10 Things To Know About Websites
1) Provide Samples of Your Preferences
Search the internet to find samples of the particular style or styles you have in mind for your website, logo, or graphic. Send your designer several links or samples demonstrating what you like and what you don’t. This will help articulate your expectations in regards to quality, layout, and the graphics of the finished product.
2) Always use Analytics
Web analytics refers to using data collection from a website as a factor when tracking which components of a website work and which do not. These can be anything from web traffic reports or custom metrics such as sales and lead information. Analytics help improve your web site’s audience response as it can provide you with valuable information on what aspects of your site are working or which are not. Many different vendors provide software and services to track data. Google Analytics and unique 800#s are two of the simplest ways to track where your business is coming from.
3) Designers VS. Programmers
Yes there is a difference! Many companies will try to use the same person for these TWO skill sets. Would you use a lawyer for filing your taxes? If you are designing a more complex website, ask to see live examples of both design and programming skills. For simple information websites, you should hire someone design focused.
4) Plan for modifications
Businesses change so prepare for the future. When paying for a website, make sure it comes with a content management system, which will allow you to easily change the text by yourself when updates are needed. When paying for graphics, always ask to receive the raw files so you can make changes later in-house or with a different designer in the future.
5) Hosting should be easy
The vast majority of the time (although there are a few exceptions), it is best to use a third party web-hosting company to host your website. Ask for recommendations from your web designer and be sure to at least 2-3 quotes. You should expect and require a guaranteed 99% uptime (in that the website should not be down 99% of the time).
6) E-commerce
E-commerce and shopping cart functions can be bought off-the-shelf for simple products or custom designed for more complex transactions. Most companies charge a monthly fee for these services.
7) Pricing
The price you pay depends on a couple of factors. The biggest variables are the complexity of the site and the number of pages of content you require. Some basic guidelines: A simple website with around 4-10 pages of content should run around $600-1,000 for a web template (again, make sure you have access to a tool to make text changes on your own). For something a bit more customized, expect to pay around $800-3,000 depending on, again, the complexity and number of pages. If a website costs less than $500, you’ll probably get what you pay for: high monthly payments, a cheap looking design, hidden maintenance fees, and/or an unfriendly site to search engines.
Websites with an especially complex functionality will usually be billed based on the number of projected development hours. These rates typically range from $40-200/hour. Complex database driven sites can cost approximately $50,000-$100,000.
8) Payment and Timing
The typical payment arrangement includes a partial payment up-front with full payment expected upon delivery of the finished product. Always ask for an estimated delivery time to be included in your proposals. If you don’t specify at least a rough estimate of an expected project completion date, many companies will prioritize a client with a firmer deadline.
9) Who writes the text?
Most web design companies will not write text. You could write the content yourself or hire a copy expert or marketing consultant to write it for you. Web designers should be able to refer you to web content writers if requested. 10) Ownership
Make sure that you will own what you pay for. A designer may ask for ownership, though, and you should be prepared to discuss the ownership rights with them. Generally, it is often less expensive if the designer retains co-ownership since they will be able to use your design as a template in the future. Be sure to specify ownership rights in the contract, especially if you expect to be the sole owner of your design. |
