“I need a website, how much is that?”

One question that we hear all the time in the Web Development industry is the ever popular “I need a website, how much is that?”  It is a funny question actually.  When you start to look into web sites you get a myriad of prices and setups.  How does a client know what to choose and how to choose it?  In this article we will explore various options that face the client and some tips for the clients that want to choose wisely.

To start we must look at answering the question “how much is that?”  We need to establish with the client some boundaries that we need to have laid out.  First is to find out if they want something simple or something complicated.  By definition, anything “complicated” would be anything that uses a database to manage the website’s content.  Something simple is a one to five page site that does not use a database connector.  This type of site is very simple and does not have any back end logins.

We then need to establish what type of payments that client is ready to make.  In some cases when dealing with a larger website with multiple database connectors and plug-ins the price should be billed on an hourly basis.  This is not really the case in a simple website with one to five pages and no back end connection.  This type of simple site can be billed on a flat rate.  Many companies have a set of pre-determined prices for various sizes of sites.

How do you determine quality?  This is a question almost all clients have asked and rightly so!  It is a common phrase we’ve all heard a million times.  “You get what you pay for!”  For the most part this is correct.  You get more when you pay more and often times you could end up paying thousands for a customized solution for your company or website.  For the developers reading this; do not be afraid to quote these higher prices, if you don’t you will end up working for free or it could end up costing you money, so be sure to charge enough for the work you do.  If you are a client, you need to be aware that a custom solution or something that is database driven takes significant time and resources to make it work the way you want.  Do not be afraid to pay the higher dollars for this.  The development definitely is worth it and over the long haul you will certainly get your return on investment.  Of course this only counts for firms that have a proven track record.  Be sure to ask for samples of their portfolio.

Follow these simple steps and you won’t be sorry you invested in a website.

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