The Myth of The Simple (and Cheap) Business Website
Be careful what you ask for.. you might get it.
I just want a simple website for my company. Why does it cost so much?
As a web development company, we hear a version of this statement, time and time again. We share the frustration of that statement. Unfortunately the answer to this question is... "it's just not that simple".
Why?
First and foremost, it is really the wrong question for a business to ask. A business website has grown from a "nice little extra thing to have" to becoming a core way of doing business. Unfortunately, most small businesses still don't have the right perspective on the value that an effective website can have for their business. Therefore "simple and cheap" are terms that must be put in the perspective of the value to that business. In other words, "simple and cheap" can be achievable once the value is established and the cost is measured relative to that value. This can mean that a $10,000 website, under the right conditions, could be considered both simple and inexpensive if the value to that business justifies that cost.
The trick is establishing that value FIRST.
To get that value in perspective, what are some of right questions a business should be asking: (A small sampling to illustrate the point.)
- Does the business really NEED a website?
- This is not an ego trip and the website is not there to please the business owner.
- It must meet a core requirement, such that the phrase "I can't imagine how we can do without this website" is valid.
- What are your competitors doing online?
- What business requirement(s) is the website meeting? (One or more)
- Can it help with customer service?
- Can it educate our customers?
- Can it attract new customers?
- Can it drive repeat business?
- Can it generate revenue?
- Can it "save" money, and how much?
- Who is the target audience? (Did you do a survey?)
- What are their needs and expectations?
- What are their abilities (visual, auditory, etc)
- Will they naturally look to a website to interact with your type of business?
- Will a poor or unprofessionally designed website do more harm than good?
- What is the level or type of visual expectation? (Professional, Cool, Artistic, Extreme, etc.)
- What are the physical abilities (accessibility requirements) of the target audience?
- How "web oriented" is your target audience?
- What type of "look" do your competitors have on their websites?
- How will the company measure the return on investment?
- Are customers actively using the website and seeing value (survey, online metrics)?
- Are business partners and alliances seeing value (more surveys)
- Is the website generating business (increased leads)?
- Are customers using the site for support instead of calling?
So, how can a business balance their company's web requirements with the cost?
To understand the answer, the questions listed previously MUST be addressed so that a business understands the value of a website to the company. Then and only then, will the proper perspective on the cost to achieve that value be clear.
Are you building your "house" on sand?
There is one part of this "equation" that is easily overlooked. This is the design. Answering the question "will a poor or unprofessionally designed website do more harm than good?" is more important than you think. The hardest challenge in answering this question is remembering that your website is NOT FOR YOU, but for your target audience. You don't have to like it - they do.
Using SonicSpider's website as an example of this idea, click this link to a version of the Simple SonicSpider website with the style sheet removed. As you can see it is "functionally" the same as the the regular SonicSpider home page. All of the links work, all of the content is there, and from Google's point of view, there is no difference. This would be a "simple" website that would cost very little in that there is NO design work. But would it meet the needs of SonicSpider as a company? Emphatically, No. Hopefully you can see that it would not because of the simple fact that you would probably NOT be interested in a web development company that had a website that looked like this. All of the wonderful content in the world would not undo the negative first impression. Here is a case where the value of "style and impression" is as important as the content. It is easy to forget one of the most well researched "facts" about the typical "customer": You have 6 seconds to impress the viewer to stay and look further. That's right, 6 SECONDS! Will your content grab them first? NO, it will be the design and ONLY the design that grabs them in the 6 seconds.
Therefore, investing in professional design services is as critical as developing the content and message. Said simply:
The cost and value of a website is NOT just in the assembling of the HTML code. It is in developing and meeting all the company's business goals for the website.
Bottom line: Unless your website meets direct and quantifiable business needs, YOU SHOULD NOT DO IT! A bad website is worse than no website. That may sound strange coming from a web development company, but over the years we have encountered companies that actually LOST business because of a poor website. Proper planning and design for the website is the first thing that is bypassed by most small businesses, but is it the most critical component in the process.
What does it take to develop a website that meets my company's needs on the Internet?
Following is a list of components and tasks that every website should address, regardless of size of the company or industry. This is a laundry list and some items may be more important or less important in your situation.
- Review and survey target market and competitive sites to:
- Understand expectations
- Understand what the customer needs as it relates to the Web
- Develop a key words list and research popularity of those key words
- Be visible to your customer
- Be usable by the search engines
- Professional Designer
- Color schemes
- Logos
- Images
- Layout, Headlines
- Understanding of how design elements will translate to the Web
- Does it grab your customer in those critical 6 seconds?
- Professional HTML code
- Strict separation of style from content
- Translate design elements to effective web elements
- Avoid "tables" unless absolutely necessary
- Clean and maintainable code
- Validate HTML with W3C standards
- Accessibility
- Colors that do not interfere with varying degrees of color blindness
- Elements that "text readers" can navigate and verbalize
- Proper tag attributes (i.e. alt attribute for images)
- Website structure
- Menus, page flow, usability
- Maintenance
- Will all information be up-to-date?
- Will updates be timely and prompt?
- Will it respond to the business's changing needs?
- Can it be done "in house" or must it be contracted out?
The real key to "simple" is that it appears simple. Another word for this type of simple is "professional". This is very similar to the appeal of devices like the iPod. The iPod has an interface that appears so basic and so simple, but requires technology and materials that are at the very bleeding edge with a complexity that is beyond most of our understanding.
