Small Biz Website Design

Forums › IT Pro and developers › Small Biz Website Design

networkn

Networkn
32351 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#272003 5-Jun-2020 09:25

Hi.

Does anyone here have experience with any of the $299 or thereabouts website design companies around? I have a couple of clients looking for very simple, mobile-friendly, security compliant websites, with less than 5 pages.

No Ecommerce requirements. No CMS required unless it's included by default, the number of changes made annually wouldn't warrant spending extra on it, when they could just ask their dev to make small changes as required.

We had a guy who used to do websites for our clients, but he moved overseas recently not to return.

Doesn't have to meet that $299 price point, but well under $1000 is what I was thinking.

Thanks.

Dynamic

3867 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2498768 5-Jun-2020 09:47

Has Wix or similar been considered? Your team could walk through the setup with your client, having them pick their own template etc so its not like one of my early web site design attempts. 😂

I'd be concerned that a sub-$1000 web site might be a WordPress throw-together with potentially vulnerable plugins that are never updated. At least with Wix, the ongoing security is someone else's job and included in the subscription.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Referral links to services I use, really like, and may be rewarded if you sign up:
PocketSmith for budgeting and personal finance management. A great Kiwi company.

martyyn

1971 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2498843 5-Jun-2020 11:11

I sent you a PM but I thought I'd give my experiences on this for everyone.

I build and host websites for small businesses in my local community and I'm always comparing myself to these $299 outfits because the first two questions I always get are "How much will it cost?" and "Why should I not use the bloke on FB doing it for a hundy and a box?".

I've also had to rescue my fair share of sites initially built on the cheap and it is never pretty.

Surprisingly a couple were built with HTML, JS and CSS and they were actually pretty good. But you can count the number of people who know HTML around here on one hand (probably less) and when the owners need changes to be made the person who built them had long since disappeared.

Some were built by the owner on Wix or Weebly. It's taken them months to put together, looks like it was done in the 90's using "Save as HTML" in Word and they often still don't have a functioning website. Then when they want to add functionality they end up paying more than if they'd done it properly in the first place.

Some are built with third party CMS's which are often nothing more than basic PHP pages with very questionable security.

And finally some are built with WordPress, using 20+ plugins which haven't been updated since the day they were developed.

If you don't do it properly at the start, you always end up paying somewhere down the line. Sometimes it's after a few months, sometimes it's a year or two.

It's possible to build a safe WP site for under $1000 but it comes down to the ethics of the developer and how much content is provided by the client.

I like to think I do it properly. I fill a need in a small town and having left the corporate world 8 years ago I don't regret it for a second.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2498845 5-Jun-2020 11:16

I would of thought Squarespace blows all these cheapies out of the water.

You either do it cheap with Squarespace, or engage a Pro and pay siginificantly more than $300 - I guess I would question what the client values their time at, can they be bothered doing it themselves. If not, get a Pro.

NPCtom

430 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2504089 13-Jun-2020 13:37

networkn:

Hi.

Does anyone here have experience with any of the $299 or thereabouts website design companies around? I have a couple of clients looking for very simple, mobile-friendly, security compliant websites, with less than 5 pages.

No Ecommerce requirements. No CMS required unless it's included by default, the number of changes made annually wouldn't warrant spending extra on it, when they could just ask their dev to make small changes as required.

We had a guy who used to do websites for our clients, but he moved overseas recently not to return.

Doesn't have to meet that $299 price point, but well under $1000 is what I was thinking.

Thanks.

I can do this for around the $300 price point if it's still needed. Feel free to PM me.

Jax

92 posts

Master Geek

#2504191 13-Jun-2020 17:52

networkn:

Hi.

Does anyone here have experience with any of the $299 or thereabouts website design companies around? I have a couple of clients looking for very simple, mobile-friendly, security compliant websites, with less than 5 pages.

No Ecommerce requirements. No CMS required unless it's included by default, the number of changes made annually wouldn't warrant spending extra on it, when they could just ask their dev to make small changes as required.

We had a guy who used to do websites for our clients, but he moved overseas recently not to return.

Doesn't have to meet that $299 price point, but well under $1000 is what I was thinking.

Thanks.

https://www.fiverr.com/categories/graphics-design/web-plus-mobile-design

DaveDog

336 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2504348 14-Jun-2020 08:47

I’ve done lots of work in this space and it’s pretty simple stuff.
Work out what you want it to do, what the potential platform is capable of and then weigh that up from there.

We produce bespoke websites, Wordpress sites and also Rocketspark sites (similar to Wix/Squarespace) but superior in functionality and local (NZ) based.

The cost varies on organisation as much as anything. If the content is prepared, images supplied etc, then it’s much easier - and faster - and cheaper to create your site.

Happy to take a DM and provide pricing if you’d like.

Disclaimer: I work for a design company based in Hamilton.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2504807 15-Jun-2020 10:11

What usually happens
Website gets created . No further maintenance is done, ever . No security updates/patches etc.
Person who created website has moved onto other things . Passwords to access/edit/update website unkown .

Website gets hacked ,
or filled up with spam/ porn links in 'public comments sections' that no one bothers to check. Website gets blacklisted
Emails get blocked due to balacklisted website's URL in email sig .

or
website has several company email addresses in plain sight . Company then wonders why those email addresses are the targets for so much spam . All too common .

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

martyyn

1971 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2504818 15-Jun-2020 10:23

Jax:

https://www.fiverr.com/categories/graphics-design/web-plus-mobile-design

Ugghh, Fiverr.

Talk about a "race to the bottom".

People building Wix sites for $75.