Web Technology 101 - SpartanSoft

This is a common question we get asked and unfortunately does not have a straight forward answer.  The initial answer generally is ”It Depends”.  Just as if someone asked you, ”How much does it cost to buy a car?” It is not realistic that you can provide an accurate answer without knowing the specifications for which the price can vary greatly.  (Used 78 VW Bug vs. 07 Jaguar)   

The cost for developing and designing websites varies on the requirements they must implement.  Like purchasing automobiles there are certain costs that are applicable regardless of the model.

• Domain Name Registration- If you have not purchased your domain name this will be your initial expense.  Prices have dropped fairly dramatically over the years and this is a relatively inexpensive cost below $40 a year.
• WebHosting - All websites reside on a web-server that is responsible for routing requests for your websites to your pages.  Prices vary based upon needs but generally if you sign up for a year it can be under $120 for basic hosting.

There are a few additional costs such as a SSL certificate if you want to collect sensitive data such as bank information, etc. 

The cost for the actual design will vary based upon the following factors

• Number of pages and content (words)
• Custom images
• Logo design
• Advanced functionality requiring coding (Ecommerce, Business Rules)
• Database requirements
• Authorization - Do you need certain areas of the site to be accessible by only administrators.

All web development that we at SpartanSoft provide also includes the following services

• Domain name registration
• Web Hosting Setup
• Email setup
• Site Development
• QA of site
• Full deployment of site

To give you an example of our pricing,  a 4 page site including a contact us page with all the services provided above would be somewhere near $1,500 - $2,000  This is not set in stone and is up for discussion but is a rough estimate.

If interested in our services contact us at SpartanSoft.net 

OK, I must admit I am indifferent when it comes to web design using Flash.   I am definitely not a fan of the intro movies and always choose to skip them, but a bit of flash here and there for navigation does not seem too intrusive in website design.  Issue is there are users out there who will see flash on a site and will leave immediately.

A short story, weinitially had some flash animation on the SpartanSoft site and thought from an aesthetic viewpoint it looked interesting…  well to make a long story short, we submitted our site to numerous web site critique sites and 50% of the reviewers refused to even acknowledge the website when they saw the flash animation.. long story short avoid flash, it tends to annoy. 

There are exceptions, for example if you are designing/developing a website for a game or artistic entity the targeted users may actually enjoy and appreciate the multi-media aspects Flash brings to the table.