Web Site Design Buyer's Guide

Don't hire a web site designer without reading this guide! Learn what to look for and how to evaluate a web developer.

Web site design introduction

Launching a successful web site design project can be a real challenge, starting with defining the scope of effort. Even if you start off planning a simple web site with a few basic pages and no bells and whistles, you may find the complexity and cost of the project snowballing as more people - both internal and external - get involved.

At a minimum, you need a site that represents your business: one with a professional look, your logo and key marketing messages, and basics like your phone number, location(s), and products. Your needs may expand to collecting customer information, selling products online, or connecting to your internal software systems. Once you lock down exactly what functionality you need from your site, you'll be able to choose a web site design vendor who can offer you the best combination of value and results.

If you're not familiar with web site design, you may have some misconceptions to overcome. Some things that you may think are simple won't be; other features you may not have considered may be fairly easy to add. The best web site design professionals act like consultants - working to understand your needs, then proposing solutions.

Whether you're creating your first web site or upgrading an existing site, this BuyerZone.com Buyer's Guide will help you get the right site for the right price.

Identifying your web design goals

Whether you're building a site from scratch or updating an existing site, the first thing to do is to decide on your web design objectives. Simply "having a web site" is not a goal - nor is it a good use of your time and money.

Your goals for the site will help determine who you should work with and how much the site will cost. Ask yourself what you want your site to accomplish:

• Dispense information? (Note this is OK! Many businesses need a site that just provides basic contact information, directions, and hours. If that's all you want, you will save yourself quite a bit of money.)
• Conduct e-commerce site - one that handles online transactions?
• Gather data for sales or marketing purposes?
• Provide customer support or customer service?

Once you know the goals, you can address more specific questions about what you want your web design project to include:

• What sections do you want in your site? (About your company, product pages, executive bios, discussion boards, customer service information, press releases... )
• About how many pages do you want?
• Do you already have a logo, or do you need your site designer to create one?
• Does your site need to have any dynamic information or interactive capabilities? (e.g., database connections, order tracking, password-protected areas, on-site games or calculators, or anything else that lets visitors interact with your site.)
• Do you need secure connections?

Your web design project can be as simple - or as complex - as your imagination and/or budget allows. Having answers to these questions will help you quickly set expectations with potential vendors.

Components of web site building

There are two major components to building a web site: the "front end" and the "back end." For the most part, "design" refers to the front end - what people see - and development to the back end - what makes it work. Two other parts needed to make your site complete are hosting - where your web site is run from - and e-commerce, which is often built and managed separately from the rest of your site.

Front end: web site design and content
The front end is what your web site looks like: the images and text that make up your site. Graphic designers concentrate on the front end, choosing appropriate images, fonts, and layout. They should have a strong understanding of what works visually on a computer screen and know what the technical limitations are in designing for the web.

Be wary of choosing a web designer based only on a portfolio. Sites that look beautiful in printouts may be slow and hard to use. Examples shown via the designer's web site may be full of flash - and Flash (see "Back end: web site building and development") - but lacking in content or real value. A good web designer needs to combine technical and design expertise.

You will be responsible for the content of your web site: if you have a "history" page, you'll have to write the content for it; if you have a products page, you'll have to supply the images and descriptions that make up the page.

Back end: web site building and development
Web developers actually build your site, writing the back end code that makes it work. The HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code they write allows visitors' browsers to display your images and read your text - it's the common language of the web. Developers don't usually call it "programming" when they're working on basic web sites.

Some other back end terms you might encounter:

• Javascript is used for simple site functionality such as making sure users have filled out forms correctly, pop up windows (the helpful kind, not the ads), and some kinds of animation.
• ASP and PHP provide customization and interactivity, such as collecting data from visitors or displaying account information.
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) let you easily control the look of your entire web site from a central file.
• Flash allows for interactive menus, animated presentations, and interactive tools. (Bonus design tip: skip the fancy Flash animated intro. Visitors don't want to watch it and you'll save money.)

