# Jessee Productions > Jessee Productions is Brian Jessee's web studio in Northern Virginia. I build and look after custom WordPress websites, maps and data tools, and custom applications for nonprofits, associations and restaurant groups around Washington, DC. Building websites since 2009. Projects start at $3,000. Last updated: 2026-10-09. Source: the live pages at https://jesseeproductions.com/. ## Who I am I'm Brian Jessee. I build websites for people who already know their field. I've been building websites since 2009, mostly for nonprofits, associations, and restaurant groups around Washington, DC. Some clients I've worked with for a decade. When you hire me, you work with me. I do the research, the planning, the design, and the code, and I answer the email. I also build my own tools. Coupon Creator, a WordPress plugin I've published and supported since 2013, runs on more than 8,000 sites. Clients include Fishwise, the National Alliance of Forest Owners, All-Purpose Hospitality, and Sun River Health. Based in Northern Virginia. Public email: hello@jesseeproductions.com. ## How I work Websites shouldn't be something clients dread. A client once used that word, "dread," to describe building a website. Most projects start with wireframes and a request for content, the part developers find easy and clients find hardest. So I changed the order. - Research first. Every project starts with interviews: your experts, your customers, your analytics. That becomes a content plan where every page has a clear job, before anyone draws a wireframe. - Your words from the first draft. You review your own content in real layouts, not placeholder text. It's the fastest way to find out what's missing. - Two-week rounds. I build a few pages at a time. Updates come by email, and you leave feedback right on the work in progress, so you won't spend your week in meetings. - Built to be kept. I write code I expect to maintain for years, because I usually do. Most clients keep me on after launch for updates, SEO, and the next idea. ## Pricing and platforms - Pricing: fixed-fee projects from $3,000, quoted after a discovery call. A deposit to start; the rest at launch, or billed monthly on longer builds. - Platforms: WordPress for most sites, Laravel when a project is really an application. Custom plugins and themes, never page-builder templates. - Also handles: local SEO and Google Business Profiles, interactive maps and data dashboards, bilingual sites, membership and job-board platforms, and development behind design agencies. ## Services Most of my work is building and looking after websites for organizations around Washington, DC. Here is what that covers, and how each part is billed. ### Websites Fixed fee, from $3,000. Deposit to start; the rest at launch, or monthly on longer builds. A new site or a rebuild, from research to launch. I start with interviews and your analytics, turn what I learn into a content plan, and build a few pages at a time in two-week rounds, so you review your own content in real layouts from the first wireframe. Everything is custom WordPress: your own theme and plugins. Accessibility is reviewed as part of design. Recent: Fishwise, AP Pizza Shop, Fossette Focacceria, RISE. ### Maintenance Monthly plan. After launch, most clients keep me on. A monthly plan covers hosting, remote backups, tested updates, and security patches, plus a block of hours for new pages, content changes, and whatever comes up next. Updates go to a staging copy before they touch your live site. Recent: Sun River Health, bilingual updates every month since 2022. ### Local SEO Monthly. Results build over a few months. For restaurants, multi-location businesses, and anyone who needs to be found nearby. I fix the technical basics, write the pages Google is looking for, manage your Google Business Profiles, respond to reviews in your voice, and add the files and structured data that AI search engines read. You get a monthly dashboard with rankings, clicks, and profile actions, so you can see what moved. The SEO is built into the site itself, with no third-party script rewriting your pages. Recent: All-Purpose Hospitality, six restaurants. Average audit score 52 to 91 in five months. ### Maps and data tools Fixed fee, scoped like a website. Interactive maps, dashboards, and reports built on your own research: state-by-state data, project locations, member directories, PDF reports your members can take to a meeting. Data can come from a spreadsheet, a CRM, or an API, and visitors explore it on your site. Often added to an existing site. Recent: the Forest & Mill Data Dashboard for the National Alliance of Forest Owners; Seascape and Aquascape for Fishwise. ### Custom applications Fixed fee or retainer. When a project is really software: member portals, job boards, bilingual sites, review workflows, ordering and payments. WordPress when it fits, Laravel for the rest. I've built platforms with role-based logins, AI-assisted workflows, and payment processing. Recent: a local-marketing platform for a global hotel brand, rolling out to more than 500 properties. ### For agencies Hourly or retainer. I build and maintain WordPress sites behind design and marketing agencies. You keep the client relationship; I handle the development, stay out of sight, and ship on your schedule. Not sure which one you need? Tell me what you're trying to do. I'll tell you what it would take. ## Selected work - Fishwise (fishwise.org): Ocean conservation nonprofit. Seven years of continuous work since 2019, including a full rebuild of its interactive maps in 2022. - AP Pizza Shop (appizzashop.com): Deck-oven pizza on Bethesda Row. Eight years on the site, with catering, online ordering, and menu schema built in. - Sun River Health (sunriver.org): Community health network in New York, in English and