jeff adams

In this post I’ll give you 1o Tips for Budgeting for a Website including how much to expect a designer charge, what information they ask for and more valuable discussion points to help you on your way to a shiny new website.

This post covers:

1. Content Mangement
2. Offline Marketing
3. Site Maintenance
4. Timescale
5. Cowboy Designers
6. Brief, Brief and Brief
7. Speculative Work
8. Be Prepared to Pay Up
9. Hire a Copywriter
10. Be Proactive

Perhaps one of the first questions I am asked, often with little or no background information about a project is “How much will this cost?”

I can understand the logic, since we are all on a tight budget these days, but the problem with that question is you can expect an answer very much like “well how long is a piece of string?”.

I don’t think it’s fair to brush off this subject with humour and so I’ve written this article to help you get some sort of idea of what to expect to pay and what features you can live without.

1. Content Management Systems

These can be enormously expensive, sometimes in the 10k+ bracket when really all you might want is to add a few news stories, add products and maybe have a forum. For something small like that, you could get it for so much cheaper or even for free if you use something like Word Press for your sites content management.

2. Offline Marketing

Don’t under value the work that needs to go into promoting your website offline. Don’t forget that all your business cards will need re-printing, letterheads re-designed and all this costs money – don’t leave it off your list for the budget.

3. Site Maintenance

If you want an all-singing, all-dancing website that you maintain yourself then you can expect your designer to charge a lot more to include his functionality. This is not because he/she knows you won’t need them after the project is done, but because the technology behind it needs to be implemented – and this takes time, a lot of time in some cases.

4. Timescale

Broadly speaking, the faster you want a project completed the more it is going to cost. It’s the same in most trades. If you wanted a house built quickly, you’d be paying your builder extra so that he can stay longer on the site or employ other members of staff to ensure it’s completion.

5. Cowboy Designers

Just like builders and plumbers, there are cowboy web designers as well. These are the folks offering a full website for under £300. The age old “you get what you pay for” springs to mind. Do your research.

6. Brief, Brief and Brief

The more information you have for a designer, the more likely he/she will be able to price up a quote for you. Simply saying “a basic website, few images and a contact form” doesn’t cut it, they need to know WHO the site is targeted at, what you do as a business and what the aims are for the website. By the way I just described Facebook with that description and you know how huge that site is!

7. Speculative Work

I’ve already written a post on speculative work and while it can be a shortcut to getting designs in for approval, it’s counter productive. If you like a web designers previous work, or you get on personally then think about how you can work with each other long term as it’ll be much more cost-effective having them on board. Who knows, they might even throw in some mini-sites for your marketing company for free if they feel like they are likely to get more work from you.

8. Be Prepared to Pay Up

When I started doing logo designs for people, they asked for a design, and then they rejected it 2-3 times before walking away. Foolishly, I didn’t have any sort of contract and I had spent hours on re-doing their logo only to walk away with nothing.

I’ve since learnt the norm is to pay either half at the beginning and half on completion, or if funds aren’t always available you can come to an arrangement with your designers as to what they are prepared to work on. Remember, you still have to pay even if either of you walk away from the project.

9. Hire a Copywriter

If I could afford one, I’d get a copy writer to read my blog posts!

They are worth the extra expense, and aren’t as expensive as you might think. A lot of them often work on a by-word basis, and if you only have some company-blurb on your website it can prove a stroke of genius. Ask your designer, he might know someone in the industry or you might have someone in your marketing department that can train up.

10. Be Proactive

It costs nothing to get people behind the website, so you should be looking to encourage its use and get people involved. This doesn’t mean everyone is involved in the design process, but it does mean you keep them informed. Think about it as a new house being build and you’re showing off to your family members – that’s how you should be feeling about your new website.

Conclusion

Whether you are a seasoned pro or a newcomer to the scene, these are all valuable pointers to help you get what is best all around. Being proactive about your new website will rub off on those around you involved in the project, not to mention your designer will sense your enthusiasm and feed off of it.

If your goal is to save money on the site then tell your designer this, you’ll be surprised at the areas they can advise you on. Remember they are the professionals, so take advantage of their skills and don’t just treat them as pixel pushers.

I hope this post has been useful for you, if you are someone looking for a new website please get in touch I would love to hear about your project. If you want to leave a comment please do, I do read them all and reply where it’s needed.