Cost of design & development work

Working on our “Packages” page today got me to thinking about some of the comments I’ve gotten regarding pricing for web work. Considering how skittish the average person is around a computer, it’s still surprising to me that the web design field gets so little respect (at least in my experience it does).

Web design and development are both fields that require a lot of skill, practice, and pretty focused experience. So many customers seem to be under the impression that anyone with a PC and limited word processing skills can do it. In part that is true. Anyone can do it. However, not everyone can do it well.

This concept can be compared to any other skilled field. Take plumbing, for instance. Pretty much anybody could fumble their way through fixing a leaky water pipe. But just because they can doesn’t mean they should!! And also, just because they can eventually figure it out, doesn’t mean that the quality of the fix will be acceptable or that it will last.

I can’t even say how many times I’ve heard people decline to have their website worked on, because they know someone whose nephew does it for free, or because some secretary in the office knows how to use FrontPage. Then when you go back and look at their “new” site, it is a mess. The look is outdated, standards are completely ignored, elements don’t work properly, etc., etc.

We had one prospective retail customer several months back with whom we couldn’t close a deal because this customer had a brother-in-law who wanted to set up the site for nothing, since he is “really good on computers” — wow, if only I had a buck for every time I’ve heard that. Now it is over 8 months later, and not only is the site design totally sparse and lackluster, but most of the site, including a basic catalog search function, still does not work!! Imagine the potential clients and revenue this business is losing because of their dysfunctional website, all because they didn’t want to pay for someone to do professional quality work at the outset. That’s what we call penny-wise and dollar-foolish.

The corollary to the above example is the customer who wants a bare bones site just thrown together as quickly as possible for as cheap a price as he can possibly get. Today’s online consumer is more sophisticated than ever, and believe me, he/she DOES notice the difference between a quality website and a poor one. Does the hypothetical business owner think his business image is going to be improved by a bland, utilitarian, or — worse yet — dated-looking site?

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”
– Red Adair

First impressions mean everything. Just as with anything else, in web design you get what you pay for.