Web design and development
Freelance Web Designer and Developer for Business Websites
I am Shahid Malla, a freelance web designer and developer. I design and build complete business websites from the first layout to launch: company sites, online stores, booking sites for travel and hotels, and sites for schools and non-profits, in Laravel, WordPress with WooCommerce or Astro, and I hand over every login.
Free scoping call of about 30 minutes · written quote within one business day · two weeks of support after delivery
By Shahid Malla, Freelance WHMCS developer and web developer · Updated
What does hiring me as your web designer and developer include?
It includes everything between an empty domain and a site your staff can run: layout, content structure, the build, speed, search basics, analytics and a handover. These website design and development services come as one project from one person, so the developer you brief is the one who answers when something needs changing.
| Part of the build | What I do |
|---|---|
| Design | Lay out each page type for a phone screen first, using your logo, colors and photos, then widen it for desktop. |
| Content structure | Decide which pages exist, what each one must answer and where the call, form or buy button sits. |
| Build | Code the templates, forms, catalog or booking flow on the platform named in the quote. |
| Speed | Serve WebP images at the size each screen needs through srcset, lazy-load what sits below the first screen and cache pages. |
| Search basics | A unique title and description per page, a clear heading order, a sitemap.xml, canonical URLs and 301 redirects from old addresses. |
| Analytics | Google Analytics and Search Console created in your Google account, with form sends and purchases recorded as events, and a consent banner where the law that applies to your visitors requires one. |
| Handover | Training for whoever will edit the site, every login and written notes. |
What kinds of business websites have I built?
Company sites, online stores, booking sites and sites for schools and non-profits, for clients in India, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Nigeria. My portfolio lists them with the stack used for each. Some of what those sites do:
- Company sites. A CCTV installer with a page per service and an estimate request form. A vehicle dealership whose buyers filter stock by year, make, model, mileage, transmission and condition.
- Online stores. Jewelry, saffron, dry fruits, tea and caps, with collections, sale labels, bundle offers, member discounts and payment by card, UPI, wallet or cash on delivery.
- Booking sites. Tour operators with search by destination, dates, guests and rooms. Hotels with room pages, nightly rates and guest accounts.
- Schools and non-profits. College sites with program pages and admission inquiry forms, a research journal with a manuscript submission workflow, and a charity site with donation and volunteer forms.
Should my site be built in Laravel, WordPress or Astro?
It should be built on the simplest platform that does the job, and the quote names that platform with the reason. I work in all three, so the choice follows the site and not my habits.
| Platform | I choose it when | How you edit content | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress with WooCommerce | Staff will edit pages and articles often, or the store has a standard catalog, cart and checkout | The WordPress editor and the WooCommerce product screens | Core, theme and plugins need regular updates, and every extra plugin is one more thing that can break |
| Laravel | The site has rules of its own: search by dates and guests, customer accounts, unusual pricing, or several currencies and languages | An admin panel built around your content, such as packages, rooms or courses | More build time, and structural changes later need a developer |
| Astro | Content changes rarely and speed matters most, or the pages are a storefront in front of a separate API | Content files, or a content management system added to the scope | No admin screen out of the box, and anything dynamic needs a service behind it |
Astro ships pages as static HTML with little or no JavaScript, which is why I used it for a used-car storefront that reads its inventory from a NestJS API. When a website turns out to need dashboards, roles and subscriptions, it is a web application, and I scope it as a SaaS product.
How is an online store or booking site different from a brochure site?
A brochure site shows information and collects inquiries. A store or booking site also has to take money and keep records straight, and that changes the scope more than the page count does.
Online store
A store adds a catalog with variants and stock, shipping rules, taxes, a payment gateway, order emails and policy pages. The step most often skipped is the gateway webhook. The store should mark an order as paid when the gateway's signed event arrives, because buyers close the tab before the thank-you page loads. Before launch I run a successful, a failed and a refunded payment in the gateway's test mode.
Booking site
As a booking website developer, the first thing I ask is whether guests send a request that you confirm by hand, or book and pay at once. A request form with dates, guest count and a phone number is a small job. Instant booking needs an availability calendar that blocks sold dates, rules for advance payment and cancellation, and often traveler accounts, which is custom work in Laravel. If customers will later want the same bookings on their phones, that API can also serve a mobile app.
What does a website developer need from the client before starting?
A developer needs the raw material of the business: words, pictures, prices, policies and access. I arrange it into a site, and a build stalls without these:
- Text for each page, or rough notes that I shape into pages for your approval.
- Photos you have the right to use. Real pictures of your products, premises or team work better than stock images.
- Your logo as a vector file, and your brand colors.
- Products, packages or rooms with prices, ideally in a spreadsheet.
- Your policies: returns, cancellation, delivery and privacy.
- Access to the domain, and a payment gateway account opened in the name of the business.
- One person who approves work, so feedback does not arrive in conflicting versions.
What is not part of a website build?
Hosting sales, brand design, copies of other sites and ranking promises are not part of it.
- Hosting sales. Hosting is not sold through this site. I set up the plan you choose, in your name.
- Logo and brand design. I design the pages, not the brand. A logo or brand identity is included only when the quote says so.
- Copies of other sites. Show me sites you like and tell me why. I will not reproduce another company's design, text or photos.
- Ranking promises. I build the site so search engines can read it. Where it ranks depends on competition, links and time.
I never use nulled themes or plugins. After launch, updates and backups for a WordPress site can continue under WordPress maintenance.
How much does a freelance web designer and developer cost?
