How Much? Who is doing the thinking?

With every potential website project comes Question Number One: How much will it cost?

Especially in a turbulent economy, everyone is looking for the best deal on any upcoming expense, and any smart business person would agree that it pays to get multiple quotes, pick the best company for the lowest rate, generally.

Are you looking to invest in adding on new features to your website right now? During a time in America when it’s pretty clear that taxes are going to up (it’s only a question of when and how much), I would be willing to bet that most companies today have a list of important things to do in the next 12 months… and adding new features, sections, content and functionality onto the website, or redesigning the website, or making a new website… is probably not near the top of that list.

But whether you are considering taking on new internet development projects right now or not is a good topic for an upcoming post. This post is about how website development should be priced and why it is important to consider a question that is overlooked by many on both sides, client and designer/programmer.

How much should a website cost?

Once a business decides to take on a new online marketing project, upgrade the company website, or take on a new internet advertising campaign, invariably, one of the first questions that comes up is always related to ROI. What will our increase in revenue be, or our reduction in costs, if we invest $X in doing Y with technology?

As a system architect and online application developer with 15 years of experience working as a designer, programmer, user interface designer, database developer and interactive multimedia artist, I am uniquely qualified to describe what I see as an irony in how companies approach investments in technology.

Client A wants to shop rates, find a family friend or neice of a brother-in-law, or post the project on a site like getaforeignerfordirt.bs. You know, a “kid” who “does websites” for “cheap”. The old addage, “You get what you pay for,” comes to mind. In this case, The Client is Doing The Thinking.

Business says, This is exactly what we want done. Here’s the Photoshop file with the screens and forms. Here’s the database schema. Here’s the API we need built. Here’s the FTP login for staging. We’ll manage our own DNS, MX, and upload all of the content in digital format. We’ve written all the copy, error messages and auto-responder emails. This is all pre-approved and ready to assemble.

Okay then, you deserve a great rate on your development project, because you provided everything in a ready-to-go format that allows your Web Team to simply implement without having to think too much. (In 15 years of software design, have yet to meet such a client or receive such as perfectly organized project.)

Client B wants to find the company that provides the best overall value, brings a wealth of ideas and experience to the table, and acts as a trusted marketing partner. Findng an online agency with the background and on-site skillset to take your ideas, expand upon them, provide you with a scope, a timeline, and execute all the design and development required for a successful launch. In this case, The Developer is Doing The Thinking.

Business says, This is kinda what we’re looking for. We want this feature but not that feature. We’re not sure what it will take, we just know that how we’ve been doing it isn’t working.

Okay then, you ought to be ready to pony up with a decent budget because I’m going to have to invest my time, experience and brainpower in making your 5-minute idea come out smelling like roses. I’ll need to design interfaces, databases, write PHP code, Javascript validation, input sanitization. I’ll have to work through multiple rounds of changes to match the idea you have in your head about what it is you want to achieve. I’ll have to figure out where to stage it, write most if not all of the content, find or create images and generally pretend for a while that I work for your company and treat your business like it’s my business. (The vast majority of projects I run into are of this flavor.)

As these two contrived examples illustrate, the cost of a website project depends on who is doing the thinking. In both scenarios, the end result could have been mostly identical, but in one example, the web development company allocated just a few hours of a programmer’s time, and in the other example, it took the resources of the entire company, including project management, design, database development, programming and testing.

A wise person once said to me, “It’s not about the agency, it’s about the agent.” This is especially true of technology projects. Who you pick for your project can have a profound effect of the results, the timeline, the budget and the overall outcome. Just remember that, generally speaking, you can’t have it both ways. If you want rock-bottom rates, you’d better be prepared to put in the work of providing your web guy with everything he needs to get the job done quickly and easily. If you want your Web Designer to invest significant amounts of time and energy in your project, why not reward them for it? They’re making an investment in your business.

All too often, Client B has the same budget as Client A, and wonders why it’s so hard to find a good web programmer.