Spanish. Its doctor directory went from 2,461 database queries per page to two. - Also Fossette Focacceria, NERO, RISE, and Aventino. ### Maps and data tools Custom interactive maps built on each client's own research, so visitors can explore the data for themselves. - Forest & Mill Data Dashboard (nafo.org/dashboard): State-by-state data on private forests and mills for the National Alliance of Forest Owners. - Seascape (fishwise.org/salt/seascape-map): A world map of seafood traceability, illegal fishing, and social responsibility efforts for Fishwise. - Indian Shrimp Aquascape (fishwise.org/aquascape): Initiatives improving shrimp farming in Andhra Pradesh, India, mapped by district for Fishwise. ## What I'm working on now - Local marketing for a global hotel brand. More than 500 hotels are getting their own local stickers and recommendation cards over the next year, without anyone starting from a blank page. Hotels describe their neighborhood, AI drafts the slogans, card copy, and a first sketch, and designers finish the artwork before hotels order prints. I built the whole platform, from the AI workflow and role-based logins to ordering and payments. - Local SEO for a six-restaurant group. Ongoing SEO for All-Purpose Hospitality's six DC-area restaurants: Google Business Profiles, AI-search files, review responses, and a monthly results dashboard. Average score across all six sites on my SEO audit tool went from 52 to 91, April to September 2026. ## Contact Tell me about your project. A few sentences is plenty. If you'd rather go deep, the full project inquiry is at https://jesseeproductions.com/project-inquiry/ (answer what you can; you can save your progress and come back; it's for website projects, from upgrades to full rebuilds). You work directly with me, the person who builds your site. Projects start at $3,000. Tell me what you're trying to do, and I'll reply by email within one business day. Contact page: https://jesseeproductions.com/contact/ ## Questions and answers https://jesseeproductions.com/faq/ Straight answers to what people ask before they write in. ### Cost and billing **How much does a website cost?** Projects start at $3,000. Every project is a fixed fee, quoted after a discovery call, so the number does not move unless the scope does. Five things set the price: how much content you need, how many unique page layouts, the features, the optimization work, and how the project is run. I wrote up each of those in How Much Does a Website Cost? **How do you bill?** A deposit to start, and the rest at launch. On longer builds I bill monthly instead, so neither of us carries a large invoice at the end. There are no surprise line items; anything outside the quote is priced separately before I do it. **Can you set up a pre-made theme for less?** No. Everything I build is a custom theme and custom plugins, written to be kept for years. If your budget is under $3,000, a pre-made theme set up by someone else is the honest answer, and it should cost between $750 and $2,000. Anyone charging much more than that for a template is charging for custom work they are not doing. **Is there a cost after launch?** Only if you want there to be. Most clients keep me on a monthly plan, one to two hours a month depending on the size of the site, covering hosting, remote backups, tested updates, security patches, and the changes you would rather hand off. I quote it with the project so there is no surprise after launch. Either way you own the site. ### Process **What happens after I write in?** I reply by email within one business day. Usually I have a few questions, and if it would help we get on a short call. Then you get a fixed quote and a plan, and nothing starts until you say so. **Do I have to write the content?** No. Every project starts with research: interviews with your experts and your customers, and a look at your analytics. That becomes a content plan where every page has a clear job. You review your own words in real layouts from the first draft, which is the fastest way to find out what is missing. **What do you need from me?** An hour or two of interview time with the people who know your work, access to your analytics and your current site, whatever content you already have, and one person who can make decisions. That last one matters more than the rest. **Is accessibility included?** Yes. Accessibility is reviewed as part of design, not added at the end. Color contrast, keyboard navigation, headings, and image descriptions are part of every build. ### What I build **What kind of websites do you build?** Custom WordPress sites for nonprofits, associations, and restaurant groups, mostly around Washington, DC. Your own theme and your own plugins, never a page-builder template. I have been building websites since 2009, and some clients have been with me for a decade. **Can you add to the site I already have?** Usually, yes. Maps, data dashboards, a directory, a bilingual version, or a new section are often added to an existing site. If the site underneath is not worth building on, I will say so and tell you what the alternative costs. **Do you build maps and data tools?** Yes. Interactive maps, dashboards, and reports built on your own research, so visitors can explore the data for themselves. The data can come from a spreadsheet, a CRM, or an API. Recent examples are the Forest and Mill Data Dashboard for the National Alliance of Forest Owners and the Seascape and Aquascape maps for Fishwise. **Do you do SEO?** Yes, as a monthly service for restaurants, multi-location businesses, and anyone who needs to be found nearby. I fix the technical basics, write the pages Google is looking for, manage your Google Business Profiles, respond to reviews in your voice, and add the files and structured data that AI search engines read. You get a monthly dashboard so you can see what moved. **Do you work with agencies?