What
are the elements of a Website and what do
they cost?
Website costs can be deceptive. A site with
many annoying graphics is not necessarily
more expensive. Often, the more natural a
site feels, the greater care and hard work
went into its construction.
Quality
does show through, but quality doesn't always
cost as much as you might think. The key is
determining what elements are most important
in your case, and spending appropriately.
We
have broken out some typical Website cost
categories and thrown in a range of costs
for each. Some firms may give you a proposal
entirely on this basis, while others will
break out overhead and management costs so
that you can see where your money is going.
Strategic
Planning & Development
Putting
together a Website is more than just assembling
images and text. The Website is designed to
achieve certain goals, and if you don't know
what these goals are, or if you haven't really
explained them to the designers, you may find
yourself with a great-looking Website that doesn't
do your organization a bit of good. You may
also find that you have a pile of great parts
that don't fit together at the last moment.
Creating
a Website involves strategic thinking, analysis
of needs and audiences, awareness of where you
want it to develop over time. Having the right
information architecture and good design notes
on how it should look before starting will save
a lot of time and money later. How much you
should be paying for planning varies widely
depending on the size of the project, the type
of firm you're dealing with, the management
style of your own organization, and whether
you intend to be more of a leader or an imitator
in the market. Even a small site will require
about 10 hours of pre-planning, though much
of this may be accomplished in a well-thought
out Request for Proposal.
Another element that will increase the cost
in this area is the complexity of your organization.
It is much more difficult to develop a site
for multiple decision-makers than for one. If
you have several departments, and each has a
different set of expectations, then the strategy
development is more complex.
This
element will normally use at least ten hours.
For every design and programming hour allot
anywhere from a quarter hour up to an hour
for management. Rates run from $30 an hour
up to $200 an hour.
A
complex website involves many elements which
must fit together properly. Timing is also
important, certain steps need to be completed
before others can begin. Some elements may
have to be redone if not coordinated properly.
Even if you have a single designer doing a
basic site, the communication between designer
and client are a form of Project Management.
One party has to ensure that all communications
are tracked and nothing falls through the
cracks. Not all designers are inclined to
spend time managing their own projects, transferring
that burden entirely to the client.
Assume
that for every hour spent on design or program,
at least a quarter hour to an hour will be
necessary to manage the project. Project management
hours will probably be billed at about the
same rate as the design hours. Factors such
as institutional complexity and functionality
will increase costs of project management
in ways similar to their affect on strategy
costs.
This
should be one of the most important elements
in the creation of your Website, yet is often
taken for granted. A poorly designed site will
drive people away. A site that is difficult
to navigate will only frustrate visitors. It
is true that unless you're trying to compete
in a very tight market, you don't need to spend
as much as the major corporations. However,
first impressions are sometimes the most important,
and this is no less true of how a first time
visitor to your Website. Of course, you want
to convey a look that is a reflection of your
organization's personality, mission, and goals.
Remember that many times "less is more". To
achieve the crisp, professional look, it might
be wise to request a proposal from 2-3 vendors.
More than likely, you will receive a range of
prices, since each vendor may offer distinct
features that will help you build your online
identity. (Caveat emptor: Request and
call references. There are a lot of fly-by-night
Web developers who post information on the Web
that is simply not true, or reflective of their
organization's capabilities.)
At
the most basic level, graphic design can be
free. If you are the kind of business that prints
up everything at home, you can probably do the
same on-line. With a bit of time, training,
and free tools, you can design a site that looks
as if someone designed it at home.
At a very low cost, around $100 to $300 dollars/year,
you can produce a site that looks adequate for
many basic purposes. You can use on-line site
building services to produce your site, many
will host it as well.
Custom design web development firms typically
start at $3,000 (just for the design elements)
and can cost more than $500,000. The advantage
of custom design is that you communicate a look
and feel that is particular to your firm or
company. As prices escalate for design, hopefully,
you gain the additional benefits of advertising,
creating a marked impression in the viewer that
will result in some great benefit to the company.
More
and more Websites are incorporating database
functionality to provide added value to the
visitor's experience on the site, and to increase
the efficiency of in-house operations.
If your firm uses a database(s) that can easily
be updated, maintained, or accessed over the
web, your operational costs will almost certainly
decrease as a result of adding database functionality
to your site. Examples of database development
that can help improve your site include:clearinghouse
of all electronic media (newsletters, press
releases, job listings, etc.);contact
information for clients and vendors; product
listings; photo
galleries; etc.
