Website costs?

MyBusinez.com

Hi All,
I hope everyone is well and business is going as good as can be in tough times.

Web designers and developers have their set costs for building websites. Over the last couple of years those costs have dropped but the cost of building a website remains the same. It is very hard to cost a website these days as nobody wants to pay 1 cent even for a top notch website in which many hours of hard work have gone into.

I am doing a bit of research into how much business owners and website owners have spent on websites and more importantly how much they are willing to pay for a website these days? What do you think is a decent price for a 10 page website?

Any answered would be appreciated.

CompFix

MyBusinez.com wrote: »

What do you think is a decent price for a 10 page website?

That question is too open ended. The web is too diverse these days to just say "I want a website, build it". Are you talking about basic html/css or an e-commerce website? Even that is being too narrow.

Other stuff like SEO & online marketing come packaged from web designers when you get your website built now.

MyBusinez.com

so what would you consider to be a proper, professional website package?

bigneacy

I don't believe in paying for anything I can do myself. Its possible to teach yourself web design, graphic design and SEO, therefore i'd rather read up on it and teach myself as I go than pay someone else to do it, yeah there's times when I think "ah feck it, it'd be easier to get someone else in to do it" but I almost feel I'm betraying the business by taking money out to pay for something that I could do.

I built my website on my own, I am developing 6 further websites at the moment on my own, I done all the graphics and programming myself and I thought myself to do those things. The actual internal scripts might be messy but they work so that's all I care about.

I think a reasonable price to pay for a 10 page, run of the mill HTML & CSS website would be absolutly no more than €100 (for the design, hosting and registration would be extra). An experienced designer with all the knowledge and a pre-defined list of content could knock a decent site out in about 6 or 7 hours.

I'm sorry if you feel this is a really low price but its no longer a specialized field.

If you're getting into complex form building and java and e-shop programming then you could double the price. Any more and you're just being greedy.

Oh and I think that cost should include a decent amount of metatags and descriptions, search engine submission and some basic SEO.

eziite

What I found that price even in last few years isn't the decision maker in web development for start-ups. There is always "value" before "price".

You can always outsource your web development to Asia for very cheap price and hope it will be just as you wanted. There is a lot of people I met that failed with that kind of outsourcing.

From my experience start-ups in Ireland search for:
1. Experience - web developer knows what he is doing and can deliver requested software.
2. Referrals - web developer has built something similar before (guarantee)
3. Long term relationship - when the software will be finished and they will require changes, how possible it will be do so
4. Price - most of the start-ups gets funding and price usually depends from how much investor is ready to give in

Also I met few people that think hiring developer in-house is much more valuable than paying somebody outside company.

Price is always negotiable, other things not so much.

contentking

I built my website on my own, I am developing 6 further websites at the moment on my own

Can we take a look?

I think a reasonable price to pay for a 10 page, run of the mill HTML & CSS website would be absolutly no more than €100 (for the design, hosting and registration would be extra). An experienced designer with all the knowledge and a pre-defined list of content could knock a decent site out in about 6 or 7 hours.

When you refer to a html/css site, please post a link to a website that does not include design work. Then you mention design is an extra???

You really have no idea about good design and it's cost, €100, wow,I'm simply speechless. And 6 - 7 hours, yes but remember that it more than likely took them years to get their craft down to a point where they can work fast! Should a self employed car mechanic work for €100 for 6 - 7 hours?

If you're getting into complex form building and java and e-shop programming then you could double the price. Any more and you're just being greedy.

So €200, eh? And being greedy? You do know freelancers/smes have to pay tax, overheads, salary, rent, utilities and a whole host of other expenses.

Oh and I think that cost should include a decent amount of metatags and descriptions, search engine submission and some basic SEO.

"A decent amount of metatags" thanks for adding how much you know about web development...

tricky D

eziite wrote: »

What I found that price even in last few years isn't the decision maker in web development for start-ups. There is always "value" before "price".

Spot on. Good business people don't confuse these two.

bigneacy wrote: »

I don't believe in paying for anything I can do myself. Its possible to teach yourself web design, graphic design and SEO,

8<

Oh and I think that cost should include a decent amount of metatags and descriptions, search engine submission and some basic SEO.

@bigneacy Your post is verging on the absurd. Websites a lot more specialised than you appreciate and you are only at the start of a very long learning curve. Crucially you don't appreciate what you don't yet know and that's a mistake. You're not even practicing the bits that you preach you know.


You did up a nice website a month or 2 ago. It's a decent stab for a first effort but I feel you've let it go to your head.

http://www.ivyhouse.ie/index.html

You also put this entry level design up a month ago for review. In your own words you blagged through the design an are confused in certain (basic) areas of site building. You got some great feedback and you have not implemented or plainly ignored most of it.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055986252

Here's a summary:
Poor SEO
Zero backlinks
Bad contrast espceically for low vision users which is a large enough market
Basic typography
No accessibility features
Inconsistent look and feel
Dodgy colours (sh1t brown) - no colour theory
No logo
Poor internationalisiation of phone number even though you took on board the simple suggestion it still isn't changed.
Basic info missing or poorly displayed
A Turkish domain was also registered - huh?
Redundant clicks
Gallery is in Flash
Site navigation missing some pages
Badly bloated files
Poor information architecture and user interfacing
Buried special offers
Email address not linked
Frames
No 404 page for missing/mispelt pages
Non-use of standard logos for social networking
No map
Invalid code
Poor use of content to engage potential customers

Fortunately for the likes of me, there's plenty of business people who know the true value of a proper professional who can squeeze out more marginal profits from a site at a cost effective rate.