** Yes. I build and maintain WordPress sites behind design and marketing agencies, hourly or on retainer. You keep the client relationship; I handle the development and stay out of sight. **Can you build a bilingual site?** Yes. I have kept Sun River Health’s site in English and Spanish, updated every month, since 2022. Translation workflow, URL structure, and search engine signals are all part of the build. ### After launch **Who owns the website?** You do. The domain stays in your own registrar account, the code and the content are yours, and you get admin access to everything. If you ever want to move to someone else, nothing I built stands in the way. **Can I update the site myself?** Yes. Every site is built so you can edit pages, post news, and change menus without touching code. I show you how at launch, and the monthly plan covers the changes you would rather hand off. **What if something breaks?** Email me. Clients on a monthly plan get a reply within one business day and most fixes the same day. If you are not on a plan, I will quote the fix before I do it. **Do you keep working with clients after launch?** Most clients keep me on. Fishwise has been a client since 2019, AP Pizza Shop for eight years, and I have updated Sun River Health’s bilingual site every month since 2022. I write code I expect to maintain for years, because I usually do. ### SEO and AI search **Will my site show up on Google?** The basics are built in: titles and descriptions on every page, structured data, a sitemap, fast pages, and content written to answer the questions people actually search. That is enough for people searching your name and your field. Competing for busier terms is ongoing work, and that is what the monthly SEO service is for. **Do you guarantee rankings?** No, and nobody honest does. Google decides the rankings. What I can promise is a clear monthly report of what moved: rankings, clicks, and Google Business Profile actions, so you can judge the work on evidence. **How long does SEO take?** Results build over a few months. For a six-restaurant group, the average score across all six sites on my audit tool went from 52 to 91 between April and September 2026, with rankings following behind. **Do AI search engines matter?** Yes. More people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI answers for recommendations every month. Those systems read structured data, plain answers like the ones on this page, and the files written for them, so every site I build includes those. This site is set up that way too. ### Working together **Who will I work with?** Me. There is no account manager and no handoff. The person you talk to on the first call is the person who writes the code and answers the email after launch. **Is a one-person studio a risk?** It is a fair question. I have been building websites since 2009, and the answer is in how the work is done: standard WordPress, documented code, everything in your own accounts. If I were hit by a bus, any competent WordPress developer could pick up your site. That is by design. **Do we sign a contract?** Yes. It covers what will be delivered, the timeline, the cost and payment schedule, who owns what, and how often you will hear from me. The things I tell people to look for in anyone else’s contract are in mine. ## Articles ### How Much Does a Website Cost? https://jesseeproductions.com/how-much-does-a-website-cost/ Pricing a website can be complicated. Every website is different and has different needs, and those needs often change as the design process goes on. It is still possible to come up with a rough estimate based on five factors: content, unique views, features, optimization, and management. - Content: how much you need, how much you already have, whether it needs to be researched, developed or edited, and how many sources it comes from. - Unique views: a blog with search, categories and tags, and any other content that needs its own custom view designed with SEO in mind. - Features: ecommerce, mapping, importers and third-party API integrations all take time to incorporate and need their own views. - Optimization: research, testing and optimization of code and design for speed, efficiency and reliability. - Management: long approval processes, frequent meetings, and the lack of a clear plan add development time; a rushed deadline can add cost now and later. To get a good estimate, keep these factors in mind, pay for discovery, and outline your needs in an RFP so you can get estimates from multiple sources. ### Avoiding 5 1/2 Web Design Scams in Washington D.C. https://jesseeproductions.com/avoiding-web-design-scams-in-washington-d-c/ - Excessive upfront payments: full payment upfront or a deposit over 50 percent is a warning sign; reputable designers break payments up, with an initial deposit between 20 and 50 percent. - Front-loaded payment schedules: the schedule should match the work completed, for example 50 percent on design completion and 50 percent on development completion. - Overcharging for basic services: a pre-made WordPress theme implemented for you should run $750 to $2,000; beyond that is custom work. Watch for unnecessary add-ons. - Unrealistic SEO promises: no reputable SEO expert guarantees going viral; judge plans on whether they attract more engagement than competitors, consistently. - Keep control of your domain: it stays in your own registrar account, which makes switching designers simple. - Vet designers thoroughly: good designers ask probing questions about your goals; ask for references and review portfolios. - Define clear deliverables and a communication cadence: timelines, costs, ownership rights and expected communication frequency belong in the contract, with review and feedback throughout.