This week, after a few random, personal conversations about web design throughout my week, i thought it would be helpful to talk about some of the mysteries of web design for the “non-designer.” Today’s post will include the point of having a website, the differing design possibilities to illustrate that point, and then the cost.
First of all, let’s talk about the point of having a website. The other day I met with a client who mentioned that a few years ago, their having a website was simply because “it was the thing to do.” Now a days, your website is not only “the thing to do,” but it is your business card, your regular advertising, your analytical marketing stratagem, and so on.
So why do you have a website? Is it just to have one? Then you’ve missed out on a plethora of methods for driving sales and getting clients. Be purposeful with your tools!
Let’s take MDWebPro for example. Not only do we help clients by designing and building websites, but we utilize different tools such as Google Analytics to track who visits your site, what pages they’re looking at, and more! This way, you can tailor your website to not only attract customers, but keep them with you. To find out more about this, check out the Inbound Advisor!
Next, let’s talk about how to structure your website to get your point across. What are you trying to say with your site? Are you simply trying to be informative about a certain topic or practice? Let your designer know that. Are you trying to sell a product or service? Make sure your web designer understands this so that he/she can design the site layout to effectively draw the viewer to purchase that product or service.
On that note, you want to make sure your information isn’t all just crammed into a page. That’s not effective marketing! Your website is your greatest tool, but a poorly designed website can shoot you in the foot.
Finally what’s the cost when it’s all said and done? Well, that depends on many different things. Are you having an e-commerce capability? How many pages will you have? These things all come into play when figuring out the cost of a website design, and they’re all different depending on who designs your website.
One of the most astonishing things I came across this week was the differences in design cost for a particular customer of MDWebPro. This client went with a big-name design firm, and the quoted price was somewhere near $30,000. Now when the client’s website wasn’t getting done, and things were going nowhere, they decided to give MDWebPro a call. What was the quote on our side? Let’s just say the client could have purchased a brand new car with the difference.
Well, I hope that this cleared up some of the mist and mystery with these aspects of web design. Feel free to comment with any questions whatsoever!
