Useful advice on how to get a cheap website
Occasionally, we get asked to give a quote for designing cheap websites for CMS and eCommerce customers. This is a subjective evaluation…. Because what is a cheap website? Is a cheap website a website that has low cost monthly payments? Or is a cheap website a free website. Or is a cheap website under £50, £750, £1k, £3k, £5k, £15k and so on?
Are cheap websites bad?
Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a low quality website – it just depends on who designs and builds it. My advice if you want a cheap website is to set yourself a budget and think about what you want the website to ‘do’. But be realistic…. If you want a custom-designed, custom-built responsive, secure, eCommerce online booking system with a CMS, Blog and gallery that works well for all types of users and looks fabulous you’re unlikely to get it for £1000.
Phone around and ask what you could get for your budget, this will give you an idea if your budget is a realistic one.
Websites on a budget
Budgeting for a website can get stressful and confusing. Especially if you’re not sure what you need in your website or what developers usually charge. You also want to make sure you pick a ‘good developer’ that’s not going to go AWOL on you. So first thing to do to get a website on a budget is think about how you can pay for it.
Would you prefer to pay for the website all at once with hosting charges monthly or annually as an additional cost. Or depending on your cash-flow, perhaps think about subscribing to a website (like our Pay as you go websites for instance). This is when you pay a set amount a month for a custom-built website.
Subscription-based websites are great for your cash flow as you know how much to budget for on a monthly basis. Subscription-based websites usually give the same amount of ‘website’ but payments are split over a certain period of time, rather than paying for it all at once, or over a few payments.
Tips for buying a website
Top Tip: Never pay for an entire website design and build up front. If the website developer forces you to hand over all the money before they start any work, you should walk away and find another website designer and developer.
We’ve heard some very sad stories of people handing over money to web designers (and they are always individuals - not established website design agencies) and then the web designer disappears and cannot be contacted and as you can guess, they never get their website...
It is best to pay just a deposit if you’re having a custom-built website or pay a set-up fee (if you’re going down the website subscription route) then the remainder after it’s been completed. It’s the same rule of thumb if you were employing a builder to do work on your home. You wouldn’t pay the builder all the money she/he wants before they’ve even started work but you’d pay in stages, as the work progresses.
Protect yourself but at the same time you need to show trust in the designer/developer so a deposit at the beginning of a project is normal.
We have lots of options available from low cost subscription-based websites to one off custom built websites – the choice is yours. Give our website designers in Wiltshire a call today to see what you can get for your budget.
Click 8 Reasons Why Having a Free Website is a Bad Idea and Questions to Ask Website Designers for more info.
Written by Kirsty Paget
