This is always the first question. It's a bit like asking what a car costs. A Honda will get you there, but you might prefer a Mercedes. If you're a soccer mom, maybe a van. If you are going to tow a boat, you might need a big pickup with the towing package. On a website, the towing package might be an online store with the ability to accept credit cards.
The need determines the function. If you only need five pages, you're talking about a fairly inexpensive site. If you need a hundred pages, it's going to cost more. Will you supply all the content or will you want us to develop a marketing strategy, write the copy and supply stock photography?
The websites in our portfolio here range from less than $300 to over $20,000. After our initial meeting to identify your requirements, we will be able to give you an accurate estimate of the cost and a schedule for development.

Good question. It doesn't do any good to have a fantastic website if nobody can find it. Google is the 600 pound gorilla which handles over 70% of all internet searches. Almost 80% if you are just measuring click throughs. Yahoo is second with 10% to 15% of the market. Bing, which used to be MSN is third, and the rest aren't really worth your concern.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process of fine tuning a website so the "bots" or "crawlers", the software programs that index websites, can find and accurately index your site. SEO is an ever changing art and many companies charge thousands of dollars to try to get you on the first page of results.
Part of the result depends on how crowded the category is. If you are trying to get on the first page of results for "Phoenix, Arizona real estate", you've got a lot of company and you'll find the task virtually impossible. On the other hand, if your category is "Phoenix, Arizona timeshare condominiums" you narrow the focus and improved your odds tremendously.
We work with you to choose the search keywords and phrases that will deliver the most qualified segment of your market. We then optimize your website for maximum results.

Hooboy! There are a couple possible answers to this one. The first is that there are standard layouts made available by some companies which allow the designer to simply add content and a logo and have a "complete" site. It's kind of a canned website. And if you don't mind a few hundred, or even a few thousand folks having a real similar look, it can be cost efficient. We custom design every site according to the needs of our clients.
The other meaning of template is regarding the actual code for the site. We develop a master template for every site. This template usually contains all the navigation and sets the general layout and color scheme that will be used throughout. The advantage of this kind of template is that should something need to be added later, say you need another category in your navigation, we can simply change the template and update the entire site automatically. Without a template, we would have to change every page, which would take time and add extra cost.

This is called CMS (content management system). This is a kind of template which allows the website owner to update certain content without having to go back to the web designer. For instance, if you have a schedule which has to be updated frequently, you might want something like this. The system is set up so the owner can add or delete key information without fear that they will inadvertantly "mess up" the look or function of the site. In our samples, John Pennington's site is a good example of this. John handles his own schedule.
Another example is in real estate. If you look at Linda Crowther's website (durangocolorado.com) all of the regular listing pages are populated from the local MLS. So, every time she adds a new listing to the MLS, it automatically shows up on the appropriate pages on her website.