Getting a Website Built on a Budget

I'm often asked by friends or friends what it would cost for them to get a website built. I've designed and built quite a few small websites over the past few years, and I'm always astonished at what people think a decent simple website will cost. Maybe I am overpaid and don't know it, or maybe I just run with a cheap crowd, but a lot of people think they can get what they need for around $1000.

When I was a bit younger, I used to put together lots of small websites more for the enjoyment and experience than for the money. Some of the websites I put together were actually for companies whose previous attempts at a $1000 website went horribly wrong.

I still get a requests from people to do websites in the $1000 range, and from time to time people ask me what they need to know when looking for a company to develop their website. My guess is that most companies that take on projects of this size are themselves small businesses, and many of them may be unqualified and unable to deliver a quality website at any cost, let alone $1000.

Recently a friend told me he had gotten a quote of exactly $1000 to do a website for his just starting business. He needed full design, a logo, he had about 30 pages laid out for his site with each page needing 2-3 images per page, 3 email forms, and he wanted a slide show on his homepage.

I was very skeptical that $1000 could buy all that. So I suggested the following list of questions for him to pose to his web development company. I don't know what their answers were to all these questions, but I know that two days later he decided not to use them. Maybe this list can help another bootstrapping company out there!!

Questions to ask your web development company:

1. Ask them to document everything included in your price quote. Make sure everything you want and need is in there (logos, slide shows, flash animations, email forms, any possible programming, etc).
2. Make sure your work is not being outsourced overseas. If it is, ask what kind of quality control they have over their work.
3. Ask to see some work from the actual people who will be on your project. Speak to them if possible to make sure they seem competent and understand what the goals of your site are. It's important that your developers have a decent business sense for what you do, as well as technical and artistic skills.
4. Ask about their process...Do you get multiple designs to choose from?
   How do they handle design revisions? If multiple revisions to design are not included in their price, how do they price them. Even if they have a great designer, you are sure to have ideas or suggestions to enhance the design.
5. Ask how they handle changes and revisions at the end of the project. This is very, very important to you!!! It's the hidden cost in many projects and it's what leads to cost overruns, and failed or abandoned projects.
6. Ask about their use of stock photography... just about every
   site will need at least a few professional quality photos to enhance the site and
   make it look professional. Will they choose some stock photos for you, or do you need to hunt them down yourself. Are the cost of stock images built into your quote?
7. Ask one simple question... What might cause this project to cost you more than the stated quote? You should not be charged extra for issues you cannot control. There are, however, lots of things you as the client can control to keep a project on budget, including answering calls and emails in a timely manner, providing materials when you say you will, and thinking things through ahead of time so changes to the specs are minimized.

Finally, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that can put together a nice website for $1000. I'd like to hear from anyone that can offer this. Can you leave a comment with an example link or two? How much time do you allocate for $1000? How do you keep your development time and costs down?