You get what you pay for
by Judson | November 7, 2009 | In Website Discussion | 1 Comment
Websites are no different than anything else, you get what you pay for. Recently I have had several clients come to me after going elsewhere for “cheaper” website development. The sites where incomplete, non-functional, and in general did not project the level of professionalism needed to impress upon visitors to use their service or purchase their products.
In the current economy, there is more reason now than ever to cut corners. This makes it all too easy to try and save money on a businesses website. With somethings, this is a very reasonable approach… but not when you are trying to encourage sales or potential clients to use you versus your competition. As I have stated before, website development is the most under appreciated form of marketing today. When someone comes to your website, this is the first impression you have to make, and you know what they say about first impressions…. you only get one chance. Studies show that with a website, you have a fraction of a second to capture a visitors attention.
Many people starting a business will go with the cheapest website development possible, using a company that has just started or using a free service creating their own website. It is easy to see why you may take this approach, but there are several reasons you may want to rethink this approach:
- Experience - Companies just starting out will not know all the ins and outs of website development. It takes years of experience to accumulate the knowledge of creating an attractive, professional and effective website.
- Support - when using a free service, cheap developer or someone just getting into website design, you will not receive the support needed to help you and your business succeed.
The End of America full movie There are several ways to insure your website is both professional and affordable. Before undertaking the actual development, begin by doing research on what it is you want to accomplish from your website, what goals you want to meet and what functionality you want your website to have. After doing your research, follow these steps:
- Set yourself a reasonable budget, depending on the type of website you are looking for and the functionality, you can use the guidelines below:
- Brochure site: This is a static site that is just for informational type purposes, much like a brochure. The main objective is to inform viewers of your service/product. These type of sites generally cost $500 - $1000 depending on the amount of content.
- Content Management System: This is a site that allows you to update content and may allow you to catalog products such as real estate or automotive listing, but nothing is sold from the site. These sites require a database and generally take more time to setup. expect to pay $1200 - $3000 for a site in this category, depending on the amount of content and number of listings
- Ecommerce / Shopping Cart: This is a site where viewers can purchase products online. This type of site requires a database, SSL certificate, dedicated IP and a merchant account. This involves more work and cost to the developer, expect to pay $2000 - $5000 depending on level of work, number of products, etc.
- Look around the internet for websites that have designs that appeal to you and your industry. This will save time and give the development company a better idea of what type of layout you are looking for.
- Be able to give the development company as much detail as possible. Have your content ready, along with any photos or images.
- Look for a company that offers a payment plan. Some development companies will offer to let you pay the fees of development over a certain amount of time.
Once you have done your research and fins a suitable web site development company, the next step is to contact them. Be prepared to answer a few questions, and ask some based on your research. If you have done your homework this shouldn’t be an issue and the process will go much smoother.
