Does the cost vary between different web design agencies? The answer is probably yes! Well let me try and explain a few things that might help you understand why they vary so much.
The big cost agency
Some agencies will have bigger overheads, more staff to pay, bigger rents to pay because the office is in a premium part of town, some of the directors will have company cars and all this need to be paid for. These will all have an effect on the cost that is forwarded to the client and that is fine if you want to pay for that. You might be convinced that you will get a better service because of bigger staff network but just remember that these are employed people and don’t really have an invested interest in you the client, the only person who does is the owner of the company and if they don’t get their hands dirty then they are not really helping you.
The small cost one man band
Some freelancers who are trying to establish themselves will probably charge a ricolously low price in order to win a pitch for a website – this is also fine if they are honest with you and you know what you are paying for. If you are unsure ask them how much experience they have, ask to see their portfolio – this might not even be in existence yet but that isn’t necessarily a problem if they have a lot of experience and the ability. As long as you ask the right questions and they are totally honest with you there should be no reason not to use them. The great positive with using a freelancer is that you will get a personal service because if they are good they will consider their reputation more than anything and that can only benefit the client.
Requirements
Other considerations will be what you actually need from having a website:
Do you just need a web presence with 2 or 3 pages and a contact form?
Do you need the flexibility to add or change pages?
Do you want a blog or some kind of publishing platform?
Do you need full ecommerce to sell products through a secure gateway
Do you have to have multi level login with different administration rights for different users?… the list goes on
All things considered you can see that requirements can differ. If you just need a few pages to give you a web presense then you shouldn’t have to pay thousands if that’s all you require. If you need something with a few more whistles and bells then obviously the costs will increase but only to your requirements.
Bespoke and OpenSource options
Some agencies will have their own systems that they have developed themselves and some of them are pretty good. However, these systems will have been developed from the ground up which you the client, will have to pay a premium for. You will be paying for something bespoke but not neccessarily stable, because each client requirement is slightly different the system used will have to be tweaked accordingly. Sometimes you the client can be a guinea pig for these changes and that will become a little irritating over time – especially if you have paid a premium for something considered to be bespoke.
Although some of these systems are very good they have more than likely been modelled on an opensource solution anyway. Opensource are free to use and they develop software solutions that anyone can use. Some are for internal use and some are for website publishing like Drupal, WordPress, Joolma and many more. The beauty of using opensorce is that they have been developed over 10’s of years and have a support network that spans the world so to say they have global support is not far from the truth. Because they do not have to be developed from the ground up this will dramatically reduce the time it takes to develop any website and thus reduce the costs.
Why we are different
Rachael and Elliott work in an office in the Garden and our overheads are minimal – so you don’t pay for our company cars or staff salaries however, we do use a support network if required because we can’t do everything! Because we work where we live we are generally on call 24/7 obviously we don’t like to be but we don’t really mind.
We both come from large agency backgrounds and understand how they work. We have many years experience each working as one man bands on a freelance basis. This is where we are unique – you can expect the same service you would get from a big agency but without the big agency cost!
We understand that each and every client is different and the requirements are going to vary widely. This is why we offer different packages to fulfill different requirements. If your budget is small then we have a solution, if you need complete all singing all dancing then guess what – we have a solution! To see our full range of packages take a look at the packages we offer here and then give us a call to see how we can help you.