The purpose of this article to provide some assistance when choosing a website building company and to identify some of the common mistakes people make. With my role in Business Development, I encounter many different prospective clients with a wide variety of requirements. Many of those who wish to engage us as part of their website project lack the background knowledge required to make informed decisions.

1. Requirements gathering.  
Each week and without fail I receive a number of inquiries for website design and SEO projects where the prospect approaches us and has no idea how they want their project to work. It’s usually a high level idea which resides in their head.  It then becomes my job to play detective to try and sleuth around to understand what the prospect is hoping their web project will accomplish.  One of the key challenges with this type of approach is that each website provider the prospect speaks with gathers different pieces of information as they are also playing detective.  One of the net results of this process is that a prospect receives a wide range of pricing because they were simply too vague in what the requirements are. They could then make the mistake of ruling out one vendor based on a higher price point, when that vendor was actually offering them a completely different website project.

Taking the time to document your ideas and how you want to engage your audience(s) will provide much more clarity to all parties.  As you put your ideas together on paper, it starts to become the projects roadmap and it gives each vendor the same information.  At this stage it is more important for the website vendor to understand your business requirements rather than sorting out the technical issues, so lack of a technical background should not be a concern for you at this point.

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2. Come up with a budget before you engage.  
Understanding the prospect’s budget is key to helping the website vendor understand any financial constraints the prospect has.  Often times prospects are unwilling to provide a budget range as they fear the vendor will bid up to that figure.

Another common response by prospects is to tell the vendor the prices other vendors have provided.  This only tells us what other vendors may charge but provides no indication of what the client can afford.

Providing the vendor with clear requirements and a valid budget range this will eliminate any wasted cycles on both sides.  It allows the vendor to determine if the project is a good fit, and to prioritize the requirements if the project can be broken up to the must have functional items and the prospects wish list which could be added at a later date.

3. Understanding value & ROI.
For many companies starting out or existing companies looking to gain market share, often times they focus solely on the financial expense of building the website or investing in internet marketing, without focusing on engaging their market and the expected ROI.
Let’s look at some examples to highlight the above.  We were approached recently by a real estate broker who sells houses and condos in the upscale neighborhoods of Toronto.  Based on the high selling prices, the commission per sale can range in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.  This individual thought that spending anything over $1,500 to build a website was a very high cost.  As the website needs to align with the agents market, people who are prepared to spend upwards of a million dollars or more on a home, there is a disconnect between the agents investment and providing a high impact web experience that will convert a visitor to a customer.

In another case, we have an existing client whom we had built a website for and they now wanted to add Internet marketing to increase their market share.  Based on the goals and objectives they were looking to add an additional $1.3 million dollars in sales.  When they were presented with the cost to do SEO, they were shocked the number.  However, when you evaluate the potential outcome, the client investments in the Internet marketing represented less than 2% of the planned revenue gain.  In other words, it would have cost them less than 2 cents to make a dollar.

By investing your time on the above points before you contact a website vendor it will help you greatly in your selection process. Thinking about what you hope to gain from the website, your budget, and the value that an upgraded website can add to your business are three integral steps to setting yourself up for a successful website project. If you are comparing vendors, you will know that the numbers you are getting from the different companies align and are for similarly sized projects within the same scope. While the Business Development representative is available to help answer questions and offer suggestions, having an idea of these things before initiating conversations with website vendors will ensure a smoother process.

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Avoid making these mistakes and contact 9th sphere today for a website consultation!

As my primary role in business development is speaking with prospects about their web or Internet marketing projects, inevitably the question “What is your website design budget range?” must be posed.  Many prospects feel uncomfortable providing a budget range.   For most prospects who have not been through a project like this before simply don’t know what they cost, while others feel that if they share their budget range, the vendor is going to try get as many of those dollars as they can.

Let’s explore some considerations for creating an appropriate budget.

Market
It is extremely important to consider the market to which you are selling.  If your market is selling luxury goods or exclusive destination weddings, then you need to consider that more design time will be required to align the look of the website with the market you are serving.  No one is going to feel comfortable spending thousands of dollars on a single purchase if the website design does not establish credibility with the user.  Ensuring that the look and feel of the website is aligned with your target market is critical for success.

Return On Investment (ROI)
Consider your expected return on investment. If you are selling a $1 dollar item, you would need to sell a lot of product to make up for the investment.  In this case adding a lot of functionality to a website and driving up the cost may not be a wise decision, unless you are expecting large volumes of traffic.  However, if you are selling a $10,000 service or product visitors would expect an enhanced and quality based experience dictating the need for a larger budget, and also an expected return on investment.

