Know-How Exchange : Research/Metrics

I have never seen any rules of thumb or schedule for doing this and I would be very sceptical about the accuracy of such information if you did find one.

I just don't think you can generalize or accurately "guesstimate" about the cost of website design without, as Amandavega says, looking at all the variables involved, and there are many.

Now if you were to say that you wanted just a 1 page standard HTML homepage that served as a link portal with 3-6 links to to say a corporate site, along with a couple of images, contact information, hours of operation, that is pretty easy to ballpark.

But when you start getting complex, costs can escalate quickly.

I hope that helps somewhat, contact me if you need more info.

Like Tim, Amanda, and Gerardo mentioned, a lot of it depends on the site content, size, and function.

For example, You can get a simple site hosting package - 50MB storage ($9.99 per month) on my server which will give you all kinds of options, email address etc. Some othe companies charge 3 times as much for the samthing or less!!

If you want someone to maitain it, again, it all depends on what will be invovled but my usual charge is $200 per month for hosting, updates, tech support...all the bells and whistles included at aplus.com's "Platinum Maintenance" and "ePro hosting plan" combined only more, wilh no limitiations on 99% of the features.

For construction, again the word "depends" pops up! If you want a super high tech Flash integrated site with a hunred custom graphics, Flash movies, complex java and cgi scripts, etc. It can cost several thousand dollars to create. On the other hand, a smaller 1-5 page "basic" site may only cost several hundrend to design.

You shouldn't have to buy any hardware unless you plan on having your own server computer. If you plan on doing your own site construction and maintenance, I would sugget buying an HTML editor Like FrontPage or Dreamweaver. Otherwise, if you want some else to do it all for you, all you have to do is pay and sit back and watch it happen.

Look around, but be careful. Many sites try to sucker you in by breaking down hosting features into long lists to make it seem like you are getting a lot when in reality, the features are standard and usually attainable at a lower price with even more benefit. Send me an email if you want me to help you find a good solution.

Good Luck!