How much does a website cost?

That's the question I get asked most, and is nearly impossible to answer after a 10 minute conversation. This question usually refers to getting the site live, of course. After spending an hour or two with you and getting to know your business needs and website expectations, I can make a better ball-park guess. Most of my clients ask for additional programming in the middle of a design and that will increase any proposed quote.

Perhaps the better way to look at this is NOT the initial setup of the site, but the ongoing costs divided by your number of visitors, or your ROI.

I should mention that before becoming a web goddess and web marketing guru, I was an accountant for 15 years and now own and operate a small business myself, so I KNOW costs and ROI.

CASE STUDY: a local organization came to me almost 3 years ago and asked for a redesign of their current site. Initial cost: $1,500.00. (That would cost closer to $2,800 today.)

On December 31 I billed them a monthly maintenance fee of $45.45 which is pretty average for them as they have a couple small things updated each month, along with stats reports. The stats showed they had a little over 5200 visitors in December. Since this is a tourism-related website, the number of visitors swells to as high as 10,000 for 4 or 5 months of the year.

But let's just stick with the 5000 they had in December and crunch some numbers to find out how much their website costs them:

$1,500 amortized over 3 years = $41.67 per month
$20 a year for a domain name = $1.67 per month
$99 a year for hosting = $8.25 per month
$20 per month for minimal SEO
$50 a month (average) for updates and maintenance to the site

I get $121.59 per month total costs incurred for this website.

Divide that number by 5,000 visitors and THE COST PER VISITOR IN DECEMBER WAS $.02 EACH.

In case you didn't hear me...THE COST PER VISITOR WAS 2 CENTS EACH!!!!

Those months when the visitor total swells, it can be half that.

Best web practices would tell you that a redesign is required every 3 or so years, but if you keep your content fresh on a regular basis (at the very least monthly) then you can put off that new design another couple years. Keep in mind that the technologies change very quickly and your competitors are on top of it.

This case study is for a group that only PROMOTES tourism. If you're going to sell goods and/or services, the website development and design will be higher, but your ROI will be higher as well.

So...how much are YOU willing to pay for a website? Two cents per visitor? 5 cents? 10 cents?

Still think CD WebMaker is too expensive?

A happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you all and a big huge THANKS for your business this past year from CD WebMaker!

Great web design for the next billion users

Some time this year, the number of Internet users reached one
billion. Billion with a "b." If you count to one billion at one
number per second, it would take you over 31 years to finish. It has
taken the Internet 36 years to count that high, says web usability
expert and former Sun Microsystems engineer Dr. Jakob Nielsen. The
next 10 years will bring the second billion, growing at an annual
rate of 18 percent, and will include unprecedented numbers from Asia
and senior citizens-and that has huge implications in e-commerce.

Statistically, says Nielsen, the one billionth online user was a
24-year-old woman in Shanghai. Only 23 percent come from North
America, leaving 24 percent in Europe and 36 percent in Asia. By
2015, though accounting for nearly one-third of e-commerce, North
Americans will consist of only 15 percent of Internet users.

"This means that for e-commerce to fulfill its potential to double,
sites must be more systematic at following the e-commerce usability
guidelines. Selling to the 200 million early adopters was easy. The
800 million mainstream users who are now starting to shop need much
smoother sites; the next billion will require even higher usability
levels," writes Nielsen.

As the entire world moves closer to jacking
into the Net, usable website design will be crucial to earning a
share of the world market. Nielsen gives guidelines for setting up
websites for international use as well as helpful hints for marketing
to the senior citizen crowd.

For e-business professionals, seniors should be a hot demographic.
They typically have more buying power than others, but less
knowledge of how to buy online. In fact, once on line, it takes the
typical user up to 3 years to become comfortable buying online. That
will change as the Baby Boomers retire and websites become more
user-friendly.

Tapping into the foreign market is an exercise in cultural diversity.
It goes beyond English by making sites readable in other languages.
It includes different weights, measurements, dating systems, and
reading styles.

Unless you intend to limit your market to one continent and only a
third of its potential, then an all-encompassing approach to web
design will become increasingly important.

CD WebMaker stays on top of the usability issues by using leading-edge programming languages and code validation techniques. Contact us today about an all-encompassing approach to web design.

Web Marketing (part 5)

Great articles just keep arriving in my inbox! Don't think for a
minute that I just use these articles to put up 'some post', they
actually reflect what I think about Web design, web development,
and web marketing, written by a professional who has time to put
these thoughts and insights down.
______________________________________________________

The New Marketing Landscape

Many of us in the marketing services and/or agency business are
starting to see some real tangible marketing patterns emerging
that businesses need to be aware of if they want to leverage
their marketing dollars in this "post .com implosion economy."

Good Web Site Design Increasingly More Important

It's imperative for a company to have a quality web site today
- but many firms are still throwing up web sites that are just
poorly designed or overly complex. Poor navigation (menus and
overall site structure) when coupled with low quality graphics
is really problematical (!) - online visitors think less of your
company as a result which will hurt revenue in the long run.
Many think just doing a minimal job is sufficient but they
aren't factoring in how close your competition is! On the web
any potential customer is only one click away from seeing a high
quality web site that is well designed and conveys a quality
image.

