I get a lot of initial calls and emails from people asking “what’s the price tag?” Problem is, we’re not buying paper towels here — for an effective Web site, the answer is, “it depends.”
Every Web site project I’ve ever worked on is unique, and as a result, the price for each is different. For some sites, the bulk of the project is creative: creating logos and artwork, writing or editing content for the site, producing effective product photos, etc. For others, it’s more technical: for example, implementing a custom template into a blog, CMS system, or e-commerce solution. Still other sites require both creative and technical efforts. And since I do a lot of business strategic planning, information architecture and usability work, all my projects include at least some organizational work before we even start with creative or technology.
Starting with business planning, we first need to determine your goals, understand your key audience and evaluate your competition. If you have an existing business plan, some of that work might already be done. This step is important, and it takes time and resources to return valuable answers.
Next, we need to plan the Web site. What style, features or applications will be needed? How many pages of content? How much artwork? How will the site be maintained over time? Are there Web server technologies that must be considered? How many email addresses will be created and maintained? How will the site be marketed, initially and over time? Are there future expansion plans that we can prepare for now?
At this point, it is finally possible to assign a realistic cost for the project. If you’ve skipped to the end, hoping to bypass all the blather and get to the numbers, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Go back up to where it says, “it depends,” and read from there.
