Ok so you’ve stumbled across my blog and your obviously looking for a web design studio in Ashford Kent?
So, what do you search for if you’re in the market for a website? Web designers, Web developers, Programmers or even Web design companies? Well it depends on your requirements really, in this blog I’m going to presume that you’re either after a new website or you need to revamp your existing website. So how do you go about finding a web design company/Freelancer? What should you be asking? How much should you be paying? Ah ha! The million dollar question, how much should a website cost?
Web design prices
Let’s start with the cost as this is usually the deciding factor. Before I delve into the minefield of web design prices, I should highlight the fact that the web design industry is not regulated. So unlike say, the construction industry, you could end up paying for something that would have been regarded out of date in the year 2000 or worse, you could be held ransom and waste years trying to perfect a website that is a pile of rubble!
Staying with the construction industry, you and I well know that ‘cowboy builders’ are a real problem here in the UK. Why is this important? If you understand that you have to be aware of these issues when hiring a builder then you have to be even more vigilant when searching for someone to work on your website/business. In a nutshell, there is an abundance of seriously dubious so called website experts out there. I’ll explain some of the situations that can arise later.
So, how much should you pay for a website? To be honest there’s no real specific answer to the question because there are too many factors to consider first. I can provide some ballpark figures to give you an idea (as of March 2020), a brochure website should cost you between £750 and £2000, an e-commerce website will cost you between £1250 and £5000 and bespoke websites between £5000 and £10000 (to start). Please be aware that these are ball park figures and it all depends on the time spent on your website, expertise of the staff and the roadmap of the project. More pages, more features and advanced analysis will all bump up the price significantly. This is based on a) Not using a computer nerd sitting in their bedroom in Bangladesh and b) Not using a so called “we create experiences” style web design studio (Studios overcharging for stuff you dont know about but sounds good).
How much should I spend?
Again it depends on what the website will do but dont cut corners with a sub standard website that looks and performs badly, unless your website is a brochure website with a handful of pages, spending less than £1000 will simply not be enough.
On the flip side, dont go with a quote thats over £10,000 just because its the most expensive quote either. I have encountered countless websites where clients were overcharged. For example, charging £4000 for a 15 page brochure style WordPress website is simply overcharging.
Web designer or web company?
Finding someone to work on your website in Ashford seems pretty easy, a simple Google seach for ‘web design ashford’ will give you at least 20 different websites to sort through, however, how do you decipher which one is best for you?
If you have a healthy budget then a web design company could be a better choice if you require a team of professionals (but do you?). Staff would be well versed in project management, they will use a methodology like Agile and will consist of pros from web design, programming, user experience (UX) and so on. We are talking about budgets from £5000 to £10000 to start for this level of expertise. Be aware tha a lot of web design companies will only employ 1 person to work on your website along with a point of contact or a manager.
However, you may find a company will charge you £4000 for a simple website and they had a fairly junior web designer working on the entire project. This is the more common occurrence and you are much better off hiring your own web designer instead.
Hire a web designer in Ashford
Hiring a dedicated and experienced web designer in my opinion will make your money go much further. I continue to see websites which are in the thousands completed by companies around Ashford that I wouldn’t personally put my name to even at a quarter of the price 5 years ago.
Choosing a good web designer is not that easy as I have already explained, there is no regulation which means that choosing a web designer is more difficult than choosing a builder! Hence the reason why most people choose a web design studio or company and get overcharged! Also this does not guarantee that the same problems do not arise as there are shoddy web designers in Ashford too, lots of them! The main issue is the fact that working with a company, you feel as if there is more accountability rather than working with a web designer. The extra costs associated with using a company rather than a freelancer could be an explanation as to why clients get charged so much.
What questions should I be asking?
In order to sift through the rubbish and identify trustworthy web design professionals you can start with the following:
- Website Platform
- Web design process
- Technical requirements
- Portfolio examples
- Staff expertise/experience
Website Platform
What website platform is going to be used? For example, I specialise in the WordPress platform which has become the standard, with over 50 milliom websites worldwide.