Most marketed websites have an approximate 3% conversion rate. If you calculate your conversion rate with the cost of your product for a given year, you should be able to get an idea of the budget that makes sense to send on a new website project. Eg.  Profit of selling my product is $100 multiplied by selling 4 products a month equals $4,800 for the year

This indicates that if your website sold 4 products per month, a $4,800 website cost is your breakeven point. Any additional product sold in that year would contribute to the websites profit contribution.  This is not considering any efficiencies that the website provides that takes away from other manual administrative tasks, but I think you get the idea.

Features & Functionality
Adding in features and extending functionality can have a large impact on the projects overall cost.  In the case of a start-up venture, it’s not uncommon to look at what the leaders in that market are doing online and emulate them.  Far too often, the market leader’s websites contain features or functionality that would not make sense to include in the start-ups initial build.  Starting small and scaling as revenue grows makes it more affordable and leaves more cash flow for marketing purposes.

Quality
Sometimes it is the things we don’t see which can have the largest impact on whether a website project is successful.  When 9th sphere creates websites, we build it to the W3C standard and undertake quality assurance testing to ensure there aren’t any issues from a coding or usability perspective.  Coding issues may impact a website’s ability to be viewed properly on all browsers, the level of flexibility and scalability for future changes, and issues with the search engines being able to properly index the website. Other issues with optimization for loading speed and code efficiency and how the site is displayed on a mobile are all factors of higher website development quality.  Other factors that contribute to defining a websites quality can be found in the article entitled “Defining a Quality Website“.

If you are planning to proceed with any Internet marketing efforts to promote your business, you may end up spending more time and money trying to get your website to rank high in the search results to overcome any programming issues.  So while the low cost price point of the website is initially attractive, it soon becomes apparent that the operating costs and missed online opportunities overshadow any savings.

By doing extensive research on your target market, what your competitors are doing and the services that are available to you, talking to a web design and development company openly about your budget doesn’t have to be a daunting task.  Companies that tend to have much lower prices are more than likely cutting corners in the development process or providing templated solutions to help reduce the time required to complete the project and hence reducing the cost.  Consider what aspects are most important to you, as well as crucial to the success of your business and website.  Share these ideas with the company that will build your site to help evaluate the best ROI.

In the end, the best web design and development companies are able to help you to integrate these features into your website while helping you to stay comfortably within your price range.

For many companies, their website is typically the first opportunity to they have to meet their prospective audience.  If that impression is not compelling, or there is a poor experience trying to find relevant information on the website, people simply hit the back button to their search results and select the next company on the list.  The resulting effect is a lost opportunity to engage the prospect and close a sale.

Building a website, in terms of the technical skill to code it, may not be terribly difficult.  Where a lot of expertise is required in that process is the architect’s skill to create the blueprints.  The architect listened to the client’s needs, and based on design and construction principles, creates the road map for the builders to follow in the form of the blue prints.

Now assume the same example above but remove the architect.  Assume you went directly to the contractor with the same request.  The contractor, while having all of the required knowledge to build the house, does not have the same level of design knowledge and expertise an architect would in terms of creating the best living space.
Let’s translate that example to the web industry.  There are few barriers to enter or exit this industry so anyone can throw a sign over their door and start building websites.  With that being said, how does one pick the right vendor beyond price?

Here are some things to consider:

1. Websites are tools for business; often time’s clients lose sight of that.  A well thought out website should guide the user through the content relevant to them in a structured manner, resulting in the user taking an action.   Having a strategic plan that aligns with your business goals and objectives is important.
2. Education.  Many of the prospects we deal with have little experience in managing a website project which is both creative and technical.   This can leave prospects unsure of which questions to ask or worse, they assume the web developer will be able to figure it out themselves.  A reputable web development company will work with the prospect to understand the prospect’s business goals, then make strategic recommendations designed to achieve those goals.
3. Marketing focused approach.  Think again of a website being a tool for business.  If the website is not aligned with the company’s business goals and objectives, it fails.  When working with a vendor, you should ensure they are committed to being a partner in your success.  They should ask the right questions about the prospect’s business in order to make strategic recommendations, rather than simply asking the client what they want on their website.
4. How large is the team?  Where a small shop might be inexpensive, you are asking that developer to wear many hats such as designer, project manager, quality assurance, marketing, etc.  At some point the quality of their skills is diluted as they may be an expert in some of the areas, but not all.  Conversely, with a large team, we can assign a team of experts to complete specific tasks related to their expertise.  Additionally, working with a large team benefits the entire team due to their combined expertise, making it a far superior experience.
5. How does one wade through the sales pitches and the quotes to determine if they are selecting the right vendor?

