What is the differnce between a starter site or static site and a database driven site?
This is a good question and one that many clients ask when starting to think about having their web site developed.
Web sites normally have many pages within the site and those individual pages such as, the home page, contact page, about us page, etc. can be individually hard-code web pages or they can be dynamic web pages or what we often call database-drive web pages.
If you have a starter website and do not anticipate many changes to the individual web pages, your web site designer should probably create static pages for you initially. But if you envision many changes to some of the pages, a database driven web site with content management many be a better alternative for you.
Here in Houston at WebWize we normally add a database driven Content Management System for about 70% of our clients.
If a client such as a realtor is wanting to regularly post new properties to their web site, a content management system is something they should look into. Instead of paying the web site designer a continual fee for adding new property pages to the website each time a Content Management database system can be developed for the site. What the web site developer has to do is to create a database such as MS Access or MS SQL database and add it to your hosting server. He or she will then write web coding in a web based programming language such as Coldfusion or PHP and that coding will 'talk' to the database and pull information from the database and display in a web page that your browser can understand and display.
Now, that is cool stuff, but how does the information get into the database you ask? Good question. Your developer will also need to write an administration area in which you can enter records (or information) into the database through form fields. For example, lets say our real estate client needs to enter a new property listing for the web site. The client would log into an administrative area that the web developer created for the web site. The client would then click on a link called 'Add New Property' and enter the property information into the form fields and click the submit button. The form fields may be something like, Property Address, Number of Bedrooms, Number of Baths, Address, City, State, etc. And once these form fields have been enter, he or she would click the submit button, much like any form you have encountered on the web before. This information is now entered into the database. So as the shampoo bottle says: 'Rinse and Repeat' to enter new properties.
All of the content management systems we write here at WebWize, Inc. have the ability for administrator to add records, edit records already in the database and delete records. With database-driven sites, you have many options. You can add photos that are related to a database record, make records searchable, have records sorted in many differnet methods, such as by price, date sold, etc...all kind of cool stuff. Database driven sites can add a lot of power to your web site. And can give you a real leg-up on your competition.
There are basically three main programming environments for database driven sites on the market today. Coldfusion, PHP and ASP. All three can build build incredibly powerful database-driven web sites if written correctly. We will address the three options in another article.
So when you are considering whether to invest in a database-driven Coldfusion website or a static site, you basically want to determine your ROI (return on investment).
Lets say you are estimating 10 changes to your site like the real estate agent. (10 new properties a week) With 10 pictures for each property. Well this would probably take the web developer about an hour to add each property to the website, size and format the pictures and post to the site. With 10 properties and lets say the developer bills at 85/ an hour, the each week, it would cost you $850.00. A complete custom property listing content management system with photo upload, would probably run you in the neighborhood of 3-5K dollars. So your ROI is probably 4-6 weeks. This is an easy call for a business. Pay to have your web site developer design the property content management system.
I hope this articles shed a little light on the differences between static and database driven sites.
Please fee free to visit Webwize, Houston's leading Web Site Design and Development firm if you have questions or give us a call. We can answer all your question with regards to web site design, web site hosting, email hosting and anti-spam and anti-virus questions.
Monday, August 16, 2010
How much does a web site cost? Hard to say.
Good question and the one question I answer more than any web site design question
each week.
There are really three costs associated with a web site:
Design and Development Cost
Hosting Cost
Search Engine Placement and Optimization (SEO and SEM)
The design costs:
After 15 years of designing and building web sites, I cannot recall two sites
that were the same in design or price. Each client's needs are unique to their
business objective and although many web sites are starter sites, each web site
has it's own independent specifications and require a different number of hours
to develop. Almost all web site design firms and independent or freelance designers
are going to bill by the hour for their work. And they should. There are a few
flat rate designers, but they normally do not stay in business long with that
business plan. So be prepared to go with a designer that bills by the hour. The
more preparation you do in the beginning with such things as a scope document
(outline of the web site), page content and photos or graphics, the less you
will spend in the long run.
Always prepare a scope document (Outline) BEFORE you start your bid process.
Having a scope document prepared will ensure that all parties are bidding 'apples-to-apples'.
If you do not create some type of outline or scope document, you will end up
with pricing all over-the-map. And if you go with the cheapest, that is exactly
what you will get, a cheap website. Keep in mind that your web site, more times
than not, is what a potential new client will see first. And that first impression
will stick! So make sure that web site first impression is a good one.
A 5 page 'starter-site' developed in flash is going to be a different price than
a 5 page' static-site'. And there are different levels of graphics...the more
professional the site in appearance, the more it cost.
Here is my rule of thumb if you are looking for a ballpark figure. This is based
on a clean 'professional' design, not a high school kid that never understood
design or marketing principals.
Always check the http://www.webwizeinc.com/portfolio.html
Graphics and Design: $1200 - $1500.00
HTML coding: $100.00, per page
So, a professionally designed and coded 5 page web site will run you between
$1200.00 - $2,000.00 (US). Again, this is an estimate.
Yes I know, you can find web sites cheaper but you usually get what you pay for.
Plus that designer will most likely not be in business long. And you will end
up having to find another designer for future website needs.
Now lets talk about hosting.
Once your web site has been designed and coded, it needs to reside on a web server.
There are many options with regards to hosting. Server farms, managed hosting,
dedicated hosting, redundant and replicated servers, etc. Most companies getting
started with a web site require only a shared hosting environment and can expect
to pay anywhere from $10.00 - $50.00 a month. Be sure to check your bandwidth
restrictions with the hosting company, or you may get a big surprise at the end
of the month. I know a lot of people ask about disk space. This is really over-played
in my opinion. Web graphics are so small that the average web site normally uses
under 10 mgs of space. Also, you want to make sure your hosting provider has
a good statistics package or logging your web site's hits and traffic. Stats
packages are essential for you to understand what is going on with your site.