Is there a way to manage costs and still get what I need?
The key here is what you need, not what you want. Once a budget is established a good web development company will be able to tell you what can be provided to fit your needs within that budget. This may not be everything that you want, but it will get you started with a solid core. From there, you can budget upgrades to get more of what you want. An effective website is a never ending process that is part of your yearly budget and is a regular "action item" in your business plan.
A Big Mistake - Taking the Short Cut to Get Everything You Think You Want
One of the biggest mistakes for most small business owners, especially start up businesses, is that they take the short cut and take what seems to be the "cheap" road to get everything they think they need. Here are some of these avenues and why they end up costing more money than the professional route.
My Friend's Nephew
Seems like everyone knows someone that has played around with an HTML editor, taken some classes on FrontPage or Dreamweaver, and now fancies themselves as a web programmer. They are incredibly cheap, mostly because they don't realize what they have gotten themselves into, and you as well. By the time the project is finished (if it ever gets finished) this person has gone on to other jobs and adventures, leaving you with a mess,and not a clue about what to do next, or what even happened. Typical problems: domain, hosting, and other details have been lost. and/or shortcuts in design and construction due to heavy use of "auto code generation" leads to unmaintainable code. All of this leads to either abandonment of the site or a complete rewrite and greater cost.
Oh... And We Also Do Websites
There are a number of companies that think that web design is a "nice little extra service". Therefore, at or near the bottom of a long list of services is "Web Design". It could be a graphic or marketing company, an IT company, or even your local printer. Either way, it is not to be confused with a dedicated web development company. It may work out, but you will always be competing with the core services of that company, which is NOT your website. Chances are they will be contracting the work out. Chances are it is someone's nephew fresh out of the local college. Is this what you want? Typical problems: original designer left or your project gets shuffled to the bottom of the priority list (plus many of the problems related to "My Friend's Nephew").
Templates - The Cookie Cutter
One of the first serious attempts at solving this problem was the basic template website. To keep costs down, very few layouts are used and the code is machine generated after the user fills out the answers to a number of questions and downloads one or more images. Because machines are "dumb slaves" the code has to be modular and to do this ,"tables" are used. This results in "tables within tables within tables....etc" with hundreds of lines of code for the simplest of web elements. Translation: "a code nightmare". This type of site quickly becomes impossible to maintain or "change" in any way, and it does not respond to CSS manipulation. Of course, it also does not pass the W3C validator either (for that and other reasons). Typical problems: limited design and layout choices, very "cookie cutter" in appearance, code is difficult to maintain, if not impossible.
Templates - Dynamic Machine Generated Cookie Cutter
Next was an attempt to "manage" this nightmare code, so that only the machine deals with the complexity. This solved the management issue and added some flexibility, but generally it adds other problems: The website can only look like the template layout and very limited "customizations" are possible. The website only exists within that service. You, the customer, cannot "have a copy". Simply put, as a business owner , you are "chained" to that service and "locked" into that layout and design. If you want to move, you lose everything. It is, in reality, not YOUR website. Typical problems: limited opportunity for growth and meeting changing needs, very little control of site and features, vendor lock in.
All of these solutions can be "cheap"...often VERY, VERY cheap. Unfortunately, over the weeks and months after the site is up, if it does get up, the shortcomings become painfully obvious.
Is there another way?
What are the requirements of a system that establishes the value, keeps the costs down relative to that value, and still delivers the professional design and "hand coded" quality that is needed?
- Pre-Planning
- Worksheets that guide you through the requirements.
- Professional review and extensive resources, ONLY as needed.
- Network of professionals to help, as needed (marketing, sales, content writing and editing, etc..)
- Integrated Design Concepts (Not templates)
- Designed by a professional with the understanding of how the layout must be rendered in HTML
- Color schemes that address accessibility requirements
- Colors that will render correctly on multiple browsers and screens
- Flexible layouts to maximize usability of the design for future changes and growth
- Designs that work for print as well as the Web.
- Professionally Hand Coded
- Constructed to accommodate multiple design concepts.
- Coded for CSS and maximum flexibility and simplicity.
- Strict separation of content and design.
- Coded for fast download and browser response on any Internet access technology (dial-up to T1 line)
- Matching Marketing Materials
- Build branding, from business cards and brochures to the website.
- Look professional and "bigger than you are"
- You own it on a CD - everything!
- Dedicated Professional Support
- Future Growth, "Built to Change, Built to Manage".
- Management and Support services.
- Add-ons to increase services and utility
- Web Publishing tools
- Marketing tools
- Management tools
- E-commerce tools
- Change or customize design WITHOUT touching the content.
- Change or grow the content WITHOUT touching the design.
- Future Custom Services (No limit to supporting your growth)
- Custom designs and graphics
- Custom programming and integration
- Enterprise level development services
- Future Growth, "Built to Change, Built to Manage".
The key concept is that you must START RIGHT, no matter how small, in order to maximize your investment and leverage that investment for years to come.
The Right Start Solution
For business owners that truly want to start down the right path -
- a professional, high quality, budget-targeted website
- built to grow, built to manage, built RIGHT
- that presents their business's products and services
- a site that addresses core business requirements and has a clear and measurable purpose with professionals that are dedicated to that purpose
SonicSpider and Tanaka Graphics have developed a program dedicated to serving those needs full time. Go to the RightStart website to find out how to get started RIGHT...