Having a website professionally designed by a web designer is a great way to save time and heart ache because you’ll know that your web designer is an experienced expert. But the question remains, what should you expect to pay a web designer/programmer to build a professionally designed website? Well, the answer is, it depends. Firstly, you’ve got to ask yourself this one question, how much are you going to put into it? What I mean by that is are you going to supply the graphics, layout, verbiage and whatever else is needed or will it be simple content with only text?
You can actually reduce your costs if you’re willing to do the write up yourself. A lot of times what I’ll do to keep the costs down is go and find a site that I really like. I use this thing called Jing. Basically what it does is allows me to do screen captures. What I’ll do is say, “Hey, here’s a site that I like. I want you to make it like this. Here is a picture that I want you to put here” I kind of just look at the site while I record myself explaining all the things I want to do, and then give it to my web designer. Then, I also provide the verbiage and explain where I want it placed on the web page. I recommend you do the same as it makes it much simpler for both you and your designer. You both know the outcome in the end. Basically, I just try to make it as easy as possible on them and me. The clearer your instructions are and the easier the tools you give them, the less back and forth communication there will be. If you do it this way, it’s going to be a lot cheaper.
Some people choose to outsource their websites to outsourcing sites. Often times you can find very experienced designers who will bid on your project for a very low cost compared to many offline designers. These sites are great sources to find good programmers and designers. However, I have never used either of these outsourcing sites for web design purposes. I was just talking to somebody the other day that used them and they said for 150 bucks, they got a professional website with everything they required. For that price, they provided them all the copy and simply used the method I spoke about above by using Jing to show their designer exactly what they wanted. They also were able to find a website that they liked and simply said; “Hey, I want this turned into this.” The entire process was simple and they got themselves a professionally designed website for a very reasonable cost.
You’re also going to see that the more data or information you give your designer, the more they don’t have to think. The process will be simple for them. They’ll only have to use their expertise to make your site fit within the parameters you’ve given them. So, essentially the price is going to be determined by you. If you simplify the process for your designer, that will help you to keep costs down.
It’s very likely that you can get a website designed and laid out for less than 500 dollars. However, I don’t want to give you too low of a price. But you can reasonably get something done for that amount. In my experience, I’ve had some of my websites completed for $125-$250. If you’ve done any research on me, these are pages you have probably come across on the internet. Take a look at some of my sites to see what I mean.
There is one word of advice that I suggest you do. If you’re using an outsourcing website, always try to keep your budget in mind when accepting bids. If you do this, you’ll simply need to accept the lowest amount when they ask you “What’s your budget?” That’s what I do. I say “…at this point, I am not sure.” I always do this because really, I don’t know. Realistically, you might not know or realize how low people will actually bid for your job. You may have been willing to spend a lot more, but of course, if you can get a better deal, then why not? By doing this, you’ll spend a lot less. Actually, I got the book cover of my first book that I wrote that hit number one in Amazon, for around $125! I never expected such a low price, but I got exactly what I was looking for.
If you carefully outsource and are aware of the strategies I outlined in this article, there is no reason why you should spend a lot on your website. Take your time to find the best candidate to do the job for you so that you can ensure better results in the end.