Trojan

1. Price
2. Quality & reliablity
3. Speed of implementation

Pick two.

bigneacy

Wow... nice to see the web designers are still so stuck up and self important as they always have been.

tricky D wrote: »

@bigneacy Your post is verging on the absurd. Websites a lot more specialised than you appreciate and you are only at the start of a very long learning curve. Crucially you don't appreciate what you don't yet know and that's a mistake. You're not even practicing the bits that you preach you know.


You did up a nice website a month or 2 ago. It's a decent stab for a first effort but I feel you've let it go to your head.

http://www.ivyhouse.ie/index.html

You also put this entry level design up a month ago for review. In your own words you blagged through the design an are confused in certain (basic) areas of site building. You got some great feedback and you have not implemented or plainly ignored most of it.

Actually I have taken most of what was said into account, I've been busy doing other things in the meantime, like... you know, running a business.
I stated plenty of times that I am learning and doing it as I learn.

tricky D wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?
t=2055986252

Here's a summary:
Poor SEO
Zero backlinks
Bad contrast espceically for low vision users which is a large enough market
Basic typography
No accessibility features
Inconsistent look and feel
Dodgy colours (sh1t brown) - no colour theory
No logo
Poor internationalisiation of phone number even though you took on board the simple suggestion it still isn't changed.
Basic info missing or poorly displayed
A Turkish domain was also registered - huh?
Redundant clicks
Gallery is in Flash
Site navigation missing some pages
Badly bloated files
Poor information architecture and user interfacing
Buried special offers
Email address not linked
Frames
No 404 page for missing/mispelt pages
Non-use of standard logos for social networking
No map
Invalid code
Poor use of content to engage potential customers

Fortunately for the likes of me, there's plenty of business people who know the true value of a proper professional who can squeeze out more marginal profits from a site at a cost effective rate.

I'd like to see the quote from me that said I was a professional web designer. I am very much so an amateur and I am learning as I go. I can see how you missed this, I only stated it clearly 3 or 4 times.

I admitted I have poor SEO, its something I am currently working on.
No Logo? It shows how much you know about the accommodation industry- Logo's are not the done thing. Its all about winning customers & repeat business, not brand recognition

The colour scheme, "shit brown", as you so eloquently put it matches the period of the building, which is why it was chosen.

Gallery is flash- so what? Big deal? It works.

The "turkish" domain is in fact a free domain I was using temporarily while I waited for my .ie to be registered.

No facebook and twitter logos was a personal preference.

Sorry, whats the problem with the typography?

Really and truly- its a website for a B&B, not a fucking multi-national corporation. If you pulled your head out of your arse and came down off your high horse maybe you'd get a dose of reality and realise this.

I gave my opinion on the question that was asked and now i'm getting attacked for it? I'm an amateur DIY designer. I am not a web designer.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

MyBusinez.com wrote: »

What do you think is a decent price for a 10 page website?

There's the problem, it should never be about pages. Adding an extra page with any CMS is simple. Price should be set based on it's value vs market forces.

At the moment so many people are turning to online business to help them out of the recession there is a boom in the web development area. So many designers I know are turning away or being very selective about clients. But to get this luxury you have to have a track record of delivering results.

bigneacy wrote: »

I don't believe in paying for anything I can do myself....

This is the great entrepreneurial trait that eventually you need to let go of, business owners just don't have enough time in the day and eventually become the bottle neck that stifles the businesses potential.

bigneacy wrote: »

I built my website on my own... I done all the graphics and programming myself and I thought myself to do those things.

Having been on your site before, your extremely lucky and talented. Can't really assume everyone is so capable. There's a lot of people who try this particularly in E-commerce and never make a dime. Nothing wrong in asking for help and paying for someones experience.

@tricky D Go easy on the guy, he's not running an online business he's doing a brochure site for his business and in a non competitive environment.

bigneacy

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan wrote: »

There's the problem, it should never be about pages. Adding an extra page with any CMS is simple. Price should be set based on it's value vs market forces.

At the moment so many people are turning to online business to help them out of the recession there is a boom in the web development area. So many designers I know are turning away or being very selective about clients. But to get this luxury you have to have a track record of delivering results.


This is the great entrepreneurial trait that eventually you need to let go of, business owners just don't have enough time in the day and eventually become the bottle neck that stifles the businesses potential.

Having been on your site before, your extremely lucky and talented. Can't really assume everyone is so capable. There's a lot of people who try this particularly in E-commerce and never make a dime. Nothing wrong in asking for help and paying for someones experience.

Now this, I agree with, I'm sure further down the line, when things are busier or when I have I have my hand in more than one pie, I won't have the time to do it myself and will then look to getting a professional in. At the moment it suits better to do it, and I suppose I am lucky that I have the time/desire to learn how to do a basic site.