You might be recommended WordPress, Drupal, Magento or a bespoke solution to mention a few (there are loads!). You need to know what the platform is and why it’s been recommended for your website. As a rule of thumb, bespoke websites arent as popular as they used to be, I havent encountered a website that ‘needs’ to be bespoke since I have specialised in WordPress websites.
I’d recommend WordPress personally, it caters for micro businesses to large scales ones and everything in between. It’s free and we’ll supported and you can take your website to most reputable web design pros and they will not tell you to start again like they will if you choose ‘bespoke’ solution.
Web design process
The process that they will take to complete your project, do they use a methodology like Agile? A methodology will map out all your requirements and how the translate them into features and how the project will be split up along with a timeline. How long do they think the site will take? How do you request updates, are there extra charges? What is their workload like at the moment? How will I be kept in the loop? How will they gather the content that is required for the website?
Technical requirements
This will make or break your budget for sure. Don’t ask for a website like eBay! Understand your business model and make a list of things that your users will do on your website. For example, sign ups, member areas, e-commerce, payment systems etc. Understand the system that they are providing you with, if its one of their own, then find out what it does, chances are that it was first created for one purpose then tailored for others along the way, steer clear from this situation if it arises. I’d suggest that a platform is used, why re-invent the wheel, chances are a solution has already been created for your requirements and its been tried and tested. So what is it (ask them)?
Portfolio examples
This is very important, you don’t need to be a web designer to know if a website looks good. Scrutinise their recent work, test it on your mobile and big screen. Basically, if they’re portfolio isn’t that inspiring then walk away. If you really dont know what you are looking for then compare the portfolios and you will soon see the differences and pick up a design trend for each website supplier.
Expertise/Experience
I’d want to know exactly who is going to work on the website and what their experience is and qualifications/accreditations too. There is a difference between a web designer and a web developer, just like there is a difference between a UX designer and a UI designer. There is also a front end developer and a backend developer and a full stack developer! Confused? Well you should be its not your forte, thats why your here.
So who should be working on your website? Again, understand your requirements, if you want a unique looking website, with specific features coupled with a rigorous marketing campaign, then you are going to need UI/UX design, you are going to need a web designer and a web developer. So, to conclude, the better you understand what you require, the easier it will be to understand who should be working on your website.
Use common sense too, a web developer who has 2 years experience is simply not that same as a web developer with 5 years experience and a degree. Again find out who is going to work on your website. For example, I have a degree in computing, I am a qualified ICT & Business teacher and I have been building websites for over 15 years. In addition, I have specialised in the WordPress platform for over 7 years, thats UI/UX design, front/backend development and server setup/management.
The last thing that you want is to have a inexperienced and unqualified programmer working on your businesses website. This happens alot! Know who is working on your website!
Roles
Web Designer
UI Designer
UX Designer
Full Stack Designer
Web Developer
Front End Developer
Back End Developer
Full Stack Developer
Services
A bit of everything front end and even backend development
Designs what the user sees
Designs how the user interacts
Both UI and UX
Programs using coding langauges and can do a bit of design
Makes what the UI designer has designed
Makes what the UX designer has designed
Makes both front/back end
Conclusion
To be honest there is far too much to cover here, I have skimmed over a few concepts but the main thing to note is when searching for a web design company in Ashford, remember to compare apples with apples. If a quote is more expensive that another, then compare the implementation and the staff who are working on the website.
If you are simply after a standard website that showcases your business and provides additional features such as online shops, booking systems, memberships etc then you simply do not need to pay for a dedicated person within each discipline mentioned above.
I suggest going with a web designer who is qualified and experienced with a track record of beautifully designed websites that uses a platform and ddesign package that is tried and tested.
Lastly please give us a call on 0800 0751 082 to discuss your requirements. Or you can check out more info on our web design page.