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

Some Tips When Shopping For A Cheap Website.

Business owners need to be careful when shopping for a cheap website because as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for”.  The biggest mistake most people make is going with a web designer who does not have the required experience. Many cost conscious business owners end up hiring the kid next door or their brother-in-law because they know how to put together a rudimentary website and get it online. Then, once the business owner asks them to add in something more advanced like a contact form, rotating images or e-commerce functionality they can’t get the person on the phone and they are left with a half built website that generates zero business.

The other issue is often quality. More often than not, the business owner will end up with a cheap website that looks like it was put together by a 5^th grader.  This does them no good, especially if image is important to their business. Remember, a website is often the first impression a prospective client will get when shopping for your services. If your website looks cheap, then how does that make you look?

You can get a cheap website that looks professional and works the way you need it to if you ask the right questions before hiring a web designer.

Here are some tips:

• When the web designer shows you their portfolio, ask how much each of the websites cost to make. Many times you will be lured in by an awesome looking portfolio only to find out that not one of the samples they show you is the actual “cheap” price.
• Make sure that the “cheap price” includes the amount of pages you will need. Many web design companies promote $99 or $199 websites but those are for 1 page websites only.
• If you have a particular website in mind that you’d like to pattern your website from, ask how long it would take to build it. Then get the hourly rate. Many times what you want, or need, for your business doesn’t fit into a cheap website. You may be asked to scale back. That’s okay as long as you don’t scale back so much that you end up with something that does your business no good.
• Don’t kid yourself thinking that you will get a full blown e-commerce website where you can take credit cards, control inventory and offered discount codes for a couple hundred bucks. E-commerce websites need to be secure and have to give you the ability to easily add products, shipping calculations, affiliate programs and such. You can have a reasonably priced e-commerce website built but it obviously can’t be built as cheaply as a 5 page informational website.
• Make sure that the web designer has the technical ability to enhance your website in the future as your business grows. If they are willing to build you a cheap website then they may not have the skills or know how to build you a more advanced website when the time comes for that.

You can find a cheap website as long as you take your time to ask the right questions. There are plenty of professional web design companies that offer cheap websites out there. Just take your time to find a cheap website that is the right one for you.