First off is the design of the site. Do you have a logo or will you need one developed? How about a color scheme? Have you identified a color scheme and preferable layouts? Have you given me a few sites that you liked and have explained to me why you like them? Do you expect Flash or animation added to the site? Are you going to want to have a video added? How much of the look and feel will I have to develop versus what you already have? Will I have to follow strict corporate branding standards or do we have some leeway?
Next is content. Have you supplied me with a site map of pages that you need? I have never liked quotes that limit the number of pages a site can have. If the user has the content I don't care if you have 10 or 100 pages to add to the site but it does affect the site map layout and navigation complexity so I need ballpark estimate from you. I assume you will supply the content but you may consider using a content writer to help you ensure a common voice for all of your pages. Are you going to supply me with the graphics you want on the pages or will I have to go out and secure royalty free photos? Perhaps you want your own photos on the site so someone will need to get the pictures. Another item to consider is other assets. Are you planning on having documents for the user to download such as forms and documents? If so will you supply the documents in PDF format or will I need to convert them? So we know what pages you want now what order do you want them in. If you have 10 pages we can figure that out easily but if you have 100 I will need some help in getting them in the order you want.
With a basic understanding of what you want the site to look like and what you want it to say let's talk about dynamic content. Dynamic content would be items on your site that will change on a regular basis. Thinks of things like news articles, event items, image galleries or staff listings. These are items that will change often and you may want a content management system (CMS) to allow you to change that content without needing me to do it for you. This is where the cost can go up a little depending on the complexity of what you want. Luckily an experienced web developer like myself has already developed a sophisticated CMS so the costs will be very reasonable to implement.
Another area I put under the dynamic content umbrella is forms. I always include a basic contact form that allows a site visitor to fill in their name, email, phone number and message. If you need more complex forms than that I will need the details in order to generate an accurate quote
The final costs are pretty basic and common for most sites. You will need a domain name so do you already have it or do we need to get it? Not a big cost just the time to secure it. I usually just note the need to get the domain in my quotes and don't charge for it. How about hosting? Will I host for you? Do you need a database or not? That has more to do with the CMS and complex forms. Hosting costs have really come down in the past few years so this shouldn't be much. If you do have dynamic forms do they ask for secure information such as a drive license number or social security number? If so we will need an SSL certificate.
By now I have what I need from you to generate the quote. Now for the really useful part of this article, I am going to give you my typical cost estimate for a typical web site to help you get a feel for what a web site can cost. These are my typical assumptions. Did I mention that this is typical?
- You have a corporate look and feel including a camera ready logo and color schemes
- We may have some basic animation on the home page. No complex Flash just some images sliding or fading in and out.
- We will use some commercial royalty free art work that I will secure.
- You have your content and you have given me the ballpark estimate of no more than 20 pages with only a two level navigation scheme.
- We will have some dynamic content. I will include a news module, a links library, and an event calendar as basic modules. If you want image galleries, staff listings, document libraries or other modules I will quote them as add-ons.
- The site will have a content management system to allow you to change the site content including the listed dynamic content. The CMS will allow you to create pages and menus as well as edit the ones delivered with the site.
- The site will have a basic contact form that will allow the user to fill in basic fields. We can add or remove the needed fields once we begin the project.
- I will host the site and get you as many emails as you need but if you need more than 25 you may want to consider different options to manage your email.
- I will host your site but we will not need an SSL certificate.
Given these base assumptions my web site quote usually comes in around $2,400. This includes one year of web hosting and will secure your domain assuming it is available. These costs will go up as we add complexity. Note that this estimate does not discuss any e-commerce capability. That functionality will add some additional costs and the price will start to run up a little. My next article will address what those features and costs could be.
When you see that number you may be inclined to think I am way off. Some of you may think I am way to low given your past experience and others may think I am crazy to quote that for a web site when you can go to hundreds of places on the web and get a site for $6.00 a month including hosting. This is where you as the buyer need to make sure you are getting what you pay for. I am an experienced web developer that has developed sites for large corporations costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to small business web sites for the price quoted above. I know where the pit falls are. I know how to get your site up and running and I stay with you. If you are confident in using one of the low cost solutions then please do. If you are a little intimidated by this sort of thing then you will do well with an experienced person like me. If you think my price is too low then by all means contact me immediately.
Michael Park
Web Developer
System6 Software, Inc.
Horseheads, NY