[Website Development] Question about requesting a quote for a website

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rootb33r

Contributor
Veteran X
So I've got an idea for a website that my girlfriend and I have been mulling over for a while. We've even used a derivation of this site as a model for one of our MBA projects/presentations (conceptual start-ups, but not much more than that).

I want to put together a bunch of information for someone to give me a quote on the initial website design. What do I need to have for a website designer to give me an accurate quote? And how do you like to see the information presented? I've never done any research on the cost of a high-functioning website, so I have no idea what to do here.

Right now I'm thinking:
1. A mock-up of what the site might look like with arrows to various functions that describe what they do.
2. Maybe a few layers of #1 describing various pages?
3. A short prospectus describing the overall concept with subsections describing in greater detail some of the more "important" (read: complicated) functionality.

Anything specific that I should add or change?

I'm also considering, after I get this done, to post it here on TW and offer something like $30-ish via PayPal to give me a very short write-up (like 1 paragraph) and cost estimate. Obviously I'm not looking for anything serious, but I want a ball-park so I know what I should expect when looking for developers. And this will be a different thread.

So, thoughts?

I'd link some standard TW "thanks" but I'm at work. I believe juvo.se - share and enjoy is a fantastic site, if I recall correctly.
 
Describe and give examples (urls) that explain the functionality you want. The complexity on the development end is what is going to run up the price, not the design. The developer will probably come back to you with more questions about the fine details of the functionality before a quote is given.

If you need to do a mockup, use Axure to create a functional wireframe.

It is a bit early but, be sure you hire a web designer that understand a little bit about web development as they are two very different skills. There are a lot of people out that call themselves web designers, but lack higher level thinking to see potential design problems down the road once the site gets to the development stages. I recommend that you have a web developer build you a wireframe for the site and see what the designer can do with it (once the prospectus is written of course).
 
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standard stuff you'll get in a quote is the development cycle/flow chart. don't be impressed with this, it's standard stuff that any company worth a shit should do.

the most important thing you should get is references to other work they've done. make sure the references are at the same price range you're looking at. don't look a 30k site if you're only going to spend 4k.

most good designers aren't going to do mock up prototypes for a quote. too much time/effort for free. once there is an agreement in place you'll get a few (3-5) different layout/color scheme choices to pick from. until then i wouldn't expect anything worthwild to actually review specifically for your site.

things you, as the consumer, need to look at:
- maintenance. is there going to be a content management system (word press, moodle, a custom built one, etc) or are you going to have to pay an hourly rate to change the text on the front page?
- hosting. hosting is cheap, if you see a line in there for like 30/40$ a month for hosting you're getting hosed.
- make sure you get a copy of all source material and final product so you're not reliant on them when you decide to move to a different company. this happens, so be prepared up frnot.
- SEO. search engine optimization. get someone who knows what the fuck they're doing. SEO is a complicated and specialized field. basic web developers are not exactly the people you want to pay for this. if their quote includes SEO stuff, then you need to make sure they are SEO pro's or dump that part of the cost cause it'll be worthless.


honestly i would figure out exactly what you're willing to spend. people have no idea how much a professional website costs to design and develop. they have the 'a 15 year old can do it' mentality. also look at functionality/page count; is it database driven, or is it a static 4-5 page 'about us' style website? thats going to determin the quality of site you can expect to get for what price.

theres much more i'll probably add later. but theres some basic stuff.
 
Thanks for the reminder than web designers != web developers.

I think I am mixing the two terms up... because I am not terribly concerned with the actual design right now, but more the functionality (as you said, that's where the cost drivers are).

I like your idea of giving specific examples of functionality within current websites. I think of my idea as a combination of functionality within 3-4 existing websites, so it makes sense to actually reference that functionality in the design prospectus.

So "wireframe" is what I was thinking when I said #1/#2 in my first post. I hadn't known the term though.

Thank you! +rep
 
if you're more concerned about functionality then you'll want workflows and use cases, not wireframes. although wireframes may be included in that. one problem with this is everyone uses different words to describe different things; i think of wireframes as litterally being a basic traced out layout for where content goes on the screen (more design oriented). if you're thinking something else thats fine, just depends on who you're talking to.

you'll also want the site architecture.
 
The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is charging a great deal too much for it.
Oscar Wilde

There's a quote, that'll be thirty bucks.
 
