(773) 572-4569 Walton Street Web Design Pricing Information on Web Development and Search Engine Optimization
Contact Us for a Quote
Please Note: These are guideline prices. While they will apply most of the time, due to the uniqueness and differing complexity of each web site they are not guaranteed. For a guaranteed price, please contact us for a custom quote.
One of the most common questions we get from clients is "How much will the web site cost?" Unfortunately, there is no precise and quick answer to this, and this page is an attempt to be as thorough as is practical. Good web design, by its nature, is custom work. Asking how much a web site costs without giving all the precise details is like asking a construction company how much it costs to build a house, without letting them know anything else. Before a construction company could quote you, they'd need to find out information like what kind of materials you want to use, how many stories you want, how many square feet the house will be, etc. The same is true of web design.
Note that there are also many companies out that promote cheap web sites. You get what you pay for. That is the universal truth in web design. Walton Street Web Design primarily does custom web design work, designed to really brand and identify a company. We typically do not build web sites out of templates. While that is cheaper doing so commonly results in a "cookie cutter" look. Remember, for clients of your business, no web site is better than a web site that looks like a high school student made it. You get what you pay for!
Another reason why it is very important to talk with a web designer to get a quote is because of how web design companies typically quote. Until we know exactly what your requirements are we don't know how much work it is. Be very weary of companies that give you guaranteed flat rates or exact quotes without going into great detail with you regarding your requirements. If a company does so, and it is a responsible company, the quote will most likely be a high quote, so that the company can cover their bases in the case of extra work. What happens in this case is you pay too much.
Another case is the company that gives you the lowball offer because they want your business. This is the worst case scenario. The vast majority of the time when you go with the lowest bidder your web site won't work as promised and/or the price will be marked up mid-project. Going with the lowest bidder almost always guarantees you'll have the highest cost in the long run. A number of our current clients have come to us because their previous web designers could not correctly complete their web sites, and all the money they spent before us was money down the drain.
Tell me about Basic / Premium Web Sites
Many businesses simply need to get a web presence out there, and do not need anything incredible complex, fancy, or with a database. The goal of the web site is to simply be a place where your clients can view what you do online. For the most part, these sites are static (meaning they cannot be changed by the user) and contain no E-Commerce, although there are certain exceptions to this (see the E-Commerce and Content Management Systems sections below). These sites are incredibly cost effective and can usually be quickly built. The main difference between a basic and a premium web site is the level and quality of the graphic design and visual appearance, and other features such as contact forms, slide shows, rollovers, map embeds, etc.
What about E-Commerce?
When it comes to E-Commerce, there are two categories: Cases where you have a fixed number of products that do not change often (Static E-Commerce), and cases where you have to be able to add/delete/edit products yourself (Dynamic E-Commerce). For the most part, Dynamic E-Commerce web sites require a full database driven site, built on an E-Commerce platform. However, for smaller numbers of products, it is possible for you to be able to add/edit/delete products without a full database driven site using the Adobe Contribute Application and PayPal "Add to Cart" buttons. However, after about 25-50 products this solution tends to become impractical, and there are other limitations too. Which solution is right for you? Contact us today and we'll advise you!
How about Content Management Systems (CMS)?
In the Web 2.0 world, many users have an expectation to be able to update their sites (specifically text and pictures) without the aid of a web designer. This is done through the use of a Content Management System (CMS). In the traditional sense, a Content Management System is a full database-driven web site, with some examples being Joomla or Drupal. While relatively easy to install, these systems are incredibly complex and often require dozens of hours of customization work in order to meet a client's requirements. While in certain cases a system like that is the right direction to go in, we have found that for most of our clients a Content Management System based on Adobe Contribute software is a much more practical application. Adobe Contribute gives users the editing power of most database-driven CMS systems without a database, and with a significantly lower development cost. The downside to using Contribute is that it costs approximately $200 per user and is not quite as customizable as a database-driven CMS. Which solution is right for you? Contact us today and we'll advise you!
How much more to add a blog?
This is a very common client question. Blogs are very popular in the Web 2.0 world, and are excellent for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes as well. From a technical standpoint a blog is simply a Content Management System that allows you to create entries that consist of text and pictures. Like more traditional CMS systems, there are both simpler and more robust ways to do blogs. A very capable blogging system is Wordpress.org, which is a full database-driven web site. It has many features such as posting favorite links, auto-archiving, etc. Again, like a traditional CMS, a Wordpress installation is very straightforward however customizing it to blend seamlessly into your web site is an incredible amount of work. A much more cost-effective solution for many clients is a blog based on Adobe Contribute. While it certainly does not have all the bells and whistles of a database-driven blogging platform, it still gets the job done and at a significantly lower cost.
