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Part Three of The Small Business Website Guide for Business Owners
Welcome to the beginning of the third episode of the Guide series I am working on to help small biz owners learn the ins and outs of having a website. This Guide walks you through the why a website is so important, how to plan for a great business website, picking the right method of designing a website, and how to handle things during the project. Once we've learned how to get started, we'll be going over internet marketing 101.
Here’s a quick overview on choosing whether to make your own website or hire a web designer:
- Setting a budget and knowing what it can get you (Covered in this post)
- Knowing what you need
- Comparing the pro's and con's
- Understanding the benefit of getting involved
- Taking the first steps
Quick note: This article covers the budget it takes to hire someone else. If you're trying to find out the cost to buy a website domain and hosting on your own, click here.
Understanding the decision that lies ahead.
You've been sold on [why you need a website and the numerous benefits you can reap]({{ site.url }}/small-business-website-guide-why-are-websites-important "Websites for small business: Why are they important?") by getting started NOW. You even went through and put some good thought into [what your website is going to be all about]({{ site.url }}/small-business-website-guide-how-to-plan-for-the-best-website "Best small business website").
Now you're presented with the tough choice: Do you hire someone, or figure out how to do it yourself? I aim to help you make that decision right here and now.
Step One: Realize your budget for the project, and know how much your website will cost.
{: .float-right} You should know how much your website will cost.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/
Sometimes this is the only step you really need to do to make a decision clear. How much money can you spend on your website in up-front costs?
Here are some guides for what your budget range means:
Budget: $0 - $500
This is not going to get you far if you choose to hire a designer. Sure, you might pick up a student or a starting freelancer but unless you find a rare gem who hasn't figured out what they're worth you're not going to get anything you couldn't learn yourself with a few hours of research.
Your money would be more effective going into marketing for your new website once you've done it yourself.
What to expect from a designer for a full website in this range:
- Inexperience
- Low-end features (example: e-commerce is out of the question)
- Poor project planning
- Design based on an existing template
Solution: Do It Yourself
Budget: $501-$1,500
You're starting to get into a range where you might get something worth your money, but this is a grey area budget. You're still going to have to figure out who is worth hiring out of a lot of lower end freelancers who may not take your project seriously enough or have enough time to get you what you really need. Most of the websites made in this range are "so-so", but will probably do the job.
Your money will still be more effective going into marketing for your new website once you've done it yourself, as you're still probably going to get a product you could have learned on your own.
What to expect from a designer for a full website in this range:
- Little industry experience
- Low-end features (example: decent e-commerce solutions are unlikely)
- Should NOT be considered if they cannot offer a Content Management System
- 50/50 chance of getting a unique custom design
Recommended Solution: Do It Yourself Considered Solution: Hire a Designer ONLY if you've done your homework on finding one worth paying for. You will probably get poor project planning in a hobbyist but will get more for your money if you can find someone who isn't doing this as their main business.
Budget: $1,501-$3,500
If you have this sort of money to blow on getting a website and it is important to you to have a very unique website, then you might start seriously considering hiring a reliable designer/developer team to get you a site built. This is where you'll find the people who are more serious about this whole "website" thing. You will be able to fully expect professionalism, organization and a unique product in this price range - but they won't be able to hand the whole world to you on a silver platter. You're here for quality and ROI, not every shiny feature.
If you know you're going to need some fancy user experience, then you can start hunting for a designer. Keep in mind that this is still the low end of quality web design, so while you're in the range to get something that is awesome, it will unlikely be an end-all solution. Think of how you can get a decent sporty car for $60k-$75k but you can't expect a Lamborghini.
What to expect from a designer for a full website in this range:
- Decent industry experience
- Real features available to you (example: a basic e-commerce solution or an online forum)
- A fully integrated Content Management System
- A unique custom design
Solution: Hire a Designer if you are going to want a super custom design, or features like e-commerce or an online forum. The addendum to this is that you should still save yourself money by investigating what you CAN do on your own first.
Budget: $3,501-$10,000+
The chances that you as a small business owner need a website in this range (let alone have the resources) is unlikely, however at these levels you are starting to play in the big leagues. Up here, things are less predictable as to what exactly you can get for your money. Can you get a thousand things that all work OK? Will you get a few simple things that work FANTASTIC?
You will want to be severely picky once you're throwing this kind of money around. Find a team that is sincerely interested in what is going to be effective. Make sure that all of your website specifications are spelled out clearly in a way that you understand. You should know exactly where your money is going, and how it's going to improve your website in a way that makes you more money. While these things are all true of any budget range, you have the ability to be a lot more picky here.
If you have done your homework, done everything you possibly can as Do It Yourself, and you know that what you need is a tool that is way over your head... then you can consider getting a website at these levels. You will thank yourself for doing as much as you can on your own when your money is being made to go as far as it possibly can.
Make sure you have:
- Researched free solutions for whatever your needs are (e-commerce, online forums, blogs, etc)
- Attempted to set up free solutions for your needs
- Considered hiring a web designer to touch up your free solution in a lower budget range
...and then, and only then, should you invest in an insanely huge website. Your money at this range will do wonders for you in a marketing budget instead of being wasted on a website that will get you marginally better results than a website in a lower budget range or even better - a free website. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you have to pay for an expensive website for great results.
To Be Continued
This section has gotten a lot longer than I anticipated with the budget information. This section of the Guide will be continued on Monday to cover the rest of what you want to know before choosing to do a website yourself or hire someone to do it for you.
DISCLAIMER: This budget guide is what I know from my experience in the industry, but definitely not the end-all-say-all. If you have had different experience please feel free to post your data in the comments.