It costs a fixed price for a listed scope, or $55 to $65 per hour where the size is unclear, for example when an old site has to be untangled first. The free scoping call takes about 30 minutes, and the quote is in your inbox within one business day. I work alone and take a limited number of builds at a time, so ask about the start date on the call. How I work has the full terms. A business in Kashmir that would rather meet in person and be quoted in rupees should read web designer in Kashmir.
Who this is for
- Companies whose current site is dated, slow on phones or no longer brings inquiries
- Shops and brands that want their own online store instead of selling only through marketplaces
- Tour operators, travel agencies and hotels that want direct booking requests
- Schools, colleges, journals and non-profits whose staff need to update pages themselves
- Agencies and designers who need a developer to build a site to an agreed design
What is included
- A page plan and layout that you approve before any code is written
- A design drawn for phones first, then widened for desktop
- The contact form, booking request or checkout tested from the first click to the confirmation email
- Speed work: images sized per screen, page caching and no unused scripts
- On-page SEO basics: titles, descriptions, heading order, sitemap and redirects from old URLs
- Analytics and Google Search Console created under your own Google account
- A training session for your staff and written handover notes
- Two weeks of support after delivery
How the work runs
-
1
Scoping call
A free call of about 30 minutes. I ask what the business offers, who the customers are and which single action the site has to make easy. Within one business day you get a written quote that names each page type, every feature and the platform.
-
2
Page plan and layout
I write the list of pages and draw the layout of the home page and one inner page. You get a review round here, where changes cost the least.
-
3
Content
Copy, pictures, price lists and policies come from you. I arrange them into pages and tell you what is missing or too thin to publish.
-
4
Build in staging
The site is built on a private staging copy, not on your live domain. You open it on your own phone, and a short progress note reaches you every working day.
-
5
Launch
I point the domain, switch on redirects from old addresses, place a real test inquiry or order and submit the sitemap.
-
6
Training and handover
Whoever will edit the site gets a walkthrough of pages, products and prices. The logins and a written note go to you, and the two weeks of support begin.
Guides on this topic
All guides →-
How Much Does a Web Designer Cost? Hourly Rates and Website Prices
What a web designer charges: my own rate, three public pages read on 12 October 2026 with sources, what drives the price of a business website, its running costs and quote red flags.
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Web Design Agency vs Freelancer: Which Should You Hire?
Hiring a web design agency or a freelancer, compared in one table: when an agency is the better choice, when a freelancer is, a third option, and what to check before you pay either one.
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Web Designer vs Web Developer: Which Does Your Website Need?
The difference between a web designer and a web developer for business owners: what each delivers, which one a brochure site, store, booking site or web app needs, and where handoffs go wrong.
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Website Redesign Guide: Process, Cost and Keeping Your Rankings
How a website redesign works: when a smaller fix is enough, each step from audit to Search Console monitoring, an old-URL table checked against Google's documentation, what drives cost, and common mistakes.
Frequently asked questions
Are you a web designer or a web developer?
Both. I design the layout and visual style of the site and then build it myself, so nothing is lost between a designer's mockup and the code. For business website development that usually means fewer rounds of changes, because the person who decides how a page looks also knows what it costs to build and how fast it will load.
How much does a business website cost?
A website is quoted as a fixed price against a written scope, or billed at $55 to $65 per hour. Cost is driven by how many page types there are, the features behind them and how much content has to be moved or prepared. A brochure site sits at the low end. Checkout, live availability, customer accounts and extra languages each add work. Domain, hosting, paid plugin licenses and payment gateway fees are ongoing costs billed to you by those companies.
How long does it take to build a business website?
Typically two to five weeks, depending on scope. That is the range my published website case studies took, from a small service site to a store or a booking platform. Late text, photos or product data hold up more projects than code does, so I send a content list on the first day. Your quote carries a delivery date for your own scope.
Should a company website be built on WordPress or Laravel?
WordPress fits when the site is mostly pages and articles that your staff will edit often, or a store with a standard catalog and checkout through WooCommerce. Laravel fits when the site has logic of its own, such as search by dates and guests, customer accounts or unusual pricing. I recommend one in the quote and explain why. If a plugin already does the job well, I say so instead of selling custom code.
Can I update the website myself after launch?
Yes, for everyday content. On WordPress you edit pages, posts and products in the standard editor. On a Laravel site I build an admin panel for your own content types, such as packages, rooms or courses. An Astro site keeps content in files, so edits go through a developer unless a content management system is added to the scope. A training session and written notes are part of every build.
Will a redesign hurt my Google rankings?
It can if old addresses are dropped, so I plan for it. Before launch I list every indexed URL of the old site and map each one to its new page with a 301 redirect. Pages that already bring visitors keep their topic and title. After launch I submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and watch for crawl errors. Some movement is normal, and where pages rank is Google's decision, not mine.
Do you provide hosting, a domain and business email?
No. Hosting is not something I sell on this site. I help you pick a plan that suits the site's traffic and software, then create the domain, hosting and mailbox accounts under your own email address, with the bills going to you. One tie to declare: I am CTO at ElySpace, which is a hosting company. You will hear that from me whenever its name comes up, and any host that meets the technical requirements is fine.
What should I ask an e-commerce website developer before hiring?
Ask four things. Who owns the payment gateway account? It should be your business. How is a paid order confirmed? It should be by the gateway's signed webhook, not by the thank-you page. Who can add products and change prices? You should be able to, without a developer. What happens to live orders during an update? Changes should be tested on a staging copy first. Those are my answers too.
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