| In our 'Website Basics Explained ' series we will show | | | | only a couple hundred products, you should be able to |
| you where to start to get your first website, and what | | | | find a web designer who can use standard |
| you need to go online. | | | | e-commerce software which is available for under |
| The prices web designers put on their services vary | | | | $300 (your web designer might even be able to use a |
| drastically. Like most purchases, with web design, you | | | | web host that offers free shopping cart scripts). The |
| tend to get what you pay for. If your project is fairly | | | | more requirements you have the more costly it will be, |
| small and straightforward, freelancers may charge less | | | | but there are a couple of free or cheap scripts out |
| than big agencies. By 'small' we mean a regular | | | | which a good website designer can use and adapt to |
| website with about five pages like 'Home', 'Services', | | | | your needs. The total cost of a small shopping cart |
| 'References', 'About', 'Contact'. | | | | website one-time set-up fee should not be more than |
| Of course the sky is the limit when it comes to | | | | $1,000 to $1,500. All professional shopping cart scripts |
| individual services, and there are also certainly regional | | | | include an online 'back office' where you could even |
| differences, but here are some rules of thumb. | | | | update your inventory in the future fairly easily yourself. |
| How Much Does A Website Cost? | | | | If you have a couple thousand items to sell and need a |
| The one-time set-up fee for a 'basic' individual website | | | | real professional shopping cart website, you will have |
| with up to five pages done by a Web Design | | | | to get an individual quote from different web design |
| Freelancer or a professional Web Designer ranges | | | | companies to compare. Make sure you talk about the |
| between $350 and $1,000, depending from where you | | | | support and maintenance costs too! |
| are located, and how much 'individuality' your website | | | | If you need just one simple page to capture email |
| requires, and what material you can provide. | | | | addresses, you can even try to get a freelancer to |
| Do you have logo, photos and text for your website, | | | | adapt a free available website template for you. His |
| or does your web designer need to invest his time to | | | | one-time set-up fee should not be more than $300. But |
| creating the content too? Graphic design work and | | | | with such a website it is crucial that you get a person |
| copy writing takes a lot of time, and you need to find | | | | who knows how to optimize your website in regards |
| an agreement with your web designer, how many | | | | to the keywords your customers will search for. You |
| drafts are included until you finally approve the end | | | | might even think of buying an existing website. Here is |
| result. Don't get fooled by 'paying by the page', | | | | having a website only as good as continuous efforts |
| because once your main layout is set up, it takes only | | | | to market your website in order to generate the traffic |
| a fraction of the time to add another page. If you get a | | | | you are looking for. This can be very time and/or |
| cheap quote it is likely that the web designer will use a | | | | money intensive depending from your product. Time |
| out-of-the-box template, and your website might not | | | | means somebody has to constantly promote your |
| look as individual as you wish! Of course, the sky is the | | | | website by e.g. submitting articles to blogs and ezines, |
| limit when it comes to web design. For highly individual | | | | money means you can instead invest in Google |
| professional websites you should get a detailed quote | | | | AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing to get your |
| from different web design companies and compare | | | | website instantly ranking on top of the search engines |
| before you sign a contract. | | | | result pages. |
| How Much Does A Shopping Cart Website Cost? | | | | We hope these basic numbers will give you an idea |
| The creation of a shopping cart website is usually a | | | | what you have to budget to get your own website. |
| very individual task. If you have a small business with | | | | |