built for how you actually work, a rebuild of something that's outgrown its structure, or a feature a template won't do, like booking that matches your schedule, a member area, or a hook into software you already run. At that point the workarounds usually cost more than building it right.
Not ready to start? Take the free teardown.
Send me your URL and I'll write a short review of what's likely costing you customers — speed, structure, forms, how it behaves on a phone. Yours to keep. No call, no pitch, and I won't follow up unless you ask me to.
Tell me about the project.
Send a short written brief about a new site, rebuild, or something to add. I'll tell you if it's a fit, roughly what it costs, and what happens next. No pitch, no calendar link.
Start a project- contact@jdblackman.com
- Reply
- Within one business day
- Availability
- Taking new projects
Helpful to include: what the site runs on, what you've already tried, and roughly what you're working with for budget. Screenshots help. You'll get a straight answer back, not a calendar link.