| When you are looking to develop a website, it is | | | | experience to meet your needs, which in many cases |
| tempting to look for the cheapest possible solution. It | | | | will be less than the cost of any changes that would |
| is possible to get great results from a cheap web | | | | need to be made to a poor design by a friend with |
| design package but there are some traps to avoid. | | | | little experience. |
| For example you might be tempted to put together | | | | 4. Forgetting Ongoing Hosting Costs |
| a cheap site yourself, but if you want real quality | | | | One common aspect of cheap web design services |
| then paying a web designer to create the site for | | | | are hidden costs regarding the hosting fees of your |
| you can be a great idea and a real investment. Many | | | | website. It is important to check the terms of any |
| people make mistakes when searching for the | | | | design service to see if they offer hosting as part of |
| perfect web design, by scrimping on costs and not | | | | their design package. You should be looking for a |
| knowing exactly what they need. Here are the most | | | | well-priced designer who offers well-priced hosting. |
| common mistakes made by people when trying to | | | | Not only is it possible to find an included hosting |
| save on web design. | | | | package that will provide you with a great service, |
| 1. Unrealistic Expectations | | | | but it can also cost less than $100 a year. By doing a |
| When purchasing web design it is unreasonable to | | | | little research into what your web designer has to |
| expect the perfect design with hundreds of features | | | | offer you could end up saving a huge amount in this |
| for nothing. A cheap web design service will be the | | | | area. |
| best option if you need a simple website to provide | | | | 5. Forgetting Website Maintenance |
| information on your products and services. However, | | | | When you create a website you will probably realise |
| you may wish to incorporate features into your | | | | that it will need to be updated at some point in the |
| website that will not only improve the experience of | | | | future. The truth is that when you hire a web |
| visitors to the site, but will help you to run the site | | | | designer, this usually does not include updates to |
| more smoothly. For example, a help desk could be | | | | your site without extra charges. A solution to this |
| included as an easy way by which to answer | | | | problem is to find a web designer that offers a built |
| customer queries or for visitors to contact you. If | | | | in content management system. This involves |
| you want to sell products online then you will also | | | | software that allows you to add, edit or delete |
| need some sort of shopping cart and payment | | | | content of your website. Such software used to be |
| process. For interactive e-commerce features such as | | | | expensive, but there are many cheap web design |
| these you should look for a comprehensive package | | | | companies who will now offer this for free, making it |
| that will suit all of your needs. | | | | important to shop around for one that does. |
| 2. Having No Goal in Mind | | | | 6. Ignoring Search Engines |
| When you are looking for a design for your site you | | | | When you are setting up a new website it is |
| have to first work out what the goal of your site is. | | | | important to bear in mind the difficulties in getting |
| Perhaps it is for lead generation, or online product | | | | your site onto the first page of Google results. |
| sales. Whether you are building a site for profit or | | | | Depending on your specific industry this can end up |
| not, there will always be some goal and it is | | | | costing you thousands of dollars in search engine |
| important to recognise this goal in order to develop | | | | optimization (SEO). Due to these facts you might |
| your site accordingly. If you are looking for a simple | | | | want to search for a web developer who can assist |
| web presence for customers to find out about you | | | | you in basic SEO to save you dollars in the future. |
| then a cheap web design is a good solution. | | | | 7. Money Back Guarantees |
| 3. Getting a Friend to Do It | | | | It can be very hard to find a cheap web design |
| You may know someone who could design your site | | | | service that will offer a money-back guarantee, |
| for you for a low cost. However, many people can | | | | which means you could be left high and dry if you |
| claim to be a designer - including your 12-year-old | | | | receive a bad design and poor service. However, do |
| nephew - but you need to ask yourself whether | | | | a little research and you can find a well-priced |
| they really have the skills to back it up. Putting your | | | | designer who is willing to offer a guarantee for their |
| trust in a friend can be awkward if they leave you | | | | work, meaning that there is no risk when it comes to |
| with a poorly designed website. It can be hard to get | | | | paying for your site to be designed. |
| them to make changes when they have finished, and | | | | Conclusion |
| in the end this will reflect poorly on your company, | | | | As you can see, there are many factors that can |
| putting users off from browsing your site. There | | | | influence your choice of web designer. It is important |
| may also be mistakes which could lead to your site | | | | to realise that many of these features can be |
| being indexed badly in search engines, reducing your | | | | included in a reasonably priced package. If you go in |
| potential visitors, such as using 'frames' or 'flash'. If | | | | with the right attitude you can be sure to find a |
| you want a design that will properly meet your needs | | | | designer who will meet your needs, so long as you |
| as well as last for years to come then it is probably | | | | know what to expect from that price. |
| best to find someone with the right web design | | | | |