It's All Geek To Me - March 9th 2005

How much do websites cost? by Ross Lasley I recently gave a talk on "What You Don't Need to Know about Search Engine Marketing" (pretty much most of what you read), and had a great time presenting to 30+ people. As usual, I hung around after to chat with folks and answer questions. Some were as you might expect - - the inevitable angst over Google PageRank and the like. The most asked question, though, was: How much do websites cost? I suppose I did mention that KISS's minimum project fee is $5,000, and so, technically, I guess I did bring up that subject myself. In thinking about it, though, this question is awfully common, and some basic guidance is pretty simple to offer.

Here's your handy dandy guide, then, to tell you how much that doggie in the window ought to cost.

1. Price of Admission

It takes three things to make a website - - the domain name, hosting, and, the site itself. The first two are unavoidable annual expenses. Industry standard price for a domain name is $35 per year. Hosting is priced like a computer - - it is all about component quality and support. Basic hosting runs around $20 per month, and hosting for more robust sites runs upwards of $100 per month. Name and hosting, then, have an average annual cost of $275.

2. Design

It's the hardest part to price - - any "print" graphic designer will tell you it is possible to spend $10,000 on logo development, and lots of people do just that. At the other end of the spectrum, there are firms like Logoworks that pride themselves on their self-proclaimed "incredible price" - - $265-$549 complete.

Designers sell time, so the price will have much to do with your pickiness . . . can you describe what you want, and you simply need someone to draw it for you? . . . . or do you really need a designer to present "concepts?" . . . and, how many revisions will you require, and . . . well, you get the point.

A simple site should be in the $500 to $1500 range for design. More robust sites that have supporting graphics will be in the $2,000 to $5,000 range. "Serious" designs, typically with lots of supporting elements and large site maps will be in the $5,000 to $15,000 range.

3. Content and Production

Will you be writing your own copy and use your own photos? Decent copy costs about $250 per page, and photographers run about $1,000 per day. Once content is created, you should expect $75-$100 per produced web page to build.

4. Functionality

Will your site do anything? Shopping cart, mailing list, bulletin boards? Open source software (what you should use) is generally free or very low cost. You'll need a programmer to customize it for your particular use and install it on your site, and you should expect to pay about $100 per hour for that work. A low end shopping cart will run about $500, and heavily customized carts can run as high as $30,000.

There are some bargains to be had - - PayPal offers a very simple, albeit limited, cart for free; SourceForge has a long list of free functionality your programmer can download and install for you, too.

5. Marketing

It costs to get people to your site. Basic submission/optimization, paid inclusions and CPC. Site submission will run $500 per year; paid inclusions about $1,500 per year; and, CPC, after you've determined your statistical conversion rate, can run a monthly budget of $500 to $100,000 (that's no typo, either).

It's simple math, explained in our guide, only with your website, it's calculable to the penny.

6. Make it Better All The Time

Great sites are never "redesigned." They evolve over time, and in small steps. Consulting reports analyzing site statistics that include action steps for site adjustments can be expensive, but nonetheless should be planned for in your online business as a percentage of expected sales - - a site that generates a sale per month needs updating far less than one that makes a sale per day. At KISS we charge between $2,500 to $25,000 per month for analytics and consulting.

The Totals, then:

• $500 = Do it mostly yourself
  
  
• $500 - $2,000 = Basic "brochureware" site, what most local web development firms produce
  
  
• $2,000 - $5,000 = "Serious" brochureware that usually include shopping carts and other features, maybe some room for copywriting and photography.
  
  
• $5,000 - $25,000 = Usually heavy duty e-commerce, defined as a site with specific sales goals in mind when launched. Everything you need, including Internet marketing, is usually included.
  
  
• $25,000 or more = Income-generating machines with costs calculated as a percentage of expected sales. Not your first website, includes all that you need and serious plans for ongoing work – this is most of what KISS does.

Follow the Money by Michael McGrath During the Watergate years, Woodward and Bernstein's clandestine source, Deep Throat, told them to "follow the money" to find answers to their questions. It was good advice, and it meant everything to the end of that story. I was thinking of that as I spent a day at the Linux World Expo in Boston two weeks ago. Much has been written about that event, and I'm not going to restate what others have already said. I just want to mention one take-away of my own.

The largest floor displays in the Exhibition Halls were held by some of the biggest players in the industry . . . IBM, Hewlett Packard, Intel, AMD, Unisys, Computer Associates, and others. Red Hat and Novell were up there in floor space and presentations as well. It was not inexpensive.

I expected all the attendees to be open source zealots, to be sure. What I did not anticipate is the money spent, generally, by the 800 lb gorillas in the technology industry. It had to be huge just to be there. But I noticed some zealotry among those gorillas, too. The money being spent both for the now and for the future of open source and Linux by these companies is most impressive and not insignificant.

Follow the money, Deep Throat said. The same is true today. Of course, Microsoft has lots of money, too, but if I were MS, I think I'd be pretty attentive to my future. The competition is investing heavily in the open source/Linux future, and that can't be good for Gates.