When trying to budget website cost, there are a number of factors to consider.
By understanding the factors that go into determining website cost, you will be better have the knowledge that will allow you to get the best website for your money.
Is this a brand new site or a redesign?
Redesigning a website is usually less expensive than starting a new website from scratch.
How prepared are you?
To determine the price of each project we estimate the amount of time that we think it will take us to complete the project. Imagine the difference working with someone who walks in with a fully realized outline of the structure of the site, a folder of fully-edited text for every page, and relevant high quality images, as compared with someone who has not even begun to think about an outline, has not prepared any copy, and has a pile of old prints that need to be scanned and color corrected.
The more prepared you are, the less work we will need to do, and the lower your website cost will be. To help you be prepared, read our related blog posts.
Do you need a blog or content management functionality (CMS)?
All the sites we build have a content management system built in. This makes changing content easier, whether it’s you making the changes or your developer. If you decide you would like to be the one to make the changes, your developer will need to understand what content will be changing most frequently, so that the site is configured with those changes in mind.
Do you have graphics for the site?
How much content do you have and how much will need to be created? Who will be responsible for creating that content?
Do you need other special features?
Very basic websites generally do not include calendar functionality, galleries, news feeds, blogs, or e-commerce. These special features will likely add to the cost of your site, as will social media integration and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Any kind of interactive functionality such as specialized search or contact forms or surveys are also additional.
Interface Design
The most cost-effective way to build a website is to prepare the content (all the text and images) before any design begins. Because content is the most important element of any website, it is the single greatest factor to your site ranking well in search engines. We recommend creating a solid outline as a foundation for the content and we recommend not beginning the design until all the content has been approved.
Costs for Content Creation and Insertion
When you hire a developer to create your website, you are going to be expected to provide the content. This means that you will need to write the words that will be on every page of your website. (This is where the outline will come in handy.) If you don’t think you are a good writer, then you will want to hire someone who is competent. Your business will be judged by the words you use, including grammar and punctuation. Some web developers have writers on staff (we do), just be sure to get samples of their work.
Email Marketing Campaigns
With fewer people reading print, it is going to become more and more difficult to get new customers through old advertising methods. Email marketing has a very high ROI. By integrating third-party tools such as ConstantContact, iContact, or MailChimp you will have the ability to manage an mailing list and create email blasts.
Branding/Identity Development
If you already have a logo design, the developer will need an electronic version to be used for the website. If you don’t have one, you will want to work with a graphic designer to develop one for you.
If you are ready to start your own website project, we would love to produce a quote for you that clearly spells out project scope and website cost. You can start visiting our website design and development page or by filling out our Website Project Form.