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Thread: site help?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2006
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    site help?

    hey all,

    i was wondering if i where to start a web hosting business how much do you think i should spend on my site design as this is going to be like my front end store if you see what i mean $500+ or more i will also need a decent company to design it for me?

    thanks

    joe

  2. #2
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    I would think it would be a constantly changing site over time. Price should not be as important, as finding a designer you really like. I've met lots of great designers that charge less than that.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Design prices vary to much to give you a dollar amount on how much to spend. You could spend $2000 on a crappy designer, or $100 to a starving college kid who happens to be great at web design.

    Most important thing is to find a designer with a portfolio that you like, then ask for a quote.

    Some tips:
    • Figure out exactly what you want before you ask for a quote.
    • Get several quotes, don't jump at the first opportunity in your price range.
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  4. #4
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    You might want to consider site design as part of your marketing budget. How much are you planning to spend on reaching customers?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Hosting Team View Post
    You might want to consider site design as part of your marketing budget. How much are you planning to spend on reaching customers?
    as much as it takes, as i have heard that it is very hard to get customers thats the only problem that i am worried about, however i am very good at desktop support so maybe i could add that as part of a service?

    thanks guys

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    I think you should start out at an average price for the website design because your going to always keep doing upgrade/changes and that then might end up costing more.

  7. #7
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    Apr 2006
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    You're going to need a lot more than $500 to get a site off the ground. Do you have any capital? I would guess you need at least $15-30k to get started, and that's pretty cheap. You can get away with less depending on your skills (e.g. if you're already really good at IT/SA or marketing/design).

    You have to consider that you need money for:

    -Website development (logo, design, programming)
    -Company fees
    -Customer management solution (billing, provisioning, support desk)
    -Company web server (just for your site)
    -Customer web server (to start hosting)
    -Support staff
    -Payment gateway, merchant account, SSL certificate
    -Advertising budget or marketing plan
    -Domain integration (e.g. eNom)
    -Licenses (cPanel, Plesk, Fantastico, etc.)

    And so on down the list...

    PS - As a web developer, you're not going to get a decent site for $500. I wouldn't touch a site for less than $2500, and that's a base price, bare minimum site. A logo alone is going to run you at least $1000, so just consider that.

  8. #8
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    Feb 2007
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    Well...lots of hosts start off on a smaller scale than that. Not all of those investments have to be made up front.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    562
    Well, yes, that is true.

    You could be a reseller of another hosting company and cut out the server costs and licenses.

    You could do the support yourself for a little bit.

    You could hire some kid to design your site or use a template, free or paid. Same goes for the logo.

    You could skip the merchant account and use PayPal and Google Checkout.

    Not sure how far you're going to go with that kind of setup though. Gotta spend money to make money, and like most businesses, there's always going to be startup capital involved. Hosting requires a smaller startup cost (typically) than other businesses do, e.g. physical storefronts.

    Was just trying to give the OP some insight and that trying to start a business isn't cheap or easy. There's a lot more to consider besides how your site looks.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Lots of companies have started with a simple, cheap template, and it has done the job.

    Just because you're a hosting company, you don't have to be the next Godaddy, and spend $2 millions on Superbowl ads. You start at your level, and grow from there.
    PS - As a web developer, you're not going to get a decent site for $500. I wouldn't touch a site for less than $2500, and that's a base price, bare minimum site. A logo alone is going to run you at least $1000, so just consider that.
    I'm sure there's great service to be had at those prices. Then again, if all one really wants is not to use a template, there's no need for a design that can win web design competitions.

    Then there's taking advantage of exchange rates (and purchasing power differentials). People in certain countries don't need $3000 per month just to live decently. $1000 happen to go a long way where they live.

    There's a lot more to consider besides how your site looks.
    That, is definitely great advice.

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