Don’t ask yourself why it costs so much to make a website; ask yourself why you are so willing to spend so little and receive less.
There are so many talented designers out there! Here at Netgain we support students at the local college through some scholarship awards. We value education, innovation and talent that we hope can be groomed and bring success to the communities we live and work in.
Congrats @NetGain_SEO supporting students and education in our community. pic.twitter.com/H2GXke72pB
— Ryan Tayler (@taylerca) April 26, 2014
However we do not recommend you stake your business on the abilities of a single person who will outsource portions of your website or a student because you are hoping to be frugal and save a bit of cash here and there. There are so many components that go into a website; in fact one of our checklists has over 600 items on it! Every time you negotiate for lower prices ask yourself what corners are now being cut to meet that lower bar of entry?
Shopping around is always a sensible task but the dollar figure should not be the only deciding factor. You should be shopping around for the firm that has staff on site to cover every aspect of your site from SEO to design, content and hosting. You should be shopping through a firms portfolio’s to gauge their unique creativeness, you should be able to determine their flexibility in design not how many quick sites they turn out with the same CMS (content management system) .
Why does it cost so much to make a website anyway?
1. First you consult and educate – Identify goals, assess resources and research
2. Secondly you plan a head with a site map- where things should go
3. Only then can you start designing based on what you now know
4. Building the site is the biggest part – you want the best developer to write stable code
5. You need to fill that empty site with content now, this is where delays start
6. Measure twice, cut once. Testing is crucial to make sure everything works the way it should
7. You’re about to be left alone with your new site, have you been trained how to use it?
8. Launch day can be filled with technical issues is your graphic designer also a network technician?
Start to chip away at the cost and you may find yourself with a beautiful website with zero search engine optimization relegating you to the depths of Google. That firm in India the slick salesman outsourced your website too is now costing you thousands in copyright fees for not purchasing your images properly. “What do you mean my new website doesn’t work on phones or tablets?”is not something you should ever have to say.
There will always be people willing to undercut their competitors but make sure they are not cutting the things you need to make your website function as the most valuable front facing employee you have. You can always find a friend or student with talent but what happens when they need help? A favor from a friend won’t get you multiple revisions, you can be sure they aren’t researching keywords to put in your content either.
The reason your website costs so much? You want it done right, the first time.
