Hi Keith, my name is Gillian and I’m a beautician, I need a website and John said to text you.  How much for a website?’

This is partially a fictitious quote, the names and business type have been changed but other than that it’s word for word the content of a text I received this week.  Actually it’s very much like a number of initial contacts I receive when potential customers enquire about a new website or a re-vamp of an existing site.

Yet sometimes having a price first doesn’t help. Skimming through a holiday brochure I recently spotted an advert for 14 days for a family of three only £1,300! But then I read that it is miles from a beach, two hour transfer from the airport, only 2 star, bad reviews, looks run-down, middle of nowhere, etc.   So the initial low price that raised my hopes has ultimately dashed them as that cheap holiday is not for me.  That’s why I don’t like to throw out misleading figures to people without knowing what they want their website to achieve.

From my point of view as a service provider I would be suspicious of anybody who can give out quotes based on such an open ended request.  When I explain that I will need some more detail I am often told “but I just need something simple”.  But what does that mean because as soon as I mention something as simple as social media share buttons I am told that it’s a great idea, yet the customer has never even considered it.

What do you want from your website?

If you were going to buy a new car would you walk into a car show room and say ‘I need a new car’ and expect an accurate price on the car that meets your needs there and then?  I suspect you would have made some initial decisions before asking for an estimate: what size car, colour, luggage capacity, how many miles to the gallon, insurance group, etc.  Similarly for a website, you need to consider what you want the website to do and what information such as logo, text, images, databases, computer skills etc. you already have in place to  bring to the process of putting it all together in a website.

Having a clear idea of what you want your website to do now and how it might grow is something you should have also given some thought to. If we go back to the initial query from Gillian would she want a very simple one page website showing her contact details, services with links to her social media pages?  Perhaps a gallery of ‘before and after’ pictures of her clients. A testimonials page might be a good idea or how about some sort of booking functionality so people can book appointments on line?  Quite a few options straightaway and customers are not always aware of that or what they want.

Just a ball park figure?

But we must have some idea right how much a website should cost?  Well we do offer three flexible website development costs, Web Presence, Web Brochure and Web Business which give a detailed breakdown of what functionality you can expect your site to contain.  This will also give you some inspiration about enhancements you may have not yet considered.  This is a good starting point to make you think about your website content and functionality but remember we always start with a free, no obligation consultation. We design websites with results in mind, so we like to know what drives your business. No two websites are the same so when we have agreed what you require we will send you a proposal with a full breakdown of costs for your approval.