Think that a basic functional website is good enough to get you ahead in the internet rat race today? Think again. In today’s digital age, you’ll need more than mere presence on the web for consumers to sit up and take notice of you. An outstanding website, equipped with easy navigability and useful content that will stick in the minds of your visitors is more likely to do the job. This is where a well-designed and user-friendly website design, along with a professional web design company, comes into play.

How so? You may ask. For starters, packaging is the be all and end all, even more so on the internet landscape today. Most internet users these days suffer from the “digital goldfish syndrome”, which refers to short attention spans of 9 seconds or less. It is increasingly difficult to capture their attention (much less hold it), which is why a captivating web design can often work wonders by drawing readers into the content. A good design is also the key to building trust between your brand and customers. In The Brand Gap, a guide to successful branding by Marty Neumeier, he refers to design as the ultimate message that incites trust. “Trust creation is the fundamental goal of brand design,” says Neumeier. He argues that a brand is a person’s instinct about a product, service or company. This is where great design comes into play — it has the ability to affect individuals on an emotional level, as well as the capacity for building trust and loyalty. "Emotional design", a similar theory proposed by Donald Norman, suggests that pleasing objects appear to be more effective to the user by virtue of their sensual appeal. Following this rationale, a well-designed website would register with the user as something that works well and is reliable.

Most people these days are extremely web savvy, and know all the technical jargons in the web design business (search engine marketing, content management system, search engine optimization, and what have you), as well as the importance of having an aesthetically pleasing website.  In a similar fashion, businesses these days are also scrambling to get their hands on a piece of the internet marketing pie. Yet when it comes to the crunch, they balk and gape and gasp at the “exorbitant” prices, all the while exclaiming their blatant disbelief at web design costing “such a bomb”. It is akin to paying for an express manicure and expecting to get a full packaged manicure with the entire works. It baffles me as to how people possess the requisite knowledge about web design, but yet are often unwilling to pay good money for something as important as this.

Before I launch into a tirade on the features and value of a good website design, allow me to first state that web design costs can vary drastically, and is dependent on the requirements of the website. No two websites are the same, which makes it difficult to place a definite quote. However, what I can do is to group websites into four main categories, which will hopefully help shed light on the differences in pricing.

Types of websites

Static HTML website

This is the simplest, cheapest and most fundamental website available. A static HTML site is one that serves the primary function of providing information to visitors. More often than not, your website will be your first point of contact with your customers, which makes it a determining factor in how customers perceive your brand. Since it is essential for businesses to have some form of online presence these days, why not make it a good one? Trust us, in time to come, the benefits you reap from an effective website will far outstrip the amount you forked out for it in the first place.

Cost: Two to Five thousand dollars

Development Time: 6 to 8 weeks

Website with content management systems (CMS) and flash

I could go on and on about the benefits of installing content management systems (CMS) for your website, but that would be a topic for another day. In short, a well-designed CMS could be the most useful and empowering tool companies will ever need for updating and publishing their own web content. As a rule of thumb, good copy sells ideas, concepts, products, and services. Good copy provides value for visitors to your site. Do I need to say more?

Flash banners and rollovers are additional features which are often added to enhance the aesthetics of a website. Other add-on functions include newsletter signups, mailing list and user registration.

Cost: Five to Eight thousand dollars

Development Time: 10 to 12 weeks

E-commerce website

Examples of e-commerce websites include online retailers with a diverse range of products, online shops, user accounts and help and support systems. E-commerce websites generally require a lot of development work and time to ensure that transactions are carried out smoothly and securely.

Cost: Ten thousand and above

Development Time: Over 6 months

Web Portal:

Finally, web portals are the most time consuming of all to develop, which naturally makes them the most expensive as well. A good example of a portal would be Facebook, which functions like an online software with scores of custom functions and applications available. Facebook has undergone multiple refinements and tweaking ever since it appeared on the virtual landscape in 2006.

Cost: Let’s just put it this way, it will definitely burn a hole right through your pocket (that’s if you even had one to begin with).

Development Time: Several months, even years

Now, are you as convinced as I am that a good website design does not come by anywhere near cheap?

Beauty is in the eyes of the web designer

Despite the aforementioned advantages, a good web design is still often under-valued by businesses. I cannot begin to stress the importance of an effective website design. It is a means of putting a brand’s heritage and personality forth to its customers and acts as a tangible confirmation of the relationship between your company and clients, while strengthening it further.

Having been in the web design industry for years, we have had our fair share of clients who underestimate the value of a good website design, both in the literal and monetary sense. One incident that is deeply etched in our memories has to do with a potential client expressing his disbelief at our “exorbitant” prices, claiming that another web design company offered him a much lower price for the same job. Upon initial inspection of the company’s website, it seemed credible and professional looking enough, so much so that I almost believed it would deliver whatever it promised. The company also claimed to have “20 staff at their disposal”, and guaranteed completion of the project in the shortest time possible. This caught my attention, and aroused my suspicions. If a company claimed to be able to activate all their staff just for one project, doesn’t that imply that they do not have any other pressing projects on their hands? If that was the case, I highly doubt their professionalism and expertise. In addition, the company’s credibility did not hold up upon closer inspection, as the address provided was that of a HDB flat, and the office number given was a mobile phone’s. Can I express my disgruntlement that it is precisely because of such web design "experts", who give web design such a bad name (and not to mention, price)?

Now, don’t get me wrong here, I am simply expressing the frustration that most of us web design folks face. From my personal experience and a short survey done on the market, any professional and reliable web design company would be charging prices along the lines of those which I’ve listed above. In any case, it should not deviate too far off. Be careful the next time you encounter an incredibly low price for “customized” web design. The so-called professional designer could be using ready-made templates. To quote one of my colleagues, “good things don’t come cheap, cheap things don’t come good”, and I agree wholeheartedly with that. The value of a good web design does not jump and say “here I am, here I am!” at the beginning of a project. The value of a good web design is in its results; days, weeks, months, or even years after. Did it withstand the test of time? Did it show your customers that you are professional and that you mean business?

There’s the value in web design.