Can anyone give me a “ballpark” figure of what to expect cost wise of hiring a professional web designer? Is there a difference if you have a self-designed website and want someone to go in and “renovate” it?
There’s no standard price, really. It varies hugely from place to place, and from situation to situation (a freelancer might not have the overheads of a bricks and mortar shop, for example). If you think in terms of a reasonable hourly rate for someone trying to make a living (freelancer or business), it’s not too hard to get an idea of what it might cost. (Most people don’t seem to do this, though. They act surprised if you can’t do them a fancy website for a few hundred dollars. It doesn’t occur to them that this may take weeks of work.)
You can find people from other countries (India, for example) who are willing do do work much more cheaply, but then you don’t have much connection with them and you don’t know where they’ll be when you need help.
I think this is even more broad of a question than “how much it costs to build a house”. If you have more information I think you could get a clearer answer, but even then. I would recommend finding a web designer and asking for a quote.
If your website is powered by a standard CMS, the cost will likely be less expensive than revamping/rebuilding an entirely custom-built site.
It could cost a few thousand dollars from a professional shop. But, you there are also weekend freelancers would would do the job for $200.
There’s a balancing act there, and you will typically get what you pay for. A full-time professional will usually be serious about developing and offer you support along the way and after, while with a weekend freelancer, they might not be entirely invested in the project.
When looking for a developer, be sure to go through their portfolio. I’ve seen some portfolios of professional web developers and shops that were great–full of modern designs that were easy for visitors to navigate. Then I’ve seen others that promote designs that looked 10 years old as their best projects–but they still charge the same as the shop/developer that takes a more modern approach.
You will certainly have to do a little shopping to find the right developer for you.
There is no standard price. It depends on several factors like level of expertise, the amount of time you have to devote to building the website.
Web sites are like cars. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It really depends on what you want and the purpose of your site. What you plan to use it for, who you want to attract to the site and your future plans and goals.
You can go get a site for free today and set-up in 5 minutes if you like (wordpress, blogger, etc…) or you can have a complete custom job done just like you can a car and it will cost you a good deal because you get what you pay for. Control, individuality, attention…
Figure out what you want in a web site first, get a price range or idea in your head of what you are willing to spend and go get some quotes or ask a few designers for some ballpark amounts. Asking as well as quotes usually don’t cost anything and can give you a good idea of what you’re looking at money wise for the site you want.
Hope that helps.
it have no fix cost its depend on personal experience, if experience is high it is high cost
Cost depends on many things. Location, expertise, experience, showcasing expertise etc etc.
I know couple of designers work for around $100/hour. I know some others work for way less then that.
If you can do a professional work why not, go for it. But again people hire professionals because they would do a professional job 
Most of this have bee said before, but I think people forget that buying a website is like buying other product: It depends what you want SPECIFICALLY; even then prices vary specifically but usually cheap=shoddy. Actually its more complex that that, as no one seems to understand what the word DESIGN means. I’ve met a few AWESOME coders, who really cant DESIGN (look wise) , many great graphic designers who really cant code, of the few the can do both VERY few can do do information architecture ( they just follow what you are asking for). So when looking to do a website the client need to also be more involved ( or pay more for someone else to be more involved).
As far a building from scrach or renovate, it depends. If your website was a mess before ( especially in the code part) it may be quicker(thus cheaper) to start from scratch… than trying to fix 1000 previous mistakes. If you have something that was built well, and you just need a new “skin” on it you could save some money. Still the same principle applies when seeking graphic design.
Spend some time looking over a lot of professionally designed sites until you find a few that you really like. Then, go to the designers site and scope out other projects they have done. Once you find a designer that consistently puts together the kind of work you want, then start talking price to do what you want. Ask of the time frame involved to complete your project. Make sure you have everything ready on your end before starting. Get all your content and picture to include ready, again, before starting. Best wishes.