The
use of a database in combination with necessary
programming that will allows your site to become
"data-driven" will only further enhance the
functionality of your Website by providing a
means to maintain your site without prior knowledge
of HTML programming or HTML editors.
Below
are some average costs incorporating database
elements/data-driven functionality into a
Website:
- Jobs
listings - $1,500 to $2,500
-
Press
Releases - $1,500 to $4,500
-
Corporate
Rolodex - $1,000 and up
-
Corporate
Calendar - $1,000 and up
-
Advocacy/Action
Center (Congressional Lobbying) - $2,500
to $10,000
-
Shopping
Cart/email processing - $3,000
-
Real-time
Credit Card Processing - $3,000
Enterprise
systems that coordinate activities of wide-spread
offices may run more in the $50,000 to $100,000
range.
A
Website that just sits there and displays
itself may be fine for some people, but chances
are you want to know more about what your
audience thinks. You may want to know who
they are and where they've come from.
Some
information can be gathered from statistical
programs on your site's server, but you
might
want to get specific personal information
from them as well. You might want to ask
them what
they think about certain topics. Perhaps
you want a record of visitors in certain
categories
so you can e-mail them when news occurs in
their area. Information collection can
be
done with respect to privacy, with plenty
of notice, if necessary.
A basic form that would collect an e-mail
address, a request or a comment, and a brief
profile might cost as little as $100 to develop,
while a more extensive set of forms with questions
and differentiation that ties into a corporate
database might run into the thousands. Interactivity
can be enhanced with the addition of many
fairly simple tools. Some, such as visitor
hit counters have become hallmarks of amateurism,
but others are often used and bookmarked by
visitors, if useful. Mortgage calculators,
phrase translators, on-line calendars, protein
parameters translators, etc. are just a few
of the thousands of tools that can make life
easier. If your site has an audience that
will be well served by some such tool, you
might consider adding it so that people will
come and come back.
Adding an on-line tool should be targeted. Generating
fortunes might be interesting for a Chinese
restaurant, but useless on a home finance page.
Some
tools are available free. If you are building
your own site, you might consider adding in
a generic tool, downloadable from various
shareware sites. The disadvantage is that
these tools are often not customizable. Also,
other similar pages may have the same tools.
Semi-custom
tools are often available through your design
firm. The tools may have been prepared for
one client and are now in a library, easily
customized for others. Prices for such tools
start in the $500 to $2,000 range, and may
include installation costs.
On-line
tools may be custom designed for prices that
vary, depending on the complexity of the tool.
Say you want to add a function to your site
whereby constituents can log on and write a
letter to their Senator. Such tools can be programmed,
complete with customized and customizable text
options.
Multimedia
Design: Selection and Usage
Modern
Websites don't just sit there. Flash and Shockwave
animation, streaming video, javascripts and
applets, and any number of action graphics enhancements,
make your Website come alive. That doesn't mean
you should do it. Done badly, animation can
annoy and distract the viewer, extend download
time, require the viewer to download plug-ins,
and give the Website a cheap feel. But done
well, animation can give the viewer a stronger
sense of the sophistication and cutting-edge
nature of your company. In all cases, repeat
viewers need to be able to skip Flash programming.
The following prices are just a sampling of
the rich multimedia enhancements available.
Basic Flash animation, which can be done for
anywhere from $250 a page up to $10,000 for
a medium site. Some Fortune 500 companies have
paid up to $250,000 for a 30 second flash intro.
Streaming
video clips can be added to your site for
anywhere from $500 a clip on up, depending
on the nature and the video production costs.
It seems obvious, but many fail to realize
that a long-loading clip of your executive
director talking is not going to keep your
visitors on the Website for very long. Animated
gifs can be downloaded for free, or built
for the project at prices ranging from $100
to several thousand, depending on the need
and the type of integration. These can be
a nice touch, but should be used very sparingly.
Remember the phone message rule, if it's only
funny once, don't make people listen to it
every time they call.
Website
Maintenance: Keeping Content and Graphics
Up-to-Date
A
Website, once up, will not stay current all
by itself. The more up-to-date your content
is, the more quickly it will go out-of-date.
Design elements will change if your organization
changes its image. And Website technology
will continually raise the expectations of
your target market, demanding that you stay
current as well. Whether you include the costs
of maintaining your site upfront are up to
you, but be aware that they do exist and you
will be facing them. If your organization
goes through changes, the information on the
Website will need to change to reflect that.