Here are some items a prospect should review with a prospective vendor:

1. Is the website coding built to an industry accepted standard such as W3C, ecommerce, security standards, etc.?  Failure to build a website to standard can impact how the website displays on some browsers, how the search engines index the website, and most importantly, the visitor’s experience.
2. Are all the vendors quoting based on the same features and functions? Are there any assumptions being made?
3. Do you own or have access to the website code when completed or are you paying a licence fee for usage?  This will often be related to if the website is templated or custom built.
4. Does the vendor outsource any of the projects or work with freelancers?  While outsourcing the effort can seem like a cost savings initially, it brings up a host of potential problems, such as lack of control over the project’s direction, quality, standards and ultimate delivery.
5. Can you visit their offices?.  Check them out, are they what they present themselves to be.
6. Do they have reliable references?  It is very important to check references to confirm you are dealing with a reputable vendor.
7. Did the vendor strategically discuss your project with you in terms of understanding and achieving your business goals?
8. How long has the company been in business for, how large in their team?  Will the company be available after the website is completed?

In closing, it is important to take the appropriate time to carefully evaluate a vendor to ensure they are the right partner for you and your business.   You are investing in them to make your business a success.   If you have selected the right partner who can help to grow your business, any cost differential will very soon become secondary.

9th sphere entered the web business world during a period of skepticism about the longevity of the Internet. We started out with a technically innovative website project among friends that evolved into requests for similar work from other businesses. Ten years later, we have become one of Toronto’s top website solutions firms.

The name “9th sphere” derives from a historic reference to the solar system and coincidentally fits with our nine-step web development process. Over the years our projects quickly advanced from simple brochure websites to complex and customized web applications. For everything we do, the marketing principles of good web design and the drive for results remains the same.

As more Canadian businesses realize the benefits, capabilities, and strength-of-return on investment in the web, they will demand superior features to take out their competition. It is our mission to help companies utilize the web to effectively differentiate them from the rest and ultimately build success.

This industry still continues to grow, with a whole lot more potential.  That’s why we’re still here. And we’re excited!

Thank you to those who have supported us. We look forward to an even more successful future.

Regardless of the company’s product, service, or offline success, building an effective website is crucial to establishing a profitable e-business. With the abundance of information and vast amounts of online competition, businesses must distinguish themselves by creating websites that are relevant, interesting, and highly customized to their targeted user group.

The expert knowledge you have of your business, industry, and target market is invaluable in your website’s development process. Communicating this information to your web development company is key to creating a more precise website strategy that’s customized specifically for your business.

Prior to any creative mockups, programming, or even content building, it is important that your web design company understands your business, your target audience, and your website objectives. These factors play a significant role in the direction of your website. The more the web company understands your business approach, the greater the likelihood that they can create a customized website that directly meets the needs of your target group. The expertise that you bring to your business and industry, along with the skills and insight of the web company, is sure to foster continual improvements and the discovery of creative solutions.

Not all companies follow the same approach – some will even have different interpretations of the web development process. However, excluding the creative talent of any particular web design company, clear and effective understanding and communication of the following are essential to creating a successful web development strategy:

1. What are your goals and objectives? (Not only for the website, but for the company as a whole?)
2. What makes your company different? What is your Competitive Advantage or Unique Selling Proposition?
3. Who are your clients and are these the types of clients you want? Who is your target market?
4. Who are your key competitors?
5. In all the years of doing business, what has been the best approach for you?
6. What kind of impression and style do you want to portray? How do you want to be positioned in the marketplace?
7. Do you have any preferences for branding elements such as colour and language style?
8. What level of tech savvyness do you think your target audience has?
9. How knowledgeable is your target audience of your product/service?

And it shouldn’t stop here. Constant communication to determine what is or isn’t working, as well as feedback from your customers, and noting trends within your industry, will facilitate opportunities for further growth and/or improvements.

The more a web design company understands your business approach the better position they are in to make suggestions and ensure that your goals and objectives are exceeded.

Website success is certainly achievable in this win-win relationship.