Another very common client question when it comes to blogs is can't you just have a blog on Wordpress.com, Blogger, or one of the other blogging services and then just link to it? Yes, you can do that and doing so would mean no additional cost to you. However remember that those blogs will be housed on external web sites, NOT your web site. It always looks more professional if you have the blog on you web site directly (which results in a more seamless user experience) and additionally if the blog is hosted on another site you don't get the search engine optimization credit that the blog would have provided you had it been hosted directly on your site. Just remember that there are many options with blogs. Contact us today and we'll talk about what's best for you!
Now tell me about Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
Web sites are pretty useless unless their are found. Many clients come to us and ask us to build them a site so that when someone types in a certain search query they come up on top. MUCH MUCH simpler said that done, in most cases.
Here's what you need to keep in mind - competition in the virtual world is significantly greater than in the physical world. Let's say you're selling clothes. If you have a brick and mortar clothing store, then your competitors are primarily those within a certain geographic radius. Now as soon as you go online your competitors are everyone else in the world who are selling the same type of clothes you are.
SEO is a very time consuming, trial-and-error process. It is more of an art, rather than a science. The search engines don't tell us how they rank pages - everything we know about search engine ranking is based off best guesses and it takes an incredible amount of research, tweaking, and time (6-12 months minimum) to get a really effective SEO strategy. It is not uncommon for large corporations to spend hundreds of thousands, and some even millions of dollars annually on SEO.
SEO includes the organic (unpaid) search results as well as the pay-per-click results. For example, if you search something in Google the pay-per-click results come up in that tan box near the top as well as in the right column, with the organic results coming up in the left column. Organic results are great because they are free, but it typically takes at least a few months minimum to rise to the top in organic results. Pay-per-click results on the other hand are much more so a money slugfest, as typically the person who pays the most rises to the top. However, bearing this in mind, search engines also give "relevance" credit to pay-per-click keywords that you bid on, and the more relevant a keyword is to the content of your site the less expensive that keyword will be for you. That is why SEO is also an important consideration in any pay-per-click campaign.
Because of the fierce competition out there for keywords, doing a formal SEO is typically not the most cost effective solution for most small businesses (an exception would be if a business has developed a product that's new to the market or if the business is in a very specific niche market). Remember that traffic is essential to your web site, however most people forget that search engines are merely one way to drive traffic to a web site. For a small business, the most powerful application of a web site is that of a sales tool to build credibility and help close business. Offline methods of driving traffic to a web site, such as newspaper ads, flyers, signs, etc. are very powerful and cost effective ways for a typical small business to monetize their web site.
Another very important thing to remember about SEO is that it is ongoing and in reality never ends. Sure, after doing an initial SEO you may be at the top. However, many different things could happen: A search engine can change their ranking algorithm, your competitors can up their SEO game, or your site could just get labeled by a search engine as being "stale". Should any of these happen, you can quickly go from page 1 of the search results to page 2, 3, 4, 5, or even lower than that, and quickly lose significant portions of your business. The ongoing cost of SEO is definitely something that you need to plan for in your budget.
For those that do decide that SEO is the strategy that they want to pursue, it consists of the following three steps:
- SEO Analysis - Done before anything else, here we determine a keyword strategy and get an overall idea of how competitive a certain field is in terms of SEO. This takes approximately 2-4 weeks. For new web sites it is HIGHLY recommended that this is completed before any site construction starts.
- Site Modifications / Link Building - Before you can see SEO results, a site has to be modified so that it is highly readable by search engines and then your selected keywords need to be placed in strategic locations. Additionally, relevant links must be placed going to and from the site. If a new web site is being constructed with an SEO priority Walton Street Web Design takes care of padding the necessary keywords during initial site construction.
- Site Tweaking - This is ongoing monthly research that determines the effectiveness of your SEO / pay-per-click strategy. This research can be done quickly or pretty in-depth. The more in-depth this research is done, the more accurate and the quicker your SEO results will be; however that requires a higher investment on your part.
Lastly, keep in mind that Search Engine Results are NOT guaranteed, and that the entire SEO process comes with absolutely no assurances. The only ones who could actually give a guarantee regarding Search Engine Results would be the search engines themselves, and they won't do that. This Google SEO FAQ clearly states that nobody can guarantee a #1 ranking. If anybody does give you any kind of guarantee when it comes to SEO - and you value your money - don't walk, RUN!
So is SEO right for you? Contact us today and we'll advise you!
I also want a mailing list.
Mailing lists for the most part are a considerable amount of work to create from scratch. That's why for most clients a very practical solution is to use a mailing list service like Constant Contact or iContact. They take care of many of the technical details of a mailing list for a very reasonable cost. However, for more custom mailing lists or applications in which a mailing list is blended with other uses you normally have to write your own mailing list. Your best mailing list strategy depends on what you're doing with it. Contact us today and we'll advise you!