Even if your organization doesn't generates
much news, you will probably want to rotate
the information available in order to keep
it interesting to repeat visitors.
Onsite/In-House
Maintenance. Obviously, the easiest way to
make sure your site is kept up-to-date and
running efficiently is to have a talented
Webmaster in-house. This, however, is easier
said than done, and can be expensive. A typical
Webmaster can easily cost $50,000 in annual
salary, plus benefits. Most small companies,
associations, and non-profits cannot afford
this option.
Some organizations prefer to have an IT professional
of some type assume Website updating as part
of his or her responsibilities. If the person
already has significant duties and can easily
add Website maintenance this might be a cost-effective
solution. However, often the skills are too
diverse, or the IT person's duties are already
filling most of the day. If overtime is involved,
or an additional employee must be added, then
the cost to the organization of this solution
may be considerable, even it does not show
in the Website budget.
A
large Website with frequent updating may require
a webmaster or web division internal to the
company. Obviously the cost of this solution
starts with the salaries, plus associated
personnel costs, search costs, equipment,
etc.
The most scalable solution may be to use your
web design firm as a web department. Some
offer maintenance contracts, either with a
monthly rate, an hourly rate, or a discounted
package of hours. The advantage is that you
can scale costs to your needs while retaining
a high level of expertise. A good design and
development firm will offer maintenance services.
Such services usually come in two forms -
either on an hourly basis, with fees ranging
anywhere from $50 to $125; or on a monthly
basis, with rates running from $50 a month
up to thousands, depending on the firm and
your usage.
Another
option is to have an authoring tool built
into the site design, so that the site can
be updated easily with little risk of damaging
the site. While this will increases the front-end
development cost, it may save money in the
long run, depending on your needs. Such a
package could cost $1,500 - $3,000 to purchase
and configure, plus $50 a month to license.
The advantage is that you can use an employee
with no special training to maintain the page.
However, don't forget to include the hours
spent by the employee into your cost figures.
For every five hours spent generating the
new content, assume an additional hour for
putting the content onto the web page.
All Websites have to have a "home", the place
where the files are stored that allow others
around the world to access them. To the site
visitor, it's probably not of concern where
files are stored. Although many assume that
when viewing an organization's Website that
they are accessing the information from within
the organization's physical structure, this
is many times not the case. In reality, your
Website will probably exist on a server somewhere
in cyberspace on a server, maybe more than one,
unless you are able to afford an in-house Web
server, a broadband connection, other equipment,
and staff to support it.
If your Website company can provide hosting,
they can also provide you with a number of customizable
e-mail addresses. Typically these will use the
domain name of the site, with a front end that
describes the purpose of the contact, such as
yourname@yoursite.com. One of the great
benefits of these Internet-based e-mail addresses
is that they can be forwarded to other addresses,
and can be accessed from multiple locations
using Point-of-Presence (POP) server protocols.
There are a broad range of cost-effective hosting
opportunities that will free you of the burden
and cost associated with maintaining a server
in-house:
-
Free
- Free server space is offered by a variety
of companies, but this is not a wise
solution
for many businesses, since the trade-off
is having limited functionality,
prominent
banner ads of the provider littered throughout
Web pages, pop-up adverstisements,
etc.
"You get what you pay for..."
-
Shared
Server space - Sharing server space
with others is a common, and inexpensive
solution for many small-to-medium sized
businesses.
-
Co-located
servers - Some company's choose to buy
their own equipment and to store it on the
premises of their Internet Service Provider
(ISP) or hosting provider. Administration
of the server is often provided by the ISP
or hosting service provider, as well.
-
Dedicated
servers - For
larger Websites, ecommerce Websites, and
others that store confidential information
such as credit card information, sensitive
personal information, or proprietary data,
a dedicated server is probably the best
and safest option.
-
Internal
hosting
may seem free, especially if a company already
has the infrastructure in-house, but often
is not. While it may be a good solution
for a large institution with a full IT department,
a smaller organization, may not have the
budget required hire an network administrator,
and other support required to successfully
maintain an internal Web server. be able
to there are many hidden costs you must
account for in considering this option.
Hosting a Website on a server at your office
means that you must have the following:
- A
reliable server that is up all the time.
While any computer with Windows 95 or
higher can act as a server, you will have
to set aside at least three and possibly
five to six hours a month to maintain
and configure the computer.
- Reliable
access, with enough bandwidth to serve
your expected traffic.