Detox.enD said:
honestly i would figure out exactly what you're willing to spend. people have no idea how much a professional website costs to design and develop. they have the 'a 15 year old can do it' mentality. also look at functionality/page count; is it database driven, or is it a static 4-5 page 'about us' style website? thats going to determin the quality of site you can expect to get for what price.

theres much more i'll probably add later. but theres some basic stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-ups regarding the various things I should be looking for.

As for the functionality, the reason I created this thread was because it's a lot more than just an "about us" style site.

I guess you might call it a social network, but for a niche. And it's really not a social network, but that's the closest terminology I can think of.

That type of functionality is expensive integration, I would assume.

However, for example, TW forums have a "User Control Panel" which is kind of like our home page. I don't think *MOST* of the users would need more than this level of sophistication. These would be the "users" and the "principals" would have a more sophisticated homepage (think facebook, I guess).

Like I said, very social network-esque, but most users will have a "dumbed down" version, with principals having the more expansive versions. This would require a large database I imagine, and would be expensive.

*edit* RE: Wireframes. I just wiki'd it after you said it. According to Wiki it's more involved than just a design layout, but again like you said, depends on who you're talking to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_wireframe
 
eh that really depends (in reference to the cost, or this being really expensive)

don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to get you to spill the beans on your project :)

there are a lot of content management systems that are free and already have a lot of built-in funtionality. it really really depends on what you're trying to do as to whether they'll work for you or not...

for example: if you were going to built a website based around training for a product, say it includes some training videos and then some quiz's you have to pass with a test. moodle would be aboslutely perfect (although i hate moodle) for this. you'd be paying for front end design, and a developer to customize the backend for you. that'd be super cheap compared to building it yourself.


the thing you want to make sure of is:
A) they know how to get what you want out of you. this is really really hard and takes a talented person to do a good job of it. getting the customer's ideas out of their head, and manageing their expectations is very difficult for some and much easier for others.
B) they know what the fuck they're talking about. a lot of developers/designers are very narrow in their ability, causing them to not know what all the options are much less how to execute them. you need to know enough about your project to know when someone is bullshitting you and when someone knows what they're talking about.

if you ask them what language they would build in and they say php, and you ask why, and they say because thats the language they know, you're dealing with the wrong people.
 
Detox.enD said:
- SEO. search engine optimization. get someone who knows what the fuck they're doing. SEO is a complicated and specialized field. basic web developers are not exactly the people you want to pay for this. if their quote includes SEO stuff, then you need to make sure they are SEO pro's or dump that part of the cost cause it'll be worthless.
Click to expand...

The SEO company will probably provide a wireframe of their own, further complicating things :)
 
Detox.enD said:
eh that really depends (in reference to the cost, or this being really expensive)

don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to get you to spill the beans on your project :)

there are a lot of content management systems that are free and already have a lot of built-in funtionality. it really really depends on what you're trying to do as to whether they'll work for you or not...

for example: if you were going to built a website based around training for a product, say it includes some training videos and then some quiz's you have to pass with a test. moodle would be aboslutely perfect (although i hate moodle) for this. you'd be paying for front end design, and a developer to customize the backend for you. that'd be super cheap compared to building it yourself.


the thing you want to make sure of is:
A) they know how to get what you want out of you. this is really really hard and takes a talented person to do a good job of it. getting the customer's ideas out of their head, and manageing their expectations is very difficult for some and much easier for others.
B) they know what the fuck they're talking about. a lot of developers/designers are very narrow in their ability, causing them to not know what all the options are much less how to execute them. you need to know enough about your project to know when someone is bullshitting you and when someone knows what they're talking about.

if you ask them what language they would build in and they say php, and you ask why, and they say because thats the language they know, you're dealing with the wrong people.
Click to expand...
Makes sense. I have a close family friend who runs a medium sized (~$2M/yr) web design, development & hosting company. I might go to him in the end (may not want to mix family/business), but this thread has certainly given me a lot of insight.

Thanks a ton. I'll probably be back to ask for a rough order of magnitude for my prospectus before going to him.

Whoop said:
you can't afford it

honestly
Click to expand...
Votes of confidence! <3

kwago said:
The SEO company will probably provide a wireframe of their own, further complicating things :)
Click to expand...
Lol. Everyone and their mother "does SEO," right? :)
 
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