what is it going to cost? -
The cost for the development of a web site depends on a lot of factors.
The type of web site, features desired, availability of artwork, photos and copy, schedule, host service, site
name, amount of site maintenance required, size of the site, on-line advertising, and amount of graphic design
work are all factors that come into play. Obviously it is impossible to create any estimate of the cost without
this information.
However, to help you get at least a very rough idea of the total cost of a web-site project, we offer the following
cost information. There is always a danger in giving information like this because the tendency is to think that
your costs will be the same. Once again, the actual cost will depend on many factors, and the costs listed here
are from the general web-development market. These are not necessarily indicative of Starweavers' fees. Starweavers
will be more than happy to give you a more precise quote on your web site development project, but only after going
through the review process mentioned previously.
Some of these charges and fees will be paid to your web site developer (Starweavers) and others
will be paid directly to service providers. It will depend on the design of the web-site and the
agreement between your company and Starweavers.
Domain name
If you want your own domain name (www.yourname.com), you are going to need to register the name. This will cost
$70.00 up front for the first two years of registration. After this, it is $35.00 a year to retain the registration
of your domain name. Some web site development companies charge a fee of up to $100.00 to register your name for
you. Starweavers provides this service at no charge. If you run your site as a sub-domain under someone else's
domain name (i.e.,www.starweavers.com/~yourname), you do not need to pay this fee, but your customers may not be
able to find your site as easily nor will you have that catchy web site name.
Web-site hosting
This is the "rent" paid to a company which physically has your web pages stored on their file server.
These companies provide the computer hardware and Internet connections which allow your customers to see your web
site. While it is possible to set up your own Internet server, unless you have existing staff and equipment, it
is usually much more cost efficient to let a professional Web hosting company do it for you. It is important to
have a good hosting provider. Starweavers will set this up for you.
The fees for a good, reliable site run anywhere from $20.00 per month to $2,000.00 a month and more, depending
on the needs of your web site. Most of Starweavers' customers will find that the cost is usually $25.00 to $35.00
per month. There is usually a set-up fee that runs from $30.00 and up, once again depending on features of the
web site. If your web site is not too large or complex, there are hosting companies which offer free web hosting,
usually at the expense of an advertising banner or window which displays along with your web content.
Depending on your arrangements with Starweavers, hosting fees may be paid directly to the web hosting company or
Starweavers will bill you directly.
Web-site promotion
People need to find your web site, and the goal of web site promotion is to get your web site listed in as many
quality directories and search engines as possible to accomplish this. There are businesses that offer to submit
your web site information to these directories and search engines at fees from $40.00 to $500.00. Starweavers will
submit your web site information to the major indexes and directories as part of your web site project. These submissions
are all done by hand so that each directory receives the information in the format they require. We do not do mass
submissions to every directory on the planet, as these mass submissions usually do not yield any appreciable results.
There are also directories on the web which charge a fee for listing your site. If you decide that such a listing
would prove helpful to your web site, any cost incurred would be paid directly by your company. If Starweavers
finds a fee site which might be useful for your company, we will let you know about it and establish the listing
for you if you so desire. Many directories and most search engines do not charge a fee, although there are some
that have started requiring payment for a "preferred" placement in a listing.
Web-site design and management
The actual creation and maintenance of the Web site will be handled by your web site development company (Starweavers)
and fees for these services will be paid directly to them. The following are typical charges for some of the items
for which you might be charged. These fees are not necessarily indicative of Starweavers' actual fees and none
of the below should be considered as an offer by Starweavers to perform work at these rates. However, you should
be aware that Starweavers' rates tend to be at the low end of these fee ranges. Bear in mind that there may be
additional costs such as travel, long-distance telephone, special media costs, messenger service, shipping, etc.
It also does not cover expenses to create original material. Graphic design work, copy-writing and photography
may be required and can usually be arranged by your web site developer on an in-house or subcontract basis. Costs
for those services are too variable to allow fee guidelines.
Web site set-up fee and project management - includes taking care of the details for setting up your web site -
from $ 100.00 to $ 1000.00.
Photo or document scanning - typically $ 15.00 to $ 25.00 per scan, depending on quality of original photo or artwork.
Poor originals can result in excessive clean-up time (and cost) and may still never look good.
Transfer of web pages from one site to another - $ 20.00 to $ 125.00 per page, depending on complexity of re-coding
needed to get the pages to work at the new site. This charge would only be necessary if you are moving your pages
from one web host to another and would require you to already have pages on the Web.
Design of Web pages - given good original artwork or photos (or scans) and with copy provided - $ 100.00 to $300.00
per page.
Web page uploading and host file set-up - $ 10.00 to $ 50.00 per page.
Web site maintenance - includes monthly checks on site function, link integrity, and reference checking with search
engines, web log analysis, minor site corrections as required - $ 25.00 to $ 75.00 per month.
Hourly rates - from $ 50.00 to $ 150.00 per hour and up.
All of the above are rates being charged by web site development companies. They are not all-inclusive nor is this
meant to suggest that you will not find costs which fall outside of these ranges.
It is difficult to quote costs on a "per piece" basis and
is best to get a quotation based on an entire web site development
project. As mentioned previously, this requires that a mutual understanding
be established between the web site developer and the client through
discussions of the client's desires and needs.
I hesitate to do this, because I do not want to be accused of leading
any potential clients astray, but to put this all in perspective,
let us say that you want to put up a small, informational web site
for your company of around ten pages. No original graphics or copy-writing
are necessary and each page requires one scan each. A typical cost
for creating these pages, registering your domain name, and setting
the web-site up, could be anywhere from $300 to $3,000 as a "one-time"
charge, with an additional monthly charge of $25.00 to $100.00 for
web-site hosting and site maintenance.
You might be able to pay a little less, and you certainly can pay a lot more. This is only a ball-park figure to
help you in your decision to develop a web site. This cost is for a very simple site and will depend on all the
factors mentioned earlier. Once again, these fees are not necessarily indicative of Starweavers' actual fees and
none of the above should be considered as an offer by Starweavers to perform work at these rates.
