At Clutch Marketing, we have been invited to provide quotes on hundreds of website projects since we started back in 2004. Beyond the usual “What’s the price?” and “How long will it take?”, we have some questions that you should consider asking in your next project.
How much content needs to be migrated? Does it need to be updated? Who will review the content?
Content is such a critical aspect of a website and it is often overlooked. If you are engaging in a redesign of your website, you will want to take a look at your existing sites’ content and think about who the owners are and who will be responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving the content. How will the new content be reviewed? Will your team simply review the existing website or should the content be extracted out of the site for review?If you are designing a new website, you will need to assign various sections of your website content to the different departments in your company to produce the content. This is also a good time to do a page count and see how much work is involved in porting the content.
Is your current website built on a content management system (CMS)?
If it is, you will want to know what system it is, who has access, and whether or not you want to keep it or migrate to a new system.Also, are there content elements placed in template variables or fields that are not part of the core content fields in the database? For example, some CMSs have fields for a bio page that will have information such as education, experience, etc.If you are site is built on a CMS already, do you have a licensing fee that you have to pay while the new site is being developed? Should you consider an open-sourced system?
Do you need a “members only” area in your website?
Does your website contain content that exists behind a password protected section? If so, you should consider how sensitive the information is and if there is any liability in terms of providing it on the website. Further, you should consider the level of security that your site will need including encryption, password protection, and locking down the overall security of the site.
Have you viewed your site in mobile and 4K resolution?
Mobile-friendly sites are pretty much the norm nowadays. However, we see more and more sites that are not optimized for 4K resolution. With 4K becoming the new standard in displays (even in mobile), it can affect how your site presents especially elements like sliders, footers, and navigations.
Functional Requirements
Perhaps one of the biggest factors in determining the cost of a website design project is the number of functional requirements your site will need. These can include things like search, blogging, password-protected areas, e-commerce, workflow, content versioning, and more. You should contact all relevant business units in your company to ensure you have a complete list of current and desired functions for the new website.
These are just a few of the considerations you will come across in your website design project. Contact us if you would like to discuss your project with Clutch Marketing.
Best of luck on your web design project!