How to keep a website project on budget
We all know that website projects are notorious for going over budget, over schedule, etc. But honestly, it really does not have to be this way. Here you can find a list of tricks that we’ve picked up over the years to help our customers manage their website budget correctly.
We understand that creating websites for clients is often a balancing act between giving them an attractive, functional site while keeping costs within budget.
The most annoying thing for a client is getting a bill that is significantly higher than expected and having to keep paying for more services as they upgrade and make changes.
Keeping websites within budget doesn’t mean sacrificing quality though. The key, as with any small-business management strategy, is to have a plan and specific goals in mind before you even begin the creative and technical aspects of the project.
The most common reasons that website projects go over budget
- Failing to meet expectations: Communication problems and misunderstandings during a project lead to misaligned expectations about the final product.
- Over-Planning: Tying a project to an ambitious plan created upfront doesn’t leave much room for learning or shifting gears when needed. Sometimes, adhering to such guidelines tends to set projects up for failure.
- Budget Misalignment: Sometimes the budget simply isn’t enough to support the project. You can’t have a Magento 2 website for £500, that’s for sure.
There are a lot factors that have to be considered and have to be established from the get-to, such as:
- Who will provide images?
- Who will enter content on the website?
- Do you need training as part of the package?
It is also important to identify if your customer needs any additional packages/extras, such as:
- Do you need a Facebook page?
- Do you need SEO and/or website traffic monitoring?
- Also, do you need integration with an email newsletter such as Mailchimp?
- Do you need credit card processing?
- Do you need hosting for your new website?
As long as these points/questions are clearly thought out at the beginning of the project, you can rest assured that the project will go on smoothly.
A Comfortable Budget For the Client
A website project can have many facets. If done right, research, strategy, content, design, testing, training, development , SEO, and ongoing optimization all come together to bring an organization long-term, continued success. Because of this, they can get expensive. As such, both parties must agree on a budget that everyone is happy with.
Usually, we bring up the budget discussions during the first conversation with any potential client. They typically have budgeted for this project up front so it helps to know what their expectations are. Similarly, we have reference budget data from hundreds of previous projects, so after a brief introductory conversation, we can usually tell if their expected budget range is realistic for what they want to accomplish. Remember “Budget Misalignment” as a common reason of failure? That usually happens when clients ask for a huge website with a very tiny budget.
Trust & Transparency
In order to successfully collaborate, clients and agencies must establish and build trust. This doesn’t come easy in the business world, but it is critical to project success. Great amounts of uncertainty exist at the outset of any project. Both sides make assumptions about what the other knows and what users want.
Fostering trust early on is extremely important for the overall project, this is a key aspect in any website project – trust, transparency and communication.
Choosing the right ecommerce platform
Nowadays, building an online store has become so much easier than a few years ago, thanks to a variety of ecommerce platforms becoming available on the market. Certainly, you’ve heard about such ecommerce solutions as Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce.
Each of them have their own advantages and disadvantages, all of which we’ve covered in previous blogs. Feel free to read them by clicking here: Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce.
Closing thoughts
Keeping website design and development costs in check comes down to several factors, but planning and preparation along with using existing tools are the most important. Smart clients understand that a good website is going to cost them money, but by working with them to keep those costs in check, we can develop a loyal following and we can help them grow their business.
As you can tell business owners don’t intend to cause web design project delays. The last thing they want is more problems or higher costs. All they want is to create a business website that will help them run and grow their business. But getting a new business website is a lot more complicated than ordering new business cards.
So, did your website design project end up badly? Did you end up launching an unfinished site and don’t know what to do next? No worries, our team has you covered!