Stop paying web designers per page

Well, times have changed. How many people do you know who don't have access to the Internet today? Everything is available online. Our vocabulary is constantly being updated with terms such as Blog, Broadband and B2B.

And everyone wants a website.

Just about every day I see another advert for ‘Professional Web Design', and that is a good thing. Everyone should have a website. A good thing until I see ‘per page quotes' that is.

There for a reason

Technology has changed with the times, faster than the times, in fact. In the good ol' days I mentioned earlier, a webmaster was there for a reason. Websites were built page-by-page, line-by-line, character-by-character. HTML was the language of the masters and mere mortal folk marvelled at their genius. Per page billing was justified.

Well, that was then. I haven't coded a line of HTML in years. Today we (who prefer to no longer be called webmasters) use technology so that we may work smart, not hard. Web Content Management Systems (CMS) to be specific.

A CMS is a piece of software that enables you to set up a website with the minimal amount of coding. CMSes come in many shapes, including my personal favourite, FREE. Many are template-based, negating the need for expert knowledge of HTML all together. These templates are usually customizable so, along with the images you have snapped on your new digital camera, your website is your own or your companies. There are a multitude of plug-in applications available to spruce up your online offering with chat rooms, forums, surveys and more. Most decent systems even do the basic search engine optimisation (SEO) for you.

More importantly they allow you to maintain the content on your website. That is, you can add new pages and menu links, add videos and pictures, change the layout, automatically expire content and more via a web-based administration area.

Easy

So if it is that easy, “Why do I need a web developer at all?” you may ask. Well, these systems do take some setting up and maintenance. Optimising the images for fast download times and modifying the template are a few of the tasks best left to the pros. But once all of the once-off tasks have been completed and the site is up and running, it is all yours.

So what are the benefits of using a web developer who offers CMS based websites?

There are several reasons why you should use a CMS. First of all, if the CMS your supplier has selected is from the world of free and open source software, it will usually be updated regularly and at no cost to your supplier. This means up-to0date security, SEO and other ‘cool stuff'. Secondly, a well-designed CMS will support all the major browsers. This means the site looks good in Internet Explorer version ‘whatever', in FireFox, on an Apple Mac and in Linux. In case I lost you there, have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars. Most significantly though, you maintain your site yourself.

Issues to consider

This brings me to my original statement. If you have paid for your site on a per page basis, there are two issues you need to consider.

First of all, how long is a page on the web? I frequently see people trying to dump as much information on one page to stay within budget. These pages become slow to download, untidy, tedious and difficult to find information on. Secondly, adding new pages means paying for new pages.

Similarly, updating your content is also billable. Keeping your website up-to-date is extremely important. With a decent CMS in place it is free and easy. (Regarding the ‘easy' part, I always say to our customers, “If you can do Internet banking, you can use a CMS.”)

“But what's this going to cost me?”

I saw two ‘per page' adverts recently. The first was R2000 for a three-page website and the second was R3999.99 for a five-page website. I have also seen maintenance fees ranging from R300 a month to R300 an hour.

A typical CMS-based website should cost you anywhere between R6500 and R8500 to set up (excluding your monthly hosting fee). That is double the price. True, but for that amount of money you have an unlimited number of pages on your website. And it is always up to date.

Here, let me recap for you:

1. Unlimited number of pages on your website.
   
2. Always up-to-date.
   
3. Once-off fee only.