Hosting
For customers to access your web site, it needs to reside on a server connected to the Internet. For a basic web site, the server can be a fairly modest computer. Unless you plan to turn your site into an Internet powerhouse, your hosting needs should be fairly straightforward at first. Hosting should also cover data backup and security for any customer data being collected. For help choosing a hosting service, read our Site Hosting Buyer's Guide.

E-commerce
If you sell products directly through your web site, you're doing e-commerce. Typically, e-commerce services are considered to be a separate project from the construction of a web site, due to the different back-end tools to set up and run the online store. Many web site designers offer e-commerce development as well, but it's usually priced separately. For more information, read our E-commerce Buyer's Guide.

Professional web designers services

Depending on your site needs, budget, and internal staff capabilities, your project can involve any combination of web site design services, freelancers, and your own employees. Here are three options:

• Keep it all in-house. If your needs are relatively simple or if you have design and programming skills in-house, you'll save quite a bit of money- at least on the surface. Web development activities can quickly become a drain on productivity if you don't keep careful track of the resources they require.
• Farm it all out. If you want interactive tools, complex e-commerce functions, or just don't have technical staff available, you can easily outsource your entire site development project. Remember that you'll always need at least some internal resources to work on content and to guide the web site design service.

Mix it up. Your third option is to do some of the work in-house, and outsource the tasks your company can't handle. This is a very popular way to achieve some cost savings while not overtaxing your staff.

What to outsource?

• Design - Simply put, if you don't have a professional designer on staff, look to a vendor. Having someone who is somewhat familiar with Adobe Photoshop is not enough.
• Development - If you're planning a basic informational site and have an IT staff, you can probably handle the development in house.
• Hosting - An in-house IT staff can set up a basic web host very easily. However professional hosting companies provide guaranteed uptimes of over 99% and high-quality backup and security policies - for a relatively low monthly cost.

Take caution if your staff is already spread very thin. Even if you can do the work in-house, that doesn't mean you should. Web site development projects are notorious for "scope creep" - gaining complexity as they progress. It may make sense to use contractors and let your employees focus on the day-to-day work of running the business.

If you decide you need outside help, as most businesses do, there are two different types of providers you can turn to: all-in-one development shops, or freelancers.

All-in-one web site design services
Many web site design firms provide all the services you need, from initial design to development and maintenance. These companies may have designers, developers, and IT professionals on staff, outsource one aspect to a partner company, or work with a number of freelancers who provide different specialties. No matter how they manage the job, they provide a couple of key advantages.

First, by providing you with one point of contact, they ease the management of the entire project. Second, because all the key players work together, there are fewer integration problems or communication hassles. Third, having one company manage all aspects of the project can allow them to focus on understanding and addressing your business needs, rather than simply following a checklist of development tasks.

Many larger web site design services offer other marketing services, such as email campaigns, search engine marketing, and more programs to help drive visitors to your web site. They can be the best route if you're outsourcing your entire project or aren't familiar with web site development.

Freelancers
The web development industry supports a large number of freelance developers and designers. If you're taking a "mix it up" approach to your development project, it's often cheaper to hire a freelance designer or developer than to hire a larger company and only use one aspect of their services. Working with freelancers can also give you more control over the project, although that comes at the price of requiring more project management work on your part.

Are web site designers needed for updates?

One aspect of launching a new web site that many businesses overlook is planning for ongoing updates. At an absolute minimum, you should try to update your web site every three months, even if the edits are simple text changes and additions. If you're conducting e-commerce, you may need to update prices or availability at any time.

There are three main ways to handle web site updates:

Have your web site builder make updates for you. Site design companies either charge a monthly fee for a set amount of changes, or charge per hour for each change that they make. Since simple text updates can be done in a matter of minutes, this is an economical choice if you don't intend to update your site very frequently.

