How much does it cost for a good website?

The honest answer is - It depends!

A similar question could be how much does a car cost? - it also depends.

Do you want a new car? Do you want a big car or a small car? Do you want a Fiesta or a Ferrari? Depending on what you want, these cars can cost anything from €16,000 to the latest Ferrari which costs over €300,000. If you want a cheap secondhand car, you can get one for €400 on Done Deal.

Now let's get back to websites - There are technical and aesthetic design aspects to every website. Firstly, a website should be attractive as it could be a potential customer's first impression - and we all know first impressions last! Secondly, the website needs to be responsive so it displays and renders well on mobile phones and tablets as well as laptops and desktops.

Most modern web design tools will take account of mobile responsiveness, however some do it better than others! For example, a website designed in desktop format should automatically be perfect on a mobile phone display. It should but it doesn't always! However, there are various design and coding techniques that can address these issues and ensure the website looks well on nearly all devices. (There are literally hundreds of design sizes to cater for, due to the availability of mobile phone screen sizes and resolution types.)

When we design websites, we test the website on many different device types and screen resolutions. Typically, we test the most common screen sizes and start with the leaders in Ireland, typically Apple and Samsung - no offence intended if you have any other brand!

Instead of a one fits all solution, we look at the usability aspects of viewing a website particularly on a mobile smartphone. The design needs to take account of "human fingers" as this is essential for a good user experience while scrolling and navigating the website. You should be able to navigate a website with one hand and one thumb or finger! Don't get me started on "clickable" items when viewing a website on a mobile phone - menu items and "click buttons" that are microscopic and once touched with a human finger encroaches on another "clickable" item and sends the user to a page they did not want. This is all about designing a website where the "clickable" items have "white space" around the item, so that when clicked it will give the intended result. (it doesn't have to be white - that's just what web designers call it)

How often have you been on a website on your phone and the "navigation menu icon" is either too small or is hiding beside another clickable item - frustrating for you and frustrating for potential customers!

So, the moral of the story - design the website with the "User" in mind - don't decide on what you want to show, rather design for what the User wants to see - and make it easy for them!

If you've read this far, thanks for bearing with me - back to the price - frustrating I know but it still depends......it depends whether you want to ensure your website is designed in such a way to make it easy for your potential customers. Sometimes people say they want a "quick website knocked up" - and that's fine if that's what you want, but we don't do those kind of websites. If you want a cheap website fast, get any student to knock it up. The price for this - probably somewhere between €300 - €600 - maybe even less!

If you are looking for a good website, then it will have to address the following which I can assure you a typical student will either not do or more likely will not even know that it should be done. No offence to students, but you need technical and aesthetic design skills and experience to design a professional website.

A good professional website should take account of the following:

• Responsive design for mobile, tablet and desktop devices
• Appropriate text copy written correctly
• Images should have Alt Tags
• Images should be named appropriately
• H1, H2 tags should be used effectively
• The website images should be optimised for all screen resolutions
• Website content should match the Heading Tags
• The website should load fast
• Basic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) techniques should be observed
• The website design should reflect your business and your industry type
• Effective web friendly colours should be used
• Website Analytics should be set up
• Contact Forms should have a Security Captcha and GDPR Opt-in
• SSL Certificate (Secure Socket Layer) for Safe Browsing and better Google Search Rankings

And there's more... we’ll work hand in hand with your business to gain a full understanding of what we can do to develop a comprehensive SEO strategy that generates more traffic on every device. More traffic means more enquiries and more business!

Contact us on 087 444 3955 or Book a No Obligation Appointment here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post!