Those who do not have the technical savvy of web development are surprised at the going rates for web design. Most of the time, people wince at anything over a thousand dollars, but in the professional arena, that’s actually very low. Impressive website designs are usually worth $3000 or higher. The $1000 package is very basic, and really still very cheap for a basic package. It may get you quality, but that price limits you to minimal graphical complexity, a good CSS and XHTML, and nothing more. To offer more for this rate may spell trouble for the business. In fact, the $1000 fee may not even be enough to cover the time spent on the project.
People get this idea that with the low cost of domain and the seemingly affordable web hosting rate, nothing else but the graphic design itself is needed, and that shouldn’t cost too much, right? The shocker is that web hosting is usually not that cheap in reality; it is simply offered in terms that seem affordable. The other surprise is that design is more than just layout and images. The usual breakdown of a web design package includes graphical compositions done on Photoshop, CSS/XHTML production, graphical splicing for CSS/XHTML structure, unique CSS/XHTML adaptation to the chosen CMS platform, and bell-and-whistle stuff as per required by the client. The seemingly high rate makes better sense if a breakdown is explained. That’s why it really is worth the effort on the web design company’s part to come up with a video email explaining things as part of their marketing campaign. After all, not a lot of people realize that times have changed and a website is not just an additional way to reach out to potential customers, but is already integral to the branding of a company.
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