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Designing and Building your Website: Who Will Do it and How Much Will it Cost?

Designing and building a professional, functional website that showcases your company in its best light is critical to the success of marketing your product or service on the Internet. Therefore, choosing how you will implement your website project is probably one of the most important marketing decisions you will make.

Making the right decision for your organization in this instance requires that you understand what options are available to you, and there are a number of them. Of course, for many small businesses, cost becomes the 'bottom-line' factor in deciding how to design and build a website. For this reason, it is important to consider ALL related costs including hardware, Internet access, web design and development, hosting and maintenance, and future growth functionality.

Basic Needs
The investment in a computer and a connection to the Internet is the first step in developing your website. Expect an Internet enabled computer to cost anywhere from $500 (used) to $3,000 (new) depending on speed, software and functionality. Access to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) will run you anywhere from $10 to $50 per month depending on the provider you choose and the speed of your connection. Keep in mind that hardware, software and connection costs vary significantly as the cost of new technologies continue to come down, so be sure to shop around.

Once you've taken care of the basics, you need to decide how you will design and build your website. Below are the four main ways to get a website up and running for your business and the approximate costs related to each.

1. Do it yourself
The least expensive (but probably most time consuming) option is to design and build a website yourself. There are many do-it-yourself software programs out there which require little or no knowledge of HTML -- such as Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver -- which allow you to design and build a basic brochure website. And, there are even programs which offer drag-and-drop template software which takes some of the guess work out of website design.

The cost of the doing it yourself makes this option very attractive to small business people. The cost of buying web design software is $250 and up, and template websites can cost as little as $12 per month.

Nevertheless, the cost-savings of the do-it-yourself option may be outweighed by the time required to design and build your own site. If you are a novice with computers, this is time that may be better spent doing what you do best - building and growing your business.

Before choosing to build your site yourself, ask yourself: Do I possess the necessary design skills and knowledge of website functionality and navigation? Am I willing to put in the time it takes to learn to use the necessary web authoring software, and gain enough web administration skills to maintain the site?

If you do not have a full set of skills, your efforts may end up costing you more than anticipated.

For do-it-yourself templates, check out www.templatemonster.com , www.sitedynamo.com or try a search in Google for 'template websites'.

2. Hire a student
Hiring a student can be a cost-effective option for a small business owner on a budget. A skilled, enthusiastic student can design and build you a basic website, and can advise you on search engine optimization and other Internet marketing techniques. The cost of the hiring a student depends on the nature of the relationship. You may be able to hire a student for as little as $25 per hour or even on a contra basis.

To save time and money, and ensure you get exactly the site you want, you may want to consider buying a template website and have a student incorporate your content and customize it for your purposes.

Keep in mind, a student is still learning not only how to design and build websites, but also about how to interpret a client's needs and wants, and balance them against a site's required functionality. Therefore, if you require anything more than a basic brochure website (e.g. a database driven site or a site with e-commerce functionality), in order to avoid costly mistakes and ensure you get a site that can be easily and cost-effectively upgraded, you'll want to consider hiring a professional instead.

If you want to hire a student to implement your web project, you can find them through local colleges that offer web design certification. Public schools include BCIT, Langara and Capilano College. In addition, there are a number of private schools to choose from. Try searching Google for 'web design schools' in your area.

3. Hire a freelance designer
Hiring a freelance web designer/developer means hiring a professional who has the necessary web design skills and knowledge, yet doesn't have the overhead of a traditional design house.

The pros and cons of hiring freelancers:

Pros

• They are generally less expensive than a design firm.
• A freelancer offers a direct line of communication -- you are only dealing with one individual as opposed to a whole team.
• They usually provide trouble-shooting, maintenance and upgrading services at reasonable rates.

Cons

• They may not have the required development or Internet marketing skills and you may have to hire other individuals to ensure all your project needs are met.
• If a freelancer is no longer available -- perhaps they find a full-time job -- their clients end up having to find a new web professional to work with. This can be a problem if you don't have access to your files (and your domain name) and/or your site is built in a manner that makes it difficult for another designer to understand and take over.

Costs of hiring a freelance designer really depend on market demand. Freelancers will sometimes charge on a per project basis, but more often charge by the hour. Current rates average $50 to $80 per hour. A well designed, professional but basic website can cost as little as $2,000 through a freelancer.

Looking for a freelancer? Try searching the www.e-bc.ca e-Business Suppliers database , for web designers and developers in your area.

4. Hire a design firm
If cost is not an issue, you have complex development needs, and you want a full-service approach from a team of professionals, consider hiring a design firm. Web design firms will assign your project to a team of professionals such as a project manager, creative director, designer, developer and Internet marketer. Staff will work together to ensure all aspects of your web development project are in sync. Web design firms may also offer print work to ensure their client's online and offline messages are complementary.

Web design firms often charge a flat fee for an entire project, and their hourly rates average from $100 to $150 per hour.

Keep in mind, the purpose of your website will determine the complexity of the task of building it. For example, if you are selling a product and want to take payment directly through your website you will need to incorporate payment and security tools. Similarly, if you want to automate your supply chain management, your site will require the ability for real-time processing of large amounts of data. As purpose varies, so does development complexity and with this, price. More graphics, more functions, more tools require more time, more maintenance and more money.

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