Most DSL lines are asynchronous. This
means that though they may download at
a fairly fast rate, the speed of uploading
information to the net is about one-fourth
as fast. If you are hosting a Website,
it's the upload speed that counts, and
your $60 a month DSL line won't handle
the load. Synchronous DSL lines are more
expensive, starting at about $150 and
going up into the hundreds per month.
- A
hosting service normally provides things
like e-mail and password configuration.
Hosting the site in-house means you will
have to set aside a certain amount of
someone's time, probably at least 3 hours
a month.
There
are literally hundreds of small hosting companies
that will host your site for a monthly fee.
Basic sites may be hosted for rates ranging
from $10 - $50 a month. Questions you may
have to consider are:
-
How
stable is the company you are dealing with?
Internet
related companies come and go, and you don't
want to have to find a new hosting company
all of a sudden. Even Chevy Chase Bank recently
had to shut down its on-line banking service
for several days when their ISP went bankrupt.
-
How
reliable are the servers?
Some hosting companies have racks of servers
with constant monitoring, technicians standing
by, redundancy, etc. Others may consist
of a few computers in a garage. You want
to know what is being done to ensure that
your site stays up.
-
What
type of server is it? What software
is available? Is it Linux or NT? Is there
trend analysis software installed? Can you
install your own server software? Is there
a collection of CGI bin routines?
Major companies, such as Yahoo and MSN offer
hosting services ranging from $20 to $50 per
month. These services are basic, but have
the advantage of being linked to a major company.
You may prefer working with a company that
will give you more personal service, however.
Some
web development companies offer complete packages
that include hosting. Prices range from $20-50
and up. The advantage to doing this is that
your web development company is doing the
research and taking the risks in finding the
best option for you. They will best understand
your software and options requirements, and
provide all the configuration and maintenance
activities in conformance with the rest of
the site maintenance. If your prefer having
a single company that is responsive to all
your Internet needs this may be the best option.
Domain
Registration
A
small, but sometimes overlooked expense
in Website development is domain name registration;
cheap self-registration sites may be as
low as $15 dollars a year, per name. Depending
on the type of site, you may also need to
register domain names for .com, .net, .org,
and possibly domain names that are variant
spellings. Political organizations and large
companies frequently register domain names
that could be used by parody sites, i.e.
www.I-hate-Joe-Senator.com.
Marketing online is a very fluid endeavor. Marketing
should begin in the design phase and go from
there. For instance, design elements such as
text on the front page, meta-tags, page titles,
and keywords provide for maximum placement with
search engines. Once a site is up, it should
be registered with all the major search engines,
any specialized search engines, industry specific
lists, and cross-linked to related sites whenever
possible. More specific on-line marketing might
involve banner ads on relevant sites, placement
of logos and URLs in html newsletters, and identification
of media sources that could reference the site.
This activity can be conducted in-house, once
again the hours should be computed to determine
the cost. If you have to hire someone, or train
someone, it may not be cost effective.
Automated
registration services are prolific, but probably
do you little good. Being submitted to 1,500
engines once a month may sound like a great
deal, but only the top twenty or so are relevant,
along with industry-specific directories. Hand
submission, either in-house or by your web development
firm, is far more effective.
It's
no secret that E-commerce has gone through
a tremendous boom and bust. Many business
models drew an enormous amount of investment,
yet failed in the implementation. Still,
there are successes. More importantly, Websites
for companies and organizations that aren't
purely devoted to e-commerce add an important
revenue stream by adding e-commerce, as
well as satisfying the expectations of many
of your site visitors. While a full-blown
e-commerce site that exists entirely to
sell on-line is looking at costs around
$800,000 per year, adding e-commerce to
your site doesn't have to be expensive at
all.
Some on-line template-based site builders offer
e-commerce capability for less than $100 per
month. If you are satisfied with an off-the-shelf
one-size-fits-all solution, this could be for
you.
If your product is entirely electronic, or you
are soliciting contributions or membership fees,
there are solutions that can be put in place
for less than $100 per month. These solutions
are flexible and can be easily customized to
fit into a professional, custom-built site.
If
you are offering a catalog on-line, you will
need a merchant account, shopping cart, and
catalog. These are typically custom-built
into a site, using database-programming languages,
such as Cold Fusion. The costs for custom
database programming begin in the $1,000 to
$3,000 range, but for larger sites, you can
expect to pay anywhere from $25-$75,000, depending
on the complexity of the programming. You
will also have to consider the costs of a
merchant account.
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