Implement a system that lets you update text. Many web site design firms offer content management systems that let you edit site content without learning any programming languages. Depending on the complexity of your site, this can range from a small additional expense to a considerable upgrade. However, it frees you from the hassle of contacting an external supplier every time you want to make a change.

Have an internal staffer manage updates. Even if you outsource the production of your site, your internal tech staff should be able to make basic web site updates without too much trouble. If you have the staff in place, this option is the least expensive and gives you the greatest control.

It's not necessary to choose one of the approaches before you start. Talk to your vendor about the expected magnitude and frequency of your web site updates and they should be able to present you with the right option for your needs, budget, and internal capabilities.

You may even wind up with a combination of these three. For example, your e-commerce setup may come with an interface that lets you manage product prices and availability, but to update other parts of your site you'll have to contact your vendor.

Comparing website design companies

Once you get a list of potential web site design companies from BuyerZone, choosing one is easy if you know what to look for. The main considerations change based on the type of web site you are after.

• If you want a simple informational site, perhaps with very straightforward e-commerce and no tricky interactive features, you should look for a web site design company that specializes in small business web site packages.
• If you want a web site that addresses complicated business problems, connects to your existing databases or customer service systems, or offers e-commerce that's more than point, click, and buy, you will want to find a web site design company who works as a consultant, rather than a production line.

This is an important distinction. Companies that focus on basic small business sites will be able to create a site for you quickly and for less money than more wide-ranging firms. Companies with an emphasis on working with you to define and address your business needs will cost more, but can help your business in ways you might not have considered.

The first step in Comparing website design companies is conducting a phone interview. Here are some questions to ask. (If you're looking for a freelancer, almost all of these still apply.)

• What are your strengths as a site development company?
• Do you understand my business and customers? (It's not the end of the world if they're unfamiliar with your industry, but they should at least be eager to learn.)
• Do you handle design, development, hosting, and e-commerce? (Ask only about those you're interested in, of course.)
• Will you do the work, or outsource it to others?
• Can you help us with content creation or ideas?
• Will you test the site in various browsers? Which? (A site that works fine in one browser may break in another.)
• Can your developers connect the site to our customer database/inventory tracking software/sales software?
• Will we be able to update the site content ourselves?
• Do you do site hosting? What kind of guarantees do you offer?
• How long have you been in business? Can you provide some sample sites for me to look at? (You may hear the answer that "most of the sites we've worked on are intranets, not available to the public." You should view that with a healthy dose of skepticism - any company deserving of your business should have at least a few sites to show you.)
• What kind of support do you offer if our site breaks or needs emergency updates?

Note that we do not include "So, how much is it going to cost me?" on this list. Determining that a given web site design company is right for you should be more important than the cost. See "Prices for web page designers" for information on what you should expect to pay.

In addition to looking at the sample web sites the web site design company provides, you should also check their references. Talking to their other clients can give you the good picture of what it's like to work with a particular web site design company. Get at least three, and ask them specific questions:

• Did the firm meet deadlines?
• Were they flexible?
• What aspects of their work were particularly strong?
• What areas were not quite up to your expectations?
• Did they help you plan and organize the web site?
• Did they set and meet realistic goals for your company?
• Would you work with this company again?

Website designers contracts and getting started

Depending on the company and the scope of your web development project, there may be a few different ways your project gets started.

For the most straightforward projects, you'll be choosing a standard web site package - a specific number of pages, standard layouts, and (potentially) a simple e-commerce system. In those cases, there isn't much back and forth on pricing: you either accept the company's price or you don't. These projects usually include fixed costs for additional pages or interactive features. You should always sign a contract specifying completion dates and deliverables.

For medium-complexity projects, the design firm will usually provide an estimate based on an initial interview. They'll list the expected amount of hours required for design, image production, development, testing, and maintenance, along with the cost per hour for each task. You'll be billed for the actual amount of web development work, so make sure there is a clause in the contract that requires the vendor to notify you before they begin additional work should the price exceed the estimate by a certain amount. If you don't approve, they won't be able to bill you for large cost overruns.

