Web Design Articles

Tight-Belt Tips:Websites on a Budget

Let's face it: websites can get expensive. Depending on your needs, your region and your choice of designers, you can spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars to get a quality site. For independent professionals, small businesses or nonprofits operating on a shoestring budget, those costs can start to hurt quickly.

However, there are several ways you can reign that cost in without sacrificing quality. (Hint: Asking your designer to work for less is not one of the tips!)

• Break down your project into phases, with the most important work coming first. Who says you have to do everything at once? In fact, it's often better to approach larger projects in phases; there is less rush, and you can gradually learn what works on your site and what doesn't, making adjustments along the way.

• Be organized. Provide your designer with your content on time, proofread and ready to go, in a format s/he can use. Check the progress of the work frequently, and speak up immediately if you have any concerns. Designate someone to manage the project and provide a centralized point of contact. Staying organized increases everyone's efficiency and helps avoid many situations that could end up generating additional charges.

• Add some of your own content. However you do it, you can save money by adding your own content. If you are planning to do your updating in-house, you need to learn the process anyway. The Dreamweaver - Contribute combo is ideal for adding your own content. You Webbie can set up lovely little templates that lock down important code in Dreamweaver; you use the simplified Contribute, which recognizes the template structure, to add your own copy and images without worry about breaking something and the design stays consistent.

• Scale back. Do you really need all the features you're asking for, right now? Sometimes, people think they want something that, with additional reflection, really isn't all that important. Decide on your key features and focus on these first.

• Consider purchasing templates. There are tons of great designs available in templates for a fraction of the price of custom work. Even with a designer's help to customize and set up the site, this is a very affordable option.

• Check out online outsourcing. Marketplaces such as Elance are highly competitive, so you can find some great bargains. Be sure to check out the designer's work and references well, though. There are often no procedures in place to guarantee the quality of their work or qualifications of the freelancer, so you have to be responsible for doing your own homework. And if the price is too good to be true, well...then it's probably not true. Remember: A bad website is no bargain at any price!

• Develop an ongoing relationship with your Webbies. If you consistently provide work and referrals, your web pro will likely take this into consideration when determining rates.

• Be nice. Sound odd for a budgeting tip? It's more important than you think! Pricing web projects involves both objective and subjective considerations. In delivering a final figure, your Webbie is trying to predict how much time and energy a given project will take. If you're not pleasant to work with, you can bet that will be considered “additional energy.” Seriously. It does pay to be nice.

• For more ideas, check out my Tips on Working With Your Webbie, as most of them can also help save you money.

That's it! Heed my advice, and you'll end up with a lovely website for reasonable price. What's not to love?

Good luck with your project!

 

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