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What's this going to cost: A web site's effectiveness will depend on your business objectives and expectations. If those objectives have measurable results you will be in a better position to anticipate development costs. An effective web budget is a balance between the expected value it brings to your business and the expenses required to meets those business objectives. A successful web strategy takes time and money to develop. Future development costs should be in response to the activity your site receives measured against your overall business plan.
If you are working with a limited budget keep in mind that there is a substantial cost difference between simple informational sites and ones designed for business and transactions. These cost differences are associated with the additional programming requirements, the additional monthly services for ISP ecommerce support, and the banking fees financial institutions charge their customers for web transaction services. As a result web sites can cost anywhere from under a thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Large sites can also require additional personnel expenses for employees to oversee and maintain the web portion of your business.
The key is not to commit large amounts of financial resources into a web site unless the benefits exceed the expense. This is why it is so important to start with a small site. Add the extra revisions based on a written business plan which has clearly defined goals and a long term commitment to follow through. The development of a site is only a first step in a systematic plan of development.
Once your site is established slowly adding specific bells and whistles to better reach your target market will be easier. Incrementally adding more sophisticated technology also reduces the potential for down time due to programming glitches. If you are a small company consider allocating about 10 percent of your annual marketing budget for web development. If this is your first venture into the internet experience allow yourself a cushion for unexpected costs and time to assimilate the web development learning curve.
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