I was recently contacted by a local business owner that needed a new website. I visited for the usual initial consultation. He showed me a competitor’s website and said he wanted it to be ‘better’. We talked about the goals, look and about the functions of the new site. He wanted to manage his own content (actually have an employee do it), a calendar, an integrated photo gallery and a few other features. I helped them with some issues with their domain so we could start as soon as possible. We met up again the next week and I presented the proposal. He contacted me a few days later and said he found someone “that will do it for half the price” and is already working with them. “OK, no problem” (what else can you say to that?).

A few weeks later I checked and sure enough there was their new website. I was surprised when I saw it was only a homepage with an animated gif and links to free online services for each of their “content management” features. So, for half the cost they essentially got a one 1 page website with links to services they already had or the ‘designer’ signed them up for. That website should have cost 1/10 of my proposal.

Know what you are buying.