You'll get the same standard cost factors from nearly every site designer...whether large or small. The differences will be in the method of billing and in the actual costs. Below is a list of web development fees and common price ranges you may encounter (assumed small business site as opposed to a heavy duty corporate site with multiple levels of sales and access) It is not our price list, but rather a point of reference for you.

• Initial registration of domain name (anywhere from $10.00 annually to $50.00 annually, depending on type....com, net org, are cheaper than ca)
• Many will charge an initial set-up fee, see if this is included in your overall cost.
• Initial design costs. Some will bill by the job, while others will bill hourly. That is commonly determined by the size and complexity of your site. Small business sites can range anywhere from $500.00 to $10,000.00...once again depending on size and complexity. Watch for cases where a company may charge monthly for a web site. It may seem attractive at first to get a site for $50.00 per month, but remember that stretches out to $600.00 per year EVERY YEAR.
• Site Hosting Fees....this is your rental space on a web server so that your site is available around the globe. Costs run anywhere from $10.00 per month to $100.00 per month depending on size and services required.
• Ongoing Maintenance Costs...If you need a developer to handle your maintenance for you, their services will either be billed hourly or by contract.

Thev reality is, that there is no real set standard for what is considered a fair web development cost. So, with so many freelancers, every web company essentially has to determine what they believe is a fair price for their services. The larger the company, the more overhead...but at the same time, they may be able to provide services that smaller ones can't. The fact is, nobody's trying to rip you off, and the vast majority of us simply want to provide you with the best service we can. So, if you already have a web developer that you're happy with, stay with them, because satisfaction can't be measured in dollars and cents. Find a developer you trust. That's likely the way to get the best value for your dollar. In the long run....that's the key. Not how much you spend, but what you get in return.

Most people don't know how many features or which features they can have in their site. In reality, you can have any feature you want. The only hurdle, is that some features or website functions are more costly to build than others. If you get an estimate for your site based on your basic requirements, and then add features later, it's only logical that your cost will go up. When we meet you, we'll sit down and determine which features or functions your want and need and factor them into the original quote. Features added later would have to be quoted separately.

You can certainly start small and grow over time. While it's true that a web site should be redesigned on occasion, if you plan for future growth, you can keep things fresh as you go without starting from scratch.

Quite honestly, some things are relatively easy to put together, and knowing how long they take, you can determine a package price. However there are certain things that are more difficult, and quite unique to each site. These elements require detailed testing and will differ from site to site. Therefore it's quite impossible to say up front how long they will specifically take to complete.

That's strictly up to you. If you want your site to be a valuable asset to your business or organization you should expect to spend some time and effort in doing so. That being said, the essential costs are annual renewal of domain name & annual hosting fees. We charge $175.00 annually for domain renewal, hosting and basic updates to your existing content. Additional charges will only apply if you require new site content or upgrades to your site.

If we know up front that you want to handle your own updating we can accommodate in any number of ways. If you just want to change some text now and then, we can include a simple content management system (CMS) for you. If you require full control over every aspect of the site, we'd suggest various alternatives for you. However when all is said and done, it may be simpler to have us do the updates. That way you can be sure of consistency in design and appearance, without the hassle of yet another learning curve.

As noted in the previous question, it depends on how much updating you want to do for yourself. A simple Content Management System (CMS) for basic updates is relatively easy to incorporate into your site, and may cost you a few hours labour on our part to include it. A more advanced CMS, such as Adobe Contribute costs about $199.00 to purchase, but gives you complete control over the whole site. If you want to learn from the ground up and be able to build anything you want, we'd suggest Adobe Dreamweaver (at about $400.00). We can also train you on any of the web softwares.

Once again...as noted in the previous questions, it depends on how much updating you want to do for yourself. Basic text updates with a simple CMS are very simple and an hour or 2 training would be plenty. To use something like Adobe Contribute - if you're proficient with any software such as MS Word or similar, a maximum of 1 day would be lots (quite possibly only a few hours). If you want to go "full-bore" with complete design software and advancement of your own personal skills, then on-going training from the gound up would be wise.