How much does a website cost? I hear this question often as I visit with prospective clients. It seems to be a fair question, but impossible to answer without more information.
You might as well ask me "How much does it cost to have surgery?" Well, do you need a mole removed, or do you need a heart transplant? Do you want me to quote you just the surgeon’s fee or do you want to know the whole package price which might include: the surgeon’s fee, the anesthesiologist’s fee, the facility/hospital fee, lab work, post-op care, durable medical equipment, prescriptions, and even physical therapy.
Just like a person, a website should be viewed as a living and changing organism.
- It needs to be fed. (updating content)
- It needs to be clothed. (design)
- It needs to be understood. (good navigation)
- It needs activity and exercise. (it needs to DO something—programming)
- It needs to visit the doctor once in a while. (maintenance)
- It needs a place to live. (hosting)
- It needs friends. (other sites to link to it—vertical marketing)
- It needs to be found and known. (search engine optimization)
That's not to say that websites are expensive. In fact, we've even designed software to take care of most of these tasks for you so it's not. But, the next time one of my consultants asks you for more information when you ask him how much a website costs, just understand that there is more to a website than you might think.
Posted on
Mon, April 17, 2006
by Andrea D.