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Affordable Small Business Web Design Options

In our ever-changing economy it’s more important than ever for small businesses to have a website and to employ web marketing strategies to attract the increasing numbers of people who search for goods and services on the web. But many small businesses can’t afford the prices being charged by web design firms. They need a more affordable option.

There are more affordable options out there but the challenge is to find one that will offer ongoing customer service, web experience and a quality product that a small business can be proud of and use effectively. This article will share with you a few of those affordable options and the upside and downside of each.

Small Companies - Affordability with Accountability

One of the greatest resources of affordable web design is found in one or very-few person companies where the workers work from home. This type of company seems to be on the rise with more and more people working from home and owning their own businesses. Web design lends itself very nicely to this model since the startup costs are fairly low and a web designer can most often make more money working for his/her self than by working for a web design firm.

With a company being established in a home the overhead is usually very low, allowing them to be very competitive with their pricing. These types of organizations usually have the flexibility to negotiate since the owner many times is doing the work also.

When you find a small web company other advantages you should look for besides affordability are experience, customer service, quality web standards work and accountability of reputation. Examine the company’s website portfolio to learn about their level of experience with clients and the quality of work they perform. If they are a company that has been around a few years you should be able to learn about their reputation from existing clients. If it’s a good reputation you can be sure they will want to maintain it with your project so you should be able to expect good customer service with attention to detail.

The downside of working with a small company might be limited resources to develop more complex websites. However, this can be overcome through outsourcing and is a common practice in the web industry. The other item that comes into question for a one-person company is how long will they be in business.

Freelancers - Affordability with a Level of Experience

Freelancers can usually be found on the web by typing in “Freelance” with “web design” on the search engines and many times are listed in online directories with their contact information. Freelancers certainly offer affordable small business web design. With their low overhead and usually part-time schedule they are looking to add to their income from their “day job”. So their pricing is typically very reasonable and flexible in negotiations. Many times you will get freelancers with a good deal of experience because their “day job” may be with a web design firm.

Apparent downsides to working with a freelancer would include the questions of how long will they be around, will they give you timely customer service, will they finish their work in an accountable time frame and what will the quality of work be? Probably the best type of freelancer to work with would be one that maintains a few clients in an ongoing fashion so that they show some accountability and reliability in regards to deadlines.

College Students – Affordability with Eagerness

Finding a college student in a local college web design program would probably be the most affordable option and you will be met with a high level of eagerness to do your project. If money is tight this might be a solution you are willing to live with.

Possible downsides to working with a college student include the questions will they complete the project in a timely manner, how good will the quality be, will they have the know-how to take my project live and achieve the goals I have set, will it look professional, will they be good to work with and how long will they be available to help manage the site?

Template Designs – A “Bail Out” Solution for Small Business

A template is a premade web site design and page framework solution that allows you to add your own text and images along with any desired minor tweaks and then launch to a hosting account to go live quickly and affordably. With a template solution you can see what you are going to get ahead of time and then you can use a small design company, freelancer, college student or do it yourself if you have the know how. This can certainly save you money since the person you choose to add your content will not have to go through the design process.

You can find templates on the web at sites that specialize in selling web templates and they usually range anywhere from $50 to $200 for a pretty good one. Many times small web design companies will offer their own template design solutions also at a reduced price.

The downsides to using a template design might be that you will have a website that looks similar to someone else’s website. Then, depending on the person you get to put it together you might experience some of the things discussed earlier in this article.

Conclusion: Affordable Web Page Design for Small Business

Armed with the information above set aside some time to hunt for a quality web designer that fits one of the above categories. It will pay off for you in the design process, the end product and for your online goals. And consider the template solution if you need to get the pricing down lower than what you can find.

 

 

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