Business owners and professionals may feel "taken" when they receive greatly varying estimates from competing Web development firms estimating the same project. Here's the single rule to keep in mind. In the end, code is code. It is developed and programmed in a variety of forms, but it only becomes a sales vehicle and a useable tool through design. The following factors all have significant bearing on price variance among Web design and programming estimates:

Experience – This equates to the number of years the firm has been involved with Web design and programming, their specialty, and their range of expertise in what the site will need now and in the future to remain relevant. The best determinant of experience is to look at the number and quality of sites created by the firm and to ask lots of questions. Diversity in a developer's portfolio is a good attribute, because it shows their understanding of a variety of needs across different industries.

Approach – This relates to the Web development firm's process. Will you receive a truly custom site or a variation of a template that looks like someone else's site? This is a key element affecting price variance. It's a larger endeavor to create something from scratch, than to modify something off the shelf. Is the developer using proprietary code? We've heard stories of business owners who just wanted their business to be online and rushed into the development of a site without knowing what they were purchasing. Consequently, their sites were developed using proprietary code, which means the developer has a stronghold on the site and the customer will have to start from scratch to develop a new site if they decide to part ways with the original developer. Is the site organically optimized for search? Good programming makes provisions for this and utilizes safe and recognized tactics to rank and optimize sites for search. Experienced Web development firms also know the difference between organic and paid search optimization and help their clients make the right decisions when it comes to implementing and managing their paid search programs.

Design vs. Programming - Web design and Web programming are two different disciplines. The best marriage occurs when the designer and programmer are under one roof. Outsourced programming may be cheaper, but also puts communication during project development at risk, which has the possibility of increasing the project's cost overall.

Related Skillset - Vertically specific Web development firms tend to lack the marketing aptitude needed to market a site. Agencies bring a full spectrum skillset to the table including: copy writing and editing expertise, which translates into a site that doesn't just look pretty – it communicates directly and correctly to visitors. This is particularly important with ongoing maintenance, specifically in the "newsroom" area. In the case of our firm, we offer language services to create a Spanish-language mirror version of a site or to translate specific areas to expand the visibility of a site and penetrate other markets. Implementing new media to help integrate a blog or podcast into a site is another enhancement that can generate content and features providing a reason for visitors to visit a site often.