Tips When Shopping For Cheap Web Design

Shopping for cheap web design can be a little frustrating.  If you want a quality website, it can be even more frustrating. Many times you may feel like a victim of the old fashioned “bait and switch”.

Here is one scenario. You find a web design company offering cheap web design and call them only to find out that the website you need does not fall into the “cheap” category.

Another scenario you will run into is when none of the cool website design examples in their portfolio are the “cheap” ones. Here are some tips to follow when shopping for cheap web design.

Don’t expect to get a whole lot for nothing

If you are only looking to spend a couple hundred bucks on a website, don’t expect a web designer to build you a 50 page website. You may be able to get the neighbor’s kid to build you one for that kind of money but this article is about finding a professional web designer to build one for you. Most of the legit cheap web designers out there charge around $100 per page so if your budget is $300 then you can probably find a professional web designer to build you a 3-5 page website for that much money. Video, Flash and heavy graphic design are probably out of the question.

Be prepared to do some of the work yourself

If your budget is limited prepare to do some of the work yourself. The more work you put into it the less money you should have to spend on having a professional do it for you. Web designers are like lawyers, you pay for their time. If you ask them to find photos, write your copy and build your website you’re going to pay more for it. If you only have them build your site, then you’ll pay less.

Purchase a website that you can easily add pages to and update yourself

If you get a website with a CMS (Content Management System) then you don’t have to pay a web designer to build your pages for you. That’s right, all you need to pay them for is to build the thing and that’s it. You can then add in all the pages you need without having to pay. This is usually the cheapest way to get a professional looking website. Just make sure that the learning curve of the management system isn’t too steep. Some good examples of these types of websites are the Cheap Ass Website and Quik Site systems.

A secure ecommerce shopping cart is out of the question

You are not, I repeat, are not going to find a professional web designer to build you a secure ecommerce shopping cart for a couple hundred dollars. You might be able to find someone to build you a cheap website that you can add PayPal buttons to but a top of the line shopping cart is out of the question. One thing you don’t want be cheap with is ecommerce, especially if you plan on taking credit cards over the Internet. You are liable if those credit card numbers get stolen from your website so save up and do it right.

In conclusion, make sure you shop around and get 3 to 5 quotes when shopping for cheap web design. Professional cheap web design is out there, you just have to look for it.

3 Questions To Ask When Shopping For Cheap Website Design

When you are shopping for cheap website design remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. Cheap website design does exist, but is the quality going to be what you are looking for? If one guy quotes you $50 per hour, another $75 per hour and yet another quotes you $100 per hour would you even know what questions to ask to figure out if you getting more value for the higher quote?

Here are three questions you need to ask when shopping for cheap website design.

1) How long did it take you to build this?

Have a look at the web designer’s portfolio and find some website designs that you like and ask them how long it took to build those particular websites. This should give you an idea of how fast they work. The average website usually averages out to around an hour per page or less. That is, unless there are a lot of intricate graphic design or animated elements flying around but if you are looking for cheap website design then those types of things will pretty much be out of the question anyway. Asking this will also give you an idea of what ballpark your website quote should be in. If you ask for a website similar to one in their portfolio that they said took them 10 hours and the quote comes back 50 hours then you know something is up.

2) Why does this take so many hours?

Web designers hate to be questioned on why they quote the way they do. Some will even flat out not answer you if you ask them why it took them so long to build a particular website. That’s exactly why you need to ask. Now, you may not understand everything they explain to you but have them repeat it until you do understand. If they can’t explain to you why they quoted you 20 hours for a particular service in a way which you can understand them then don’t hire them. They are either trying to rip you off or they don’t really know what they are doing. Now, reality is this, some web designers are just flat out faster and better than others. You may run into one guy who charges $100 per hour but will have your website done in three hours where the $50 per hour guy may need 10 hours to do the exact same thing. Is he ripping you off? No, he’s just slower. Don’t make your deicing based purely on hourly rates when shopping for cheap website design. Take speed into consideration too. Fast web designers are usually more experienced and charge a little more but the money is usually better spent.

3) Have you ever built a website like this before?

This is a biggie. Too many clients have walked through our doors with half built websites wanting us to finish them because their old web guy got in over his head. This is especially important when shopping for ecommerce website design. Make sure the web designer you hire has built the type of website you need before. Many web designers like to learn “on the clock”. That is, while you are paying them. They will accept a job that is over their head and try to figure out how to do it while charging you. You can easily avoid this by asking. If they hem and haw or don’t give you a confident response then you may want to look elsewhere.

The point being made is that

• Experience = Speed
• Speed = Less Production Time
• Less Production Time = Less Billable Hours = Savings to You

This article is reprinted courtesy of CheapAssWebsite.com