What does it take to get a forum on my site?
Forums are just another example of a full database-driven web application. There are forum platforms out there, and while they are simple to install take take a considerable amount of work to customize to precisely fit the look and feel of your web site. The biggest thing to remember about forums is that they can be a very powerful tool for search engine optimization. Should you have a forum on your web site? Contact us today and we'll advise you!
Can you do Social Networking / Dating Sites?
Yes, absolutely we can. However, the thing to remember is that a social networking or dating site must be a fully dynamic database-driven web site, and there is no way around this. Additionally, competition for social networking and dating sites is very stiff, so as a business you need to have an excellent marketing plan before you build your site or else this will be an expensive learning experience for you. Contact us today and let's talk about Social Network / Dating sites!
Do you also do graphic and logo design?
Yes, we do. Graphics are really what set web sites apart on the internet, and graphics are the difference between a mediocre web site and a web site that makes users go "Wow!". With the advent of Web 2.0, people expect sites to be modern, clean, and polished. The elements that really distinguish a site, those that make a site look 3-dimensional and have depth on the page, are graphic design elements such as shading, border patterns, and other graphic effects. The only thing that HTML itself supports is solid colors. Build a site today with only solid colors and it will look like a blast from the 90's. If you want to see an example of a site with only solid colors, check out the original Walton Street Web Design site that we used when we first started our business. The current Walton Street Web Design site is very polished and looks highly professional due to the use of custom graphics. Just look at this very page you're reading on now. All the borders, shading, etc. are actually images files that had to be custom developed in Photoshop and had to be embedded into HTML as images. Doing so is a ton more work than using solid colors, but when you look at our old site you can really see the difference!
When it comes to logo design, a good rule of thumb is the more time you spend on a logo the more professional it will look. Logos can be done quick and cheap (and will look so), or you can spend a significant amount of time on a logo and that will definitely show in the finished product. It is up to you to decide what's right for your business.
Contact us today to get your graphic design started!
Can I put video on my site?
Yes. The real question you should be asking is "How much of an investment is it to put video on my site?" and the answer to that is it depends. If you have a situation where you need a video on your web site, and it's a video that you will give to the designer and they will put it up for you, and the video is not going to change, there is no additional charge for it in most cases so long as you provide a complete video and we do not have to do any video editing.
However, if you have a requirement for a site like YouTube, where either you or your users can upload their own video, this equation changes drastically. The thing with video is that video for the web needs to be encoded, most typically into flash format. Outside of the web, it is pretty rare to have video in flash format and in almost all cases video has to be converted. If you have a designer putting a static video on your site the designer does the encoding on his or her computer and simply uploads and installs the encoded file. Now if you are having users or yourself upload video then the server has to do the encoding. This almost always requires a dedicated server and literally thousands to tens of thousands dollars worth of software and programming. Building video sharing sites like YouTube is a HUGE and very complicated commitment.
Contact us today and let's talk about video!
Should I have a Flash based Web Site?
Flash based web sites are becoming increasingly popular on the web, and that is because you can accomplish some very neat effects with flash. If you have ever been to a site with custom sounds and many neat looking animations, more likely than not the site is built in flash. The power of flash lies in its ability to house a complex combination of graphics, sound, video, and animations to make for a truly interactive user experience.
However, as with anything, there are also cons. The first is that flash sites are significantly less recognizable by search engines and your site will be lower in search rankings if you go with a completely flash based site. Additionally, flash is significantly more work to develop for and thus requires a higher investment on your part than an HTML web site.
So should you go with a flash based web site? If you require complex animations then the answer is yes. Otherwise, so long as things are not moving on the page, you can still get a very professional look with just HTML (for example, the Walton Street Web Design site contains no flash except for on our Flash Gallery page). Another good solution for many business is to only build certain components of their web site in flash, getting the best of both worlds. But which solution is best for you? Contact us today and we'll advise you!
Large Custom Sites / Web Applications / Database Development
Do you have a web site with a unique idea that just does not fit into any of the boxes? Yes, we can do that too. These are the most difficult type of projects to quote out, simply due to their complexity and incredibly custom nature. In most cases multiple meetings and a database design process will have to complete before a quote can even be given. Contact us today and we'll answer all your questions!
IMPORTANT:
The prices below are our best estimates given our experience with clients. Be aware that these prices are not guarantees in any ways, and to get a final price for your web site you need to contact us. However, if you're "just wondering" what a ballpark site would cost, you can use the below prices as rough guidelines. Also, if your project does not fit into one of the "boxes" described below, you really can't depend on these numbers to be an accurate ballpark. Note that in many cases the right solution is a combination of several of the elements described below, and that there are always exceptions to these rules! Also, more detailed descriptions of many of the products can be found above.
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