Most posts on this subject ramble on for ages about the different types of websites there are before eventually getting round to answering the question. They explain in detail how different types of sites work, starting with the basic free ones, before building up to the expensive ones (and then try to sell you one). They may even finish off with some sort of fancy comparison breakdown.
I have a lot more respect for your intellect, but practically none for your attention span so am going to do it backwards.
Your Situation
Type of website that might suit you
DIY Basic - Off the shelf “brochure site” from a “build your own” site like Wix or Squarespace
Rough Cost
£3 - £50/month dependent on packaged options taken
+ The time it takes you to learn/design
Benefits
Risks
Your Situation
Same as above, but you don’t have the time or inclination to learn and do it yourself.
Type of website that might suit you
Bespoke Basic - Small web agency/That one friend you know who’s just starting out doing websites
Rough Cost
£500 - £2K
+ any design meetings you have to attend
+ ongoing hosting costs
Costs dependent on amount of pages/complexity of design/whether you pick a theme they already have or ask for original designs etc.
Benefits
Risks
Your Situation
Type of website that might suit you
DIY E-Commerce - Off the shelf “build your own” like Shopify or Weebly
Rough Cost
£25 - £220/month dependent on packaged options taken/how many users you have
+ The time it takes you to learn/design
Benefits
Risks
Your Situation
Type of website that might suit you
Bespoke E-Commerce - Web Design Company
Rough Cost
£2K - £50K+
+ any design meetings you have to attend
+ ongoing hosting costs
These costs really depend on how complex your catalogue is, how many locations you sell out of and to, whether you have the logistics chain integrated with the site etc.
Benefits
Risks
Your Situation
Type of website that might suit you
Bespoke “Business Engine” Website - A decent web design company that knows how to extract requirements taking into account multiple stakeholder/user groups and build interconnecting systems
Rough Cost
£5K - £50K+
+ any design meetings you have to attend
+ ongoing hosting costs
Benefits
Risks
Please don’t call me Richard, only my mum calls me Richard.
I assume you already have a basic understanding that some websites only have a few pretty pages, whereas some might sell thousands of products and link you through to personalised account pages. Some may have interactive galleries or have a lightening quick search function that sorts though masses of data and I know you know all that clever stuff costs money to build, but how is a price attached and why should you pay for it if there is something similar out there already?
What you may not know is quite how integrated your daily processes and your website can be. Did you know that you can tie your front-end site into a CRM program to track leads? Did you know you could have a booking system that users can sign up to something like a training course on, but when this booking is confirmed the system makes sure books are ordered, keeps track of venue costs and even sends out reminders to the trainers and delegates about when and where they need to be? With this sort of functionality, your beautiful looking front-end site becomes not just a branding tool, but the outer shell of a much more powerful business engine, modernising logistics and admin processes. As a result, this sort of site will provide far greater ROI through better end to end efficiencies than a simple “brochure” site.
Okay, okay. I get it, but it is very hard to quantify. Because your business is unique, it requires a unique solution, and the industry has always found it difficult to define proper labels for unique things. The easiest way to explain how much it costs is down to complexity.
When creating a website, there are degrees of complexity at each stage of the process. In order to quote, a company must look at what is being requested and ask themselves not how long it will take, but the level of complexity in each area of the site. This will take into account how many pages there are likely to be, the design, the systems it will have to hook into, the different types of users that will be engaging with the site (externally and internally) etc. etc. For each level of complexity comes an increased cost and without understanding the inner workings of your business, it’s hard to truly understand what you need.
You’re right. And you’re wrong.
Imagine if you walked into an ice cream shop and asked the person at the till for a dessert that, when eaten, makes you feel like a unicorn lost in a waterpark. When they then handed you a multicoloured ice cream sitting in a beautiful blue porcelain bowl, would you get upset because you actually wanted a cake?
Getting what you want from people is very hard if you are not clear about what you want in the first place. On the flip side it’s very hard to say what you want if you don’t know what is actually possible because, as you said, you’re not the expert. You’re not expected to map out the solution, but it helps if you have a basic understanding of what the problem is in the first place.
What a good web design company will do is not just get under the skin but get right down to the bones of your business. How do your customers currently fit into the process? What happens behind the scenes when a customer makes a request with you? Do you run your business on a pile of spreadsheets with massive room for human error? What are the motivations behind the different user groups - not just the customer, but the admin staff in your office, the FD sitting in her tower or the sales people out in the field?
The simple answer is trust. If you’ve got to a stage in your business where you’re spending proper money on a site, you will have probably already done some due diligence and looked at their previous work online. You wouldn’t even be meeting them if they didn’t pass these basic tests. Hopefully you will have looked at these sites not just from a design perspective, but a user experience one as well. Can you find things easily on them? Did you get frustrated using it?
If they have got to a stage where they are sitting in your office, during the conversations do you feel they have truly understood what you want? Have they had some creative ideas for solutions that meet your needs? Have they introduced you to the project team (at very least the project manager) or have they just thrown sales staff at you? Do you feel comfortable around them, because this will be a lengthy process and you need to feel like they are part of your team, not just a faceless resource.
Because of how vague pricing can be, the biggest fear will be that you get to points in the project where costs balloon out of control. Confusion as to what was in and out of scope is a very common thing in the web world because the initial scoping and quoting phase was rushed.
The only way you can truly feel comfortable is by getting to know a team and treating the procurement process more like a job interview. Yes, they are technically skilled, but ask yourself truthfully; are they going to get on with my team? Do they have my best interests at heart?
Ask them for references, call up their previous clients and enquire directly how the process was handled. Ask these people if at any point in the process, the web team made them feel like they were being baffled by technical jargon. Did they feel like they were constantly being sold to? Were key decisions written down and signed off on? Most importantly, would they use the same team again?
If they fall at any of these hurdles, then you need to keep on looking.
At Impelling, we like to think we’ve got all of these things right. If you want to chat about your project with us, get in touch and we’ll be happy to come to your offices, eat your biscuits and get to know you a bit.
Contact us