The cost of a website is a bit like the cost of a car. You can spend $5,000 for a ‘get around town’ car, $50,000 for a luxury vehicle or millions for a transportation fleet! With today’s open source platforms like Drupal, Joomla, WordPress (among others) and with a vast array of design templates, a small business can deploy a professional responsive website for under $10,000. But take advantage of professional help to incorporate design and technology customizations, and a site can cost a lot more.
So how can you estimate a website cost and scope and plan the right approach? How do you effectively work with a web consultant or write a website RFP?
The answer is to understand key factors and deploy your website in phases.
A phased approach reduces risk and helps align your business needs and budget along the way.
Start with a planning phase to make sure the business goals are clear and the people involved agree on the vision and plan. For a small business, this phase can be days. But for an enterprise, the strategy phase can be months. Right-size this phase and use it to develop a clear budget and plan for the subsequent design and build phases.
