I have a budget of £500 and I want to build a better eBay 
We are paraphrasing, but that was a serious enquiry from a gentleman who could not understand why we didn't want to take him on as a client.
His quixotic quest to tilt at Californian windmills is an extreme manifestation of the belief that you can do everything online for next to nothing. Which is true, however you won't be doing everything very well.
If you are seeking a bargain basement home page, then type 'Free Website' into Google and have some fun.
But remember that when your customers go online they enter an environment that's changing and developing faster than any form of media the world has ever seen. The white heat of rampant online competition is forcing the pace of development, driving down both consumer and B2B costs, and just as importantly, driving up expectations and standards.
When your customers can instantly search for the best of everything, they quickly get used to the best of everything.
Facebook, Google, Amazon, eBay and a host of other popular websites set a moving benchmark for useability and presentation. The old maxim that first impressions count remains as true online today as it ever was when considering high street shop fronts.
What we can do for you...
Quote for a custom styled website to suit your needs, powered by acclaimed content management systems and hosted on a secure managed server. We are not going to be as cheap as the agencies who farm out coding and design to digital sweat shops in the far east, but we are going to be competitive, especially when you consider the level of care and support being offered. Electric Farm clients tend to stick with us.
We keep an eye on developing web trends and advise on the best way to take advantage.
Responsive and flat designs are in ascendance, scrolling is no longer to be feared and makes life easier for the mobile users, typography is under the spotlight, images are getting bigger and bolder and there's a fashion for infographics. Video will become more and more important as will catering properly for the vast numbers that want the option of seeing a mobile version of your site on their phone.
Part of our job is to consider all of this and more for you; delivering clear choices in clear language. When it comes to asking about how a website goes together there are no stupid questions, but we've heard a huge number of stupidly complex answers.
Websites are not about the IT. They are about the marketing, which is why Electric Farm is not an IT company.
If you ask Electric Farm about providing a website you can expect;
- Introductory and planning stage:- We learn about your business, your customers and your aims, culminating in a website specification that details every aspect of what we propose to build. You can spend as long as you like at this stage asking us questions and refining what you want to get out of the process; the meter is not running.
When the talking is done, we will be crystal clear as to what you can expect, presenting you with the outline specification and fixed price quotation. - Each client is given a secure Basecamp project management account so we can all stay up to date with progress using a PC, tablet or smart phone.
As long as you don't alter the specification after we have quoted, then the price will remain fixed. - We provide a contract explaining in plain language what we can both expect of each other and payment terms are agreed.
- Design and build stage: Your website is sketched out either on paper or more usually online in a development area.
We polish the details of the proposed website and explain in detail what it all does.
Once you are comfortable with the look and feel we start building. Copy is written, photos are collated and optimised or taken if needed, graphics are created and the technical side is developed including galleries, response forms, flipping page books, online shopping, catalogues, forums or anything else included in the specification. - Testing: Once we are happy all is working as expected we ask you to test drive the website and we work through any issues until you are happy to sign off.
- Launch: Your website is ported over to the live domain and revealed to the world.
How much is it going to cost?
Costs are calculated on a time basis and within the quotation you'll see a clear breakdown of where the figures are coming from.
As a ballpark we can provide entry level websites from £595, and to deliver a more comprehensive build with some of the features mentioned above would add circa £1,500 depending on what was required. Just like anything else, if it takes longer to build then it's going to cost more money.
Ongoing care
Once we understand how much help you or your team will need we also provide a clear annual hosting, support and maintenance plan. If you want to arrange your own hosting that's fine, but most customers are happy with our competitive rates and service levels.
Support can range from a few hours a year to help you or your staff when you need assistance with some aspect of the content management, or if you prefer to let us do everything for you, we can price for that. Customers retain their included Basecamp account used during the build stage as it works perfectly to log support requests etc. for the life of your website.
The maintenance element is however a must; the timely application of security updates and patches needs to be allowed for along with backups. We fix an annual price and you are billed monthly or quarterly; this element would be quoted before we start building so there won't be any hidden costs.
If you want to know more get in touch... a chat costs you nothing!