Cost of Website Development

[prosper]

Just recently got a quote to have a "interactive learning website" created. It will contain about 5-7 pages. The website will require a low annual membership fee after a 7 day free trial. It will take roughly a month to finalize. This is my first time doing this and was quoted $5000. Is this reasonable?

[disneysteve]

This is my first time doing this and was quoted $5000. Is this reasonable?

How many other quotes have you gotten? I'd say the best way to judge if the price is reasonable is to compare it to what other providers are charging for the same service.

[TexasHusker]

The complexity of websites can go from practically nothing - an online advertisement with no interaction - to highly complex, multi-interactive sites with relational databases and all sorts of goofy (and expensive) stuff.

There's no way to know if you're getting a good deal, because there is no way to know the complexity of it.

My only advice is to make darn sure that the developer is up to the task, or you will be throwing your $5,000 away and starting completely over. I would condition the bulk of the payment on the website actually working the way it is supposed to without a lot of fuss. Hold their feet to the fire. If they can't/won't agree to that, it is a huge red flag and you should move on.

I've found website developers to often be lazy, resistant to hard deadlines, and ambiguous about what they are going to do and when. If your website developer is in bad need of a haircut, has a beard to his chest, and had week-old dirty coffee cups sitting at his desk, that's a red flag.

I spent over $20,000 over a 2 year period trying to get a website developed, and ended up just saying "uncle", firing the website folks, and moving on. I'm $20K poorer and still unhappy with my website.

[disneysteve]

The complexity of websites can go from practically nothing - an online advertisement with no interaction - to highly complex, multi-interactive sites with relational databases and all sorts of goofy (and expensive) stuff.

Very true. I've actually designed a couple of websites myself and I am no tech guy by far. I had one for years for my online collectibles business. It was fairly simple, though, with pictures and descriptions of items for sale and a link to contact me to order anything. Today, however, people want video and animation and an online payment interface and live chat and a bunch of other features that do get much more involved than somebody just knowing HTML.

Before you hire anyone, make sure to get URLs to sites he has designed so you can check them out and see how user-friendly and visually appealing they are.

[prosper]

Thanks for the responses. Just found out this is actually on the cheaper side. The developer came as a referral from a trusted client.

[Captain Save]

I know a little bit about website for businesses .. though I don't design them. I can tell you however an interactive website is not what you see the Wix and Weebly's of the world are offering.

I can tell you I've seen good website guys say . .they don't get out of bed for less than $1500 and that's for simple business websites.