A good rule of thumb when budgeting for a web site is to assume
you will pay approximately $250-300 USD per page - this should
include your graphics design, content development, setting up
registration forms, etc. This may sound too expensive for many
companies but for better or worse perception is reality in the
online world! So, don't short change yourself, put some
resources into your web site and be prepared to continue to do
so - it's now a vital component of any company's ongoing
marketing processes that needs constant upgrading like
traditional marcom (PR, print, etc.) materials.

Opt-in E-Mail Trending Down but still Viable

Opt-in or permission based e-mail (meaning people give you
"permission" to market to them) response rates for
Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer are dropping
below where they were a year ago by 30-50% on average. What's
happening? The ever-increasing deluge of Spam is negating the
throughput (response rates, purchases, etc.) of quality
opt-in e-mail.

Opt-in e-mail is still a viable and excellent way to market your
company but expect less results, lower costs/fees (more vendors
equals more competition which is good) and the need to repeat
your campaigns if you want to see tangible results. And don't
get dazzled by a design firm or your in-house marketing staff
that wants to design a fancy HTML e-mail message for you -
65-75% of the market today still doesn't want fancy graphics,
they want a short message, delivered concisely with short
paragraphs in a text format. Less is more!

By Lee Traupel (c) 2005
=====================================================
Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of marketing experience. He is
the co-founder of a Northern California and Brussels Belgium
based, privately held, Marketing Services and Software Company,
Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com.
Intelective focuses exclusively on providing services to
small-to-medium-sized companies that need strategic and tactical
marketing services. He can be reached at Lee@intelective.com.
=======================================================

Better Web Design!!

I've been saying it for a long time now (maybe not as clearly as this) and maybe this is just a post to justify my postition:

Eight Simple Steps For Enhancing Your Website
By Alden Smith (c) 2005

To be successful with your online business, whether you are
selling your own product, services or are selling for other
merchants as an affiliate, you need a Web site that focuses
on that subject alone.

Having the right tools or product alone will not ensure the
success of your website. There are many factors to be considered
when designing your site. And unfortunately, most of these are
usually ignored by Internet business owners. Here are eight
simple steps to enhance your site and make it profitable.

1. Build It for Speed

There is no denying that in this day and age that people are
in a hurry. You have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture your
potential customer's attention. To minimize your load time,
keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Use flashy
technology (JavaScript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video, animation)
sparingly and only if it is imperative to your presentation.

2. Target Your Market (sound familiar???)

Know who your market is and make certain that your site caters
to their needs. It is critical that your site reflect the values
of your potential customers. Is your market mostly business
professionals? If so, the site must be clean and professional.
Is your product aimed at teenagers and young adults? Then your
site could be more informal and relaxed. The key is to know your
market and build the site to their preferences.

3. Focus the Site

Make certain your web site is focused on the goal of selling
your product or service. If your business offers many products,
dedicate a unique page for each instead of trying to sell them
all from one page. This can easily be accomplished through the
utilization of subdomains.

4. Build Credibility

The most professionally designed site won't sell if your
customers don't believe in you. Become an authority in your
chosen niche. The internet is all about information, not just
marketing. People go to the internet to find information on a
particular subject. Providing clear concise articles focused on
the subject of your site makes you an expert in your field.
Providing a clear privacy statement is also away to build your
credibility. Provide a prominent link to your privacy statement
from every page on the site as well as from any location that
you are asking your visitors for personal information. Provide
legitimate contact information on line, including your mailing
address and phone number. Don't hide behind a computer!

5. Keep Navigation Simple

Make site navigation easy and intuitive. Simple and smooth
navigation adds to the convenience of the visitors. Add powerful
search and catalog features. Many times a lot of visitors do not
have the patience to navigate through the whole website to find
what they are looking for.

6. Keep It Consistent

Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design.
Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a customer than
feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep colors
and themes constant throughout the site.

7. Make Your Site Interactive and Personalized

Make your website interactive. Add feedback forms as well as
email forms that allow your prospective customers to ask you
any questions they might have pertaining to a product.
Personalization of your website is another key element that can
lead to customer delight and can increase your sales.
Personalization technology provides you the analytic tools to
facilitate cross-selling and up-selling when the customer is
buying online. It would give you an idea of what products to
cross-sell and up-sell. For example, when a person buys a CD
player, a disc cleaner can also be offered.

8. Content is King

Good content sells a product. Ask yourself the following
questions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to get
across to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it lead your
visitor through the sales process? Have others review, critique
and edit your copy to ensure it is delivering the intended
message. Always double-check your spelling and grammar.

These eight, simple rules will go a long way toward the
improvement of your website and most importantly, turn
visitors into customers.

======================================================
Alden Smith is an award winning author who has been marketing
on the internet for over 7 years. His site,
http://www.for-the-record.biz, is loaded with articles and
information for the beginning blogger and internet marketer.
Articles are posted daily, addressing everything from CSS to
blogging for the beginning marketer.
=======================================================

Busiest December on Record

I've had to put the Web Marketing series on hold for just a bit, and beg your patience if you've been following the posts.

It's only the 5th of the month and alrady it's the busiest I've been at this time of the year. I acquired two new projects this month already with another waiting in the wings to get a proposal together for.

And of course, in case you've forgotten, the Holidays are only a couple weeks away. If I don't have the opportunity to speak to you in person before, may you have the happiest of holidays and a prosperous New Year!

I'll pass along any good info I get from my marketing newsletters as I get time, so keep checking, just don't hold your breath this month!