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Estimating Website Design Costs

Guest post by: Jesse Hopps

Article Overview: As a result of new technology and an increase in competition, the overall cost of a website has decreased significantly in recent years. However, the cost of development is still dependent on functional requirements for your organization.

Estimating Website Design Costs

Estimating Website Design Costs

As a result of new technology and an increase in competition, the overall cost of a website has decreased significantly in recent years. However, the cost of development is still dependent on functional requirements for your organization.

An experienced developer can provide an estimate based on a breakdown of the hours required to meet your functional requirements. Although there is no standard when it comes to the hourly rate of developers, most charge $50-150/hour.

Cost Estimate Based on Project Size Small Business

• Number of Pages - 5 to 16 Pages+
• Graphics - Mostly Stock Photos
• Flash - Little or none
• Functional Requirements - Web forms, Mostly Informational
• Programming - Mostly Templates
• Project Duration - 1 to 35 Days
• Cost Range - $300 to $6,000

Corporate

• Number of Pages - 25 to 1000 Pages+
• Graphics - Custom and Stock
• Flash - Heavy Use
• Functional Requirements - CMS, Ecommerce, Intranet, Search, SEO
• Programming - Moderate, Custom
• Project Duration - 10 to 90 Days
• Cost Range - $5,000 to $25,000

Enterprise

• Number of Pages - 20 to 2000 Pages+
• Graphics - Mostly Custom
• Flash - Advanced Use
• Functional Requirements - Dynamic, Interactivity, Database (ex. MySQL)
• Programming - Advanced, Custom
• Project Duration - 60 to 200 Days
• Cost Range - $6,000 to $50,000+

Action Plan:

1. Locate Sample Web Sites and Find a Developer - Find a number of websites that appear to have the functionality you require and contact the developer to obtain high-level pricing information.
2. Document your Requirements - Use Demand Metric's Web Requirements Document to specify your functional requirements.
3. Prioritize your Requirements - Use Demand Metric's Web Requirements Prioritization Tool to distinguish between needs vs. wants.
4. Obtain Quote - Submit your Website Design RFP and sample sites to trusted developers for a free, no obligation quote. You can also submit your requirements to sites like BuyerZone to obtain quotes from multiple sources.
5. Develop your Website Budget - use Demand Metric's Website Budget Template to have your website project approved by senior management.
6. Evaluate Vendors - using our Website Vendor Evaluation Matrix

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Article Tags: functional requirements, new technology, website design costs



Related Forum Posts
Re: what position to request? - Hi Michael, Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy, How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant. Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future, Mal.
Re: Reduce Bounce Rate - Website bounce rate matters most today. You can decrease by providing 1. Good Web Layout And Design 2. Relevant and unique content 3. Content clear and proper navigation 4. Improve website loading speed 5. Add relevant images 6. Analysis of keywords 7. Minimize pages 8. optimize your target keywords 9. Good quality of links 10. Take People Where They Want to Go
Managing Your Website - Hi Beat I know what you are talking about when you say it could be a frustrating experience. I would recommend to every business owner to find a website partner who can handle the Website Design/SEO/Hosting by themselves while still at a reasonable cost to your business. This is the most economical way to operate the online side of your business if you are unsure about it. I actually do this for a few clients myself and all I do is send them a bill every year for hosting/seo but if there are any problems its up to me to call the hosting company to find out what's wrong as well as keep them high ranking for particular keywords. If anyone else has found it difficult with their website, hosting or the management of any online services please post your feedback here and I'll try to advise your best option.
Re: Top Banner Help - [quote:35xjo6uq]Good job on the banners BennyBoy![/quote:35xjo6uq] No probs:) I agree Online Marketing and Publicity Search Engine Optimization - Web Design and Programming Blogging also may be... Web Design Tutorials Looking to Hire - jobs section Interesting Articles / websites
Learn SEO and web design? or Outsource? or Partner? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":fiwtvhid]I would recommend to every business owner to find a website partner who can handle the Website Design/SEO/Hosting by themselves while still at a reasonable cost to your business. This is the most economical way to operate the online side of your business if you are unsure about it[/quote:fiwtvhid] Hi TheAnonymousMan, Do you recommend this course of action because you feel that it's too much work for an entrepreneur to be the "jack of all trades"? What if the business a startup is trying to launch is completely an online venture? Wouldn't it be more practical (and cost efficient, especially in the long run) for that entrepreneur to learn how to create or at least update his/her own website? In fact, a lot of times, I hear how startups tend to give too many shares of the company to their partnering web designer, only to regret it later. How much should one give?


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