How Much Does a Website Cost?
By Allan | December 17, 2008
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“I need a website. How much is it going to cost?”
Ah, the million dollar question (pun mildly intended). This question falls comfortably in the top three on the list of questions prospective clients ask – and for good reason. The company website is increasingly becoming a very necessary part of any business model. So, how to answer this question?
Let’s take a stroll down Analogy Lane.
If you were to walk into a car dealership and ask a salesman how much a car costs, how do you think they’d reply? A reputable salesman would first find out what your needs are and then try to match you with the best fit within your budget. If they ask, “Well partner, how much do you want to spend?”, don’t walk out of the store – run. Assuming you are speaking with a well qualified individual, they will begin to ask you several questions to learn more about you. “Is this your first car?”, “Two doors or four?”, “Will you be trading your current vehicle in?”, “Do you need the optional towing package?” and so on and so forth.
Only after the salesman gets a good idea of the underlying utility of the vehicle will they start to get into all the fun stuff. Maybe you want to jam out to Devo and need the 8-speaker premium sound system. Or maybe you’re more a talk radio fan, so the stock stereo will do just fine. Planning on taking several road trips with the kids? Better get the optional flip-down DVD system. Let’s not forget the dual cup holders. Those are vital.
Now that you’ve decided on the what essential functions the car will perform as well as the additional features to make it just right, it’s time to discuss the price. Chances are you’ll walk away with a vehicle that suits your needs, has a solid warranty and gets you from Point A to Point B in style.
So, what does all this car jibber-jabber have to do with your website? The same type of decisions need to be made long before you ever discuss a price with a potential web developer. First, what do you need the site to do for you? Do you currently have a site and need a makeover? Want some nifty animations and streaming video? All these things needs to be well thought out before getting into price discussions. A careful assessment of your current and future needs will allow the designer to suggest technologies to suit your goals as well as mention additional features you may not have even thought of.
At the end of the process, your developer should be able to quote you a price with much greater precision than just randomly throwing out a number. The developer, in turn, should have no problems sticking to that price since all of the widgets and gizmos have been decided ahead of time. Those pesky plan alterations mid-build can be quite costly.
All that said, asking for a price upfront is somewhat like asking, “Where does one flaminibob the gobbilygook?”. Questions need to be asked and research needs to be done to quote an accurate and fair price for that shiny new website*.
*Dual cupholders standard with all 2009 models.
About the authorAllan has a vast, indispensable knowledge of useless facts, acknowledges his own nerd-dom and has yet to find anything duct tape can't fix. He spends his time developing websites at Robert Sharp & Associates