Traffic, search engines referrals, keywords used, etc.
SEO
And finally, your search engine placement or SEO (search Engine Optimization).
Man, is this a wide open subject. There are so many options with regards to
SEO (search engine optimization) it is hard to cover in a short article. SEO
is really dependent on your budget and how competitive your industry is on the
web. If your business marketing plan is relying on search engine traffic to generate
business and your industry is very competitive with regards to search engines,
you can easily spend several thousand dollars for a base SEO package. But if
your company is not relying on search engines to fuel your sales and or your
industry is not highly competitive for specific keyword-phrases you are targeting,
you can get by with a few hundred dollars up front to get your base listings.
Be sure that the developer of your web site understands what it takes technically
to design and develop a web site that is 'Search-engine-friendly'. If you web
site is not technically coded correctly, all your SEO efforts will be for not.
But again, SEO is wide open...there are simply too many variables involved to
state a given price.
So, if you are ready to start your company's web site presence and need a professionally
designed web site....How much will it cost? HARD TO SAY...
Budget $1200.00- $2,000.00 (US) for the design, graphics, coding and and another
$500.00 for base SEO placement. Then about $35.00 a month for a good hosting
provider. And remember, do it right the first time, so you do not have to re-do
it. It always cost more to do it the second time!
http://www.webwize.com
Good question and the one question I answer more than any web site design question
each week.
There are really three costs associated with a web site:
Design and Development Cost
Hosting Cost
Search Engine Placement and Optimization (SEO and SEM)
The design costs:
After 15 years of designing and building web sites, I cannot recall two sites
that were the same in design or price. Each client's needs are unique to their
business objective and although many web sites are starter sites, each web site
has it's own independent specifications and require a different number of hours
to develop. Almost all web site design firms and independent or freelance designers
are going to bill by the hour for their work. And they should. There are a few
flat rate designers, but they normally do not stay in business long with that
business plan. So be prepared to go with a designer that bills by the hour. The
more preparation you do in the beginning with such things as a scope document
(outline of the web site), page content and photos or graphics, the less you
will spend in the long run.
Always prepare a scope document (Outline) BEFORE you start your bid process.
Having a scope document prepared will ensure that all parties are bidding 'apples-to-apples'.
If you do not create some type of outline or scope document, you will end up
with pricing all over-the-map. And if you go with the cheapest, that is exactly
what you will get, a cheap website. Keep in mind that your web site, more times
than not, is what a potential new client will see first. And that first impression
will stick! So make sure that web site first impression is a good one.
A 5 page 'starter-site' developed in flash is going to be a different price than
a 5 page' static-site'. And there are different levels of graphics...the more
professional the site in appearance, the more it cost.
Here is my rule of thumb if you are looking for a ballpark figure. This is based
on a clean 'professional' design, not a high school kid that never understood
design or marketing principals.
Always check the http://www.webwizeinc.com/portfolio.html
Graphics and Design: $1200 - $1500.00
HTML coding: $100.00, per page
So, a professionally designed and coded 5 page web site will run you between
$1200.00 - $2,000.00 (US). Again, this is an estimate.
Yes I know, you can find web sites cheaper but you usually get what you pay for.
Plus that designer will most likely not be in business long. And you will end
up having to find another designer for future website needs.
Now lets talk about hosting.
Once your web site has been designed and coded, it needs to reside on a web server.
There are many options with regards to hosting. Server farms, managed hosting,
dedicated hosting, redundant and replicated servers, etc. Most companies getting
started with a web site require only a shared hosting environment and can expect
to pay anywhere from $10.00 - $50.00 a month. Be sure to check your bandwidth
restrictions with the hosting company, or you may get a big surprise at the end
of the month. I know a lot of people ask about disk space. This is really over-played
in my opinion. Web graphics are so small that the average web site normally uses
under 10 mgs of space. Also, you want to make sure your hosting provider has
a good statistics package or logging your web site's hits and traffic. Stats
packages are essential for you to understand what is going on with your site.
Traffic, search engines referrals, keywords used, etc.
SEO
And finally, your search engine placement or SEO (search Engine Optimization).
Man, is this a wide open subject. There are so many options with regards to
SEO (search engine optimization) it is hard to cover in a short article. SEO
is really dependent on your budget and how competitive your industry is on the
web. If your business marketing plan is relying on search engine traffic to generate
business and your industry is very competitive with regards to search engines,
you can easily spend several thousand dollars for a base SEO package. But if
your company is not relying on search engines to fuel your sales and or your
industry is not highly competitive for specific keyword-phrases you are targeting,
you can get by with a few hundred dollars up front to get your base listings.
Be sure that the developer of your web site understands what it takes technically
to design and develop a web site that is 'Search-engine-friendly'. If you web
site is not technically coded correctly, all your SEO efforts will be for not.
But again, SEO is wide open...there are simply too many variables involved to
state a given price.
So, if you are ready to start your company's web site presence and need a professionally
designed web site....How much will it cost? HARD TO SAY...
Budget $1200.00- $2,000.00 (US) for the design, graphics, coding and and another
$500.00 for base SEO placement. Then about $35.00 a month for a good hosting
provider. And remember, do it right the first time, so you do not have to re-do
it. It always cost more to do it the second time!
http://www.webwize.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)