I decided to write this article so that budding entrepreneurs could benefit from my seven years of experience in the internet business. In this article, I share the secrets of successful web site development and its cost implications as well. I frequently receive queries from clients about a quote from other companies who put a price tag of whopping ?2500 for a 5 page brochure website that is actually worth probably not more than about ?500.



Choosing a website development package - cost and quality factors

Compare the packages offered by various web site developers so that you may select the one that meets your requirements. You should be well aware as what's on offer as part of the whole package in terms of development and maintenance services for your web site. If you are a start-up business then you will be understandably worried about the cost factor. Of course, cost should not be the only criterion. Quality of services is also important. Basic brochure website usually costs anywhere between ?100- ?500. The price largely depends on the number of pages and features in terms of programs, designs and applications that you want. There are companies that will try to sell you a solution worth maybe few thousand pounds, which I bet, will leave you stunned.

Two main types of web sites

Static and dynamic are the two main types of web sites.

Static website

Static website is the most common "simple" website. The word static denotes that what's coded in is final! Static page can be purchased from EBay for low as ?70 or ?100 for about five to 10 pages. Although this appears to be a good bargain, ensure that you are getting value for money, and check out what you are drawing out of the money spent!

Dynamic website

On other hand, dynamic website is flexible. By employing a database, you can manage content flows on your own, whether it's a pure informative site, news site, Blog, Ecommerce or a custom employee management system. Dynamic website makes use of database technology, and is more complicated. It takes more efforts and time to develop dynamic website. Obviously, it costs more. However, in the long run, it is easier to manage, saving your money on updates and maintenance.

Design and content are key to a website

A good web design should use easy and neat navigation. An easy to follow navigation of various web links plays a major role in ensuring the stickiness of your web site. By stickiness, I mean how long a visitor explores various web pages on your site.Effective content development strategies driven by the creative minds along with wonderful web page designs add to your site's appeal, functionality and utility.

Search engine optimization

Hasty and poor development of a web site with little or no attention to search engine optimization would be an exercise in futility

SEO benefits

* It makes your web site visible or compatible for top search engines so that it is featured in their top results. In other words, when users type in a relevant keyword, your site gets featured prominently among the search results.

* Importance of SEO expertise is indeed valuable because their insight of Search Engine Optimization technique guides you in choosing relevant keywords and various other vital aspects.

You might have developed a good looking site, but it will not get good rankings since after a while no users will be driven from top search engines to it owing to poor optimization. So, you would be required to spend additional resources to get a SEO expert who will re-build the website all over again for you. So, it makes sense to get a decent job done in the first place, once and for all!

Search engine optimization is a tool for making as much money as possible for some companies. Organic optimization won't burden you much. If you are dealing with an experienced web development company then it will inform you that organic SEO is "just doing a good job" from scratch. Of course, there's more attention that a coder has to pay to each web page that will reflect the price. It should not be high though since it involves mere coding.

Then you can purchase "promotion package" that involves active promotion of your website based on your industry research. This task is much more complex. It varies for each industry and its extent is determined by competition level.

Only experienced companies can provide Professional custom web design and development service. So, you need to pick experienced and credible company with a good track record. Many companies often advertise SEO as product and promise you higher positions on search engines. Don't get lured by such promises! Remember, faulty SEO can harm the ranking of your site.