A good analogy we like to use is to ask yourself, “How much does a car cost?”  No, we aren’t saying that the site will cost as much as a car, just that the answer depends upon what you want or need.  Before we can give you an estimate we will need to discuss your goals and how the site will help you achieve them.  What would you like the site to do and what features are necessary? 

Costs can vary widely and there are always plenty of different approaches available so, just like when you buy a car, it is usually a good idea to have a general budget range in mind at the start.  If you don’t have any idea, don’t worry.  We’ll figure out the best way to get the job done at the best possible price.  Give us a call or send an email to get started.

If you ever receive a quote from other developers and they don’t ask you about your needs first, be wary.  A common way for inexperienced developers to quote a site is by the number of pages.  In reality, the costs involved in a web site are not the number of pages, but in the time spent putting together the features for those pages.   Chances are the site they give you won’t help your business much at all. 

When you do a search on Google, for instance, all the results are returned to you in an order determined by Google.  Obviously the best place to be is on the first page of the results—this helps increase the chances your site will be visited.  Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and all the other search engines don’t tell us how they rank web sites, but through experimentation we’ve figured out what they are looking for.  There are various techniques we can employ to help put your site near the top of search results for specific phrases or search terms.

Nobody can guarantee your placement on another company’s search engine, but we can do our best to increase your ranking. Beware of SEO companies who make guarantees.  Often they will use tricks that may be effective in the short-term but are against the rules.  You may find that your site which was at number one will soon be removed from all Google search results until they decide to let you back in.

When we build a site, we do our best to use techniques which are accepted and effective at that time.  However, search companies are constantly tweaking the way they determine placement.  To be truly effective we can be hired to continually tweak your site to achieve optimal placement.  Contact us if you have questions.

Again, it’s hard to estimate costs without knowing anything about the final web site and your needs.  Will you be changing content regularly?  Do you want to make changes yourself or do you want someone else to do it for you?  Would you like regular Search Engine Optimization services or assistance with promoting your site?  How many people will be visiting your site each month and what will they be doing?  Will you be selling items?  How many products will you sell, how do you plan to fulfill the orders and charge the customer? 

Don’t worry.  We don’t expect you to know all the answers to these questions—that’s why we are here for you.  The costs can be as low as $10.00 a month or hundreds or thousands.

We’re always happy to present you with options and help figure out the best way to take care of your web site.  Some of our clients like to pay as needed.  Other clients like knowing that they have their own web and marketing department who automatically takes care of any issues and works to improve the site on a regular basis.  Recently we received an unsolicited testimonial from one of our clients who pays a monthly retainer.  Here it is below:

 “The best strategy that I ever employed for my web site was to put my web consultant on a retainer. The reason this works so well is that it is just like a gym membership. If you are paying for it monthly you are more likely to use it and get more value from it. The initial value that I received from the development of my two sites is enhanced and protected by my monthly retainer. This continued investment is the reason that my sites are up to date and fresh. I also get a continual stream of ideas from my consultant that adds that much more value to our relationship. If I had to give advice to anyone who has developed a site but not put it under continual improvement is to put your web consultant on a retainer. You will gain a competitive advantage for yourself and your web offering !
Note: It also helps to have a very competent and creative web consultant.”
Jim Hull
Hullart.com