1. Too many relatives, cousins, brothers-in-law or buddies who say they know how to create websites “cheap.” As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. You’ll get there fast when you try to save a buck and hire a relative or friend. They’ll get tired of giving you free advice and will stop answering the phone.
2. Confusing the internet with printed advertising materials. It’s a whole different world. You can make a page in a desktop publishing program, take it down to the copy shop and go back to the office with a box of flyers for a couple hundred bucks. You can’t do that with a web site.
3. Trying to “bully” your programmer into working cheap. Go ahead and get your project quoted by 10 programmers. Find the one who is most hungry and will work the cheapest. Watch them disappear in the middle of the project as you make endless changes and they resent the fact you’re not paying the going rate. Happens everyday.
4. Getting sticker shock because you didn’t think through your website and now you are faced with a mountain of invoices for changes.
5. Failing to understand or appreciate web developers and their skills and how they acquired them. This is in part caused by too many web developers who don’t know how to present themselves properly in a business setting and show up in jeans, t-shirts, ponytails and tattoos. Well, OK, maybe you like that. Maybe.
So, how much does a website cost? We all hate this answer, but it is so true:
It depends.
For argument’s sake, let’s throw out the big players’ site and not worry about CNN, MSNBC, CDW or any million dollar website. Let’s take a look at what “normal” people do:
Static sites: These are your “HOME | OUR PRODUCTS | ABOUT US | CONTACT US”
websites that usually are filled with clip art images of trendy business people on cell phones and permed hair. Maybe one contact form and a few product pages with images scanned from the corporate brochure. These small local sites usually cost between $1,500 and $2,000.
Business to Business Sites. Carefully planned business sites that effectively use the tools outlined on this page. These sites usually include well-designed user navigation, original graphics and photography, online and interactive forms and SEO techniques for good search engine rankings. These sites can start at $5,000 and go up, depending on the number of pages and interactive elements.
eCommerce Sites. Put simply, these are sites that allow you take orders over the internet. You’ll see many inexpensive shopping cart offers from companies like Yahoo and these can work for small consumer sites. Serious ecommerce sites need solid solutions and excellent turnkey solutions from internet advertising to the graphic look and feel. Expect to spend $10,000 or more on a quality ecommerce site.
Digital Business Services provides a full Project Scope prior to start or each project so you are aware of all services and fees and contractual terms. We help you decide which level of budgeting will accomplish your goal. Unfortunately, we cannot accept under-funded projects. Both of us will be unhappy with the outcome in the long run.