I was talking on the phone with a prospective client last week. He wanted to build a fairly large e-commerce website. During the course of our discussion, we started to discuss price. For the site he wanted, it was going to cost in the 5,000 to 6,000 range. I've built similar sites before, so I'm pretty confident about what it will take to launch the right site. However, I continued to give him the following advice about pricing and choosing the right web company.
- There are no price standards in web development - There are thousands of web development and hosting firms out there waiting to take your money. These companies range from the very small part-time freelancer to large, corporate firms. Trying to get a clear picture of cost when starting your project can be difficult.
- Other firms will estimate as low as $1000 - And in fact, he had received one estimate for $1500 for the entire site, including future maintenance. The problem with these "low-price leaders" is that their customer service is almost always suspect. You really have to question the long-term prospects of a company that will build a fully-featured custom e-commerce site for so little money. Will they still be around a year from now? How responsive will they be when you need updates?
- Large firms could charge $10,000 or more! - On the other side of the spectrum are the large, corporate development and hosting firms. While they have teams of developers waiting to work on your project, they also have tons of overhead... and they have to pay for that overhead through inflated development fees. At the same time, their target customer is much bigger than you, so even though you'll pay tons of money, you likely won't get the service provided by smaller development companies.
- Identify what is really important to you - When choosing a development and hosting firm, it is critical to identify what you're looking for in a partner.
- Large firms tend to be more stable, although their customer service may be suspect. What you're really paying for is the prestige of working with such a large, and usually well-known, company.
- Small firms are more susceptible to the economy, so they may not be around years from now... although they tend to work harder for your business. Small firms (like Site Street) straddle the large firm and freelance chasm by providing cost-effective solutions while striving for higher customer service levels.
- Even smaller than that are the part-time freelancers... people who have other full-time jobs but will work on your project on the side. While they are almost always the cheapest, it means nothing to them to pick up and leave you in the dust. Freelancers can work well for limited, short-term projects but it is not a good idea to partner with them for the long haul.
- Be clear about what you're getting - Not all firms are the same. Some companies just do design... some just do development... some just do hosting. You'll need all three! Site Street provides development and hosting from our own data center, outsourcing design to many different firms. Some companies SAY they do hosting, but are in fact co-locating or reselling someone else's service.
- The benefit of oursourced design - Site Street has a select group of graphic design firms that we will use for different projects. This allows us to select the right designer for the right project, both in terms of design style and budget. Choosing Site Street does not mean you're restricted to the design style that we know.
- The benefit of in-house hosting - Site Street hosts websites from our own data center in Austin, Texas. We are not a reseller and we do not co-locate equipment with someone else. This means that when we develop a website, we can optimize the site to the hosting environment. There are never any questions about what can be done when we can control all the variables. In addition, you never have to worry about who to call if you have a question or a problem and we never have to worry about how to answer your questions... Site Street is the only website company you'll ever need.
- Finally, personality counts! Ultimately, large website or e-commerce projects require clear and constant communication. You have to choose a web development and hosting company that makes you feel comfortable. The best case scenario is that you will work with these people for many years as your web business becomes more and more successful. That relationship should be simple and easy, making for a more profitable relationship for everyone.