For the most involved projects, there is typically an extra step involved. After you and the vendor agree to the initial estimate, they will work with you to create a much more detailed requirements document. It will go into the specifics of how the site will work, often including mockups or a prototype. This document is important for larger web projects to make sure that both parties agree on what is being delivered - it helps reduce miscommunication later. You'll have to pay for the developer's time to create this document - up to 20% of the total estimate - but it's well worth it for large web development projects.

No matter how your project is structured, there are several key points you should make sure are written into the contract:

• Itemized cost breakdowns for different employees or services.
• Estimated costs, and notification requirements of overruns.
• Deadlines for reviews and delivery, along with consequences of missing deadlines. Note that this will apply to you, too - if you don't deliver feedback in a timely manner, you may delay their final delivery.
• Hosting details, if applicable: guaranteed site availability and response time.
• Maintenance agreements, if applicable.
• Detailed responsibilities for design, content, development, testing, and signoff.

Prices for web page designers

The cost of professional web site design can range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. Here, as in many other business purchasing decisions, you can expect to get what you pay for. If your web site is going to fulfill essential business processes - allowing customers to place orders or manage accounts - and you base your purchase decision solely on price, you may be setting yourself up for problems down the road.

At the low end of the scale are web site "packages." If you choose a web site development firm that offers a 4 to 6 page web site for $400, you'll probably get a template-based web site with very little customization and no extra functionality. If your site just needs to inform people of your hours and location, then that's probably enough.

The same basic type of site package with a customized design will usually come to around $800 to $1500. In most cases, the packages are just a starting point: good web design firms will provide a detailed proposal that itemizes various costs like additional pages or extra image work.

Higher-end web site projects are usually priced on an hourly basis, because the amount of work it will take to complete them is harder to judge. This can range from $40/hour for basic HTML production to $140/hour for high-end development work. It's a huge range, but the fees are reflective of vendors' expertise and specialties. However, a medium-sized web site with a completely customized design, content management tool, and robust features and interactivity can easily cost $5,000 to $10,000, and up to $50,000 for large or very complex applications.

E-commerce is usually priced separately. Initial development costs for an e-commerce enabled web site start at around $1000 for the bare minimum. You can also expect to pay an ongoing monthly fee of $15 to $50 for a typical online store, depending on how many products you have and how many options are involved in the ordering process.

Hosting is another separate cost, but a fairly small one. Basic site hosting - shared services, where your site is run on the same computer with many others -- can be as low as $10/month; $15 to $25 monthly hosting fees are common. Dedicated hosting, in which a specific computer is only used to run your site, is more like $150/month. These costs are directly related to the size and visitor activity on your site, so online popularity can increase your monthly bills.

There are other occasional expenses you should expect: if you don't own your domain name - the "yourcompany.com" - it might cost you $20 or $40. To conduct e-commerce on your site you'll need an SSL certificate, which guarantees the security of credit card numbers and other sensitive information, and they cost $125 per year. Flash animation may cost $30 to $75 per hour.

None of these charges should come as a surprise - make sure they're spelled out in your contract. Professional web site design can vary quite a bit in cost - so make sure you know what you're getting.

Web site development tips

Talk to your users. Before spending $10,000 on an interactive web site, make sure that your customers will use it. Talking to your actual and potential customers can provide surprising insights into what you should and shouldn't do as part of your web site development: they don't think like you do.

Keep an eye on progress. To avoid unpleasant surprises, check in regularly as the site is being designed and built. You'll also want to have final approval on each stage of the project.

Look at your competitors. Visit competitors' web sites for ideas about look and feel, content, and features for your own site. But keep in mind that they will likely look at your site, too, so don't take any of their ideas - or content - too literally during your web site development.

Name an editor. Assign someone to be responsible for managing the site and making updates. The editor doesn't have to make all the changes, but should gather content from other departments as needed.

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