#1 Most Frequently Asked Question of Design Central
How much does a Web site cost? Answer: How much does a car cost? There are beaters you can tow off a lawn for free and there are Ferraris. Let's assume you want something in between. Since this question usually comes from those needing their first Web site or an upgrade to it, I'll answer it as it relates to a 1-10 page “brochure site” (designed more to inform than interact with visitors and typically includes a call to action with method to accomplish it). It's primarily a matter of deciding what's most important to you:

a) a presence on the Web by tomorrow;
b) a site that combines the best of five sites you envy;
c) a site that doesn't embarrass you in front of your competition;
d) a site that distinguishes you from your competition, attracts your ideal customers (by your definition), and motivates them to contact/buy from you.
There is a Web site creator ideal for each choice.

 

 

a) Hosting services offering FREE Web design: Consider this option if you're in a huge hurry and you're literally saying, “anything is better than nothing!” These are the developers and web hosts to whom the internet is a glorious numbers game. Mass quantities of sites on servers = mass quantities of consistent income (for them). Aesthetics and targeting audiences are not their concerns. They offer the fastest way to get a site up and operational with the purchase of a year's (or longer) hosting contract. Their site will offer you your-logo-here, 4-5 page “design” templates for free and once you upload your graphics and text in the boxes available using only your browser, welcome to the internet! When that happens depends solely on your skill level navigating their system. If you're in the automotive business, you'll get the header with a YourLogoHere graphic next to the photo of a blurred car; if you're a lawyer, you'll type your name in one of four fonts available next to a photo of a stack of books on a shiny wooden desk; if you're a physician, you'll get to choose between a photo of a stethoscope or a smiling man in a white coat wearing one around his neck. Your ideal customer may not be officially targeted but you will be officially online.

 

In about three or four months, when you've had a chance to compare your site to others in your business niche, you may wonder if you were a bit hasty and hope you can add some more pages and functions to the template you chose. You may want more photos. So you’ll email your Web host (because they don't have real people answering real phones in real time) and two days later you will get an email back with a link to their add-on “developer services” which are written in such geekese that you're wondering when English became your second language. You're wishing you could talk to someone who understands your business and how to sell it on the internet. You look up your competition's site and wonder who designed it. The choice for FREE is beginning to sound too expensive. Your sister is married to an ex-Microsoftie. You call to see how she is.
Cost: FREE + postponed success + frustration + disappointment + do overs

 

 

b) Freelance developers offering bells and whistles (aka functionality): These are computer programmers who have had it with working for The Man. They dream in computer code. When too many re-orgs and alarm clocks broke their spirits, they went underground and became internet developers. Your voice mails will forward to small handheld devices as text and get answered at 2:00 am when they're at their social best. They can make any computer do any thing. They will ask you what you want to “do” while on your site; they might ask you to send them links of sites you like, to name some favorite colors and then to email your logo and whatever text and photos you’ve got. Thus ends the discovery process into the nuances of marketing your product or service. They will likely start with a pre-designed template and they'll proceed to fit whatever you send them into it. If you happen to use the words “something cool” in describing what you want, they may throw in a Flash intro which will force users to watch your logo jump around the screen before accessing anything they have real interest in. Aesthetic direction, copywriting style, content choice, content organization and rationale for “cool” as it relates to your business and customers won't be factors in the process. They will expect you to know what you want, ask you for it and may or may not interject ideas of “what you could do” when you say, “I don't know, what do you think?” If you don't know what you want, they may emulate your competition and a little from each of the links you sent them. They will be able to give you a per-page price because they’ve made Web developing a science rather than an art. Best case, they want to give you a site that “works” and consider the goal to be putting you on the same playing field as your competition. Differentiating your company or motivating your target audience to buy will be left to the marketing efforts of someone else. Doubtful they'll ask about existing or future marketing strategies; telling them will make their eyes glaze over.
Cost: $500-$1,500 + missed target audience

 

 

c) Web designers: There is no shortage of individuals who call themselves Web designers. Many grew up on the computer. Their ears have taken on the shape of iPod buds. They may've taken a class called Web Design or they may be self-taught. Ask them what they know about design concepts and how they relate to marketing and they will show you the cool stuff they can create in Photoshop and Flash. Their fingers fly over keyboards and they customize all key commands and preferences to make software go faster. They'll probably be very flexible on price because when it comes right down to it, they create Web sites for fun. They'll get something to you quickly, but they won’t have training in marketing or in general design if you need a new or updated logo. If you have a question about how your site will work with a direct mail piece or a brochure, they will offer up a guess. They may have opinions about design, but not in relation to the soul and substance of your business or to uncover what would motivate your ideal customers to buy from you rather than your competition. They will work fast, move around a lot and their cellphone numbers will be unlisted. Remember to get your hosting info with username and password before you hand them a check.
Cost: Depends on your negotiation skills + missed opportunities with target audience + lack of consistent branding

 

 

d) Marketing Designers: This is where Design Central fits in. We have an educational background in design, over 20 years of experience in marketing in print and on the Web, and we know to base all design on specific marketing and aesthetic criteria. Good designers help clients define their target audience or who they want it to be. We will discuss what that audience expects as well as what preconceived notions they have around buying what you’re selling. Patterns and details about this target audience will set the design criteria. Whether designing a logo, a brochure or a Web site, criteria-setting is the first step. When a client comes to us more eager to start on a Web site than to decide on the final name for his business, we know the cart is before the horse and what to ask to get the horse back in front. When a client knows he wants a logo that’s easy to read on the side of a truck as it drives by, but beyond that he's open, we know how to make sure his target audience notices it as it drives by. In addition to knowing how to get to the right customers, designers offer one contact point for many needs by managing all design, copywriting, photography, illustration, printing and programming requirements. We bring in the best and most dependable freelancers and vendors if and when needed. Designers can work with advertising agencies and public relations firms to implement larger scale marketing solutions. Bottom line, marketing designers offer the skills to keep your big picture in focus while implementing it most economically. Maybe your next marketing project is your Web site. Let's talk about your vision and goals for your business and what you want your Web site to accomplish, and Design Central will ensure that it happens.
Cost: $1,500-$8,000 for a bottom-line enhancing 1-10 page brochure site. (Wide range reflects similarly wide range in client desire for involvement in content organization, preparation and provision of ready-to-use text and images). I want to get started!