Is It Affordable Web Design?

The valuable knowledge and practical expertise that a talented and experienced web designer shares is extremely valuable and worth the premium paid.

What is affordable web design? Why does the PRICE FOR SMALL BUSINESS WEB DESIGN run the gamut from $399 to well into thousands of dollars? What is the difference between a website that costs $399 and one that can exceed $10,000? What are you really paying for? Here are a few questions to ask the next web designer you plan to hire to get a better sense of what he or she offers:

1. Is The Web Design Template Based?

That's an important question, especially when you receive a very low price quote for web design. Usually if someone quotes a price of $399 (or in that ultra low range) they are simply taking an existing template, adding your content, and calling it a website. If that is all you what you want, fine! However, it will represent your business like a salesmen with a bad case of dandruff and a cheap, ill-fitting suit. The lack of polish and care evident in low-priced web design may well cause you to lose potential customers. Talented web designers, who understand marketing and communicate your objectives well do not charge $399.00. Their expertise has a great impact on the potential success of your web site.

2. Will You Own The Web Design and Domain Name?

Another type of offer you will see is web design offered at a very low price (there is that $399 offer again) but with the obligation that you must host the website with the web designer's hosting company. Typically, they will charge much more than standard hosting rates to make up for the very low initial fee paid for web design. However, over the long term, you could well overpay for that web site by thousands of dollars. In many cases, you may not be able to edit or customize the web site to your liking. If you choose to move to a new web host to save money, a new problem arises. The small print in the contract says that you do not own the web design, and in many cases, you do not own your domain name either. You lose everything when you move to another web host.

3. What Does It Take to Build a Great Web Site?

Let's be realistic, good web design is not easily achieved. It will require that hours will be devoted to consultation between you and your web designer over a period of weeks to get the design just right. On many of our projects, the initial design draft we submit to a client may look nothing like our final web design. We consult with our clients to insure that the web design meets all of their expectations and requirements. We fine tune, revise, and redesign until the clients objectives are fully met. Only then do we build a final web site with the client approved design. It is a labor intensive process. However, it yields a superior web site. That is a how web design works in the real world. Good web design cannot be created without it. This is why good web design can easily cost $3500 or more. You are paying for the time and expertise needed to create a web site that works hard for your business.

4, What Type of Value Added Services Can You Expect From the Web Designer?

Will he advise you of online marketing strategies to help you get the highest amount of qualified traffic to your web site? Does he understand how his web design will impact on search engine ranking and incoming traffic to the web site? Is he or she effective at communicating clearly, avoiding technical jargon that confuses business owners? Are they patient and pleasant to work with? These are value added skills that separate the good from the best. The valuable knowledge and practical expertise that an effective web designer shares is extremely valuable and worth the premium paid.

These were just a few insights into the real cost of good web design. Hopefully, it helps you to great a more realistic idea of the true cost of web design. You may also find our article on HOW TO SET A WEB DESIGN BUDGET helpful as well.

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Donald Peterson
http://newark1.com