Describe the components of the website creating profession?

Question

I want to give the person pictures, text, information, etc and they end up with a perfect website. I realize this has lots of design decisions as well as implementation. It's too much work to tell exactly what i want on each page: besides I want expertise applied in designing my site - i don't know how.
However another person who says they do websites thinks I should be able to give a total description of what I want and they just code/implement it. What does one normally pay for these different types of services? I am willing to give raw materials but I want a turnkey operation. How do I explain to the web person that i need web DESIGN not just implementation -or that "graphics" is a different thing than web design...(they don't seem to think that design is any work at all?)

Answer 1

The person you are dealing with is either an amateur or is misunderstanding your service agreement. Generally a web *designer* will work with the client to discover the "look and feel" that the site should have, by discussing site goals, target audience, company profile, etc. and submitting design proposals for you to review. A web *developer* is generally a person who takes a completed or nearly-completed design and converts it to functional code.

For smaller and simpler sites (frequently local businesses and the like), the web developer is the least-skilled of the group. Such sites require no design ability and only rudimentary coding skills. Consequently, they are very inexpensive to hire. If you are looking for full-service design and development, a la marketing firm or web firm, you should expect to pay significantly more than someone such as it seems you have right now.

A common mistake of smaller businesses looking to hire web development is a misunderstanding of the cost relationship between how much work a site is to design and develop, and how important the site quality is to the business. If having a website adds significant value or revenue to the business, then significant funds should be allocated to the web site project, even if it is a small site. This ensures that the site will be of the highest quality respective to the importance to the business - it would make no sense to make your storefront out of plywood because it is cheaper - it makes your business look shady at best. So it is with web design and development. Good design costs more because good designers charge more.

Generally a talented freelance web designer/developer will bill somewhere between 25 and 100 per hour. A small site with very little functionality - mainly just informational and a nice design - will run somewhere between 20 and 80 hours, roughly. Hiring a firm to do your work (After having worked for several, I am starting a design/development firm of my own, in fact) can cost between 100 and 300 per hour. The higher cost is reflected in the quality of the work - multiple individuals who are talented and experienced enough to be hired to the firm (as opposed to most local freelancers) will focus their attention on your project. Depending on the firm, the minimum billing estimate for a project is usually somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 in order to consider taking on the project.