Adding a content management system to your site doesn't necessarily increase the cost of your site as much as you might expect. In fact, if you have a lot of pages of content that all follow the same template, it may cost you less to have a content management system supplied with your site and enter all of the content yourself. A site without a CMS would require you to pay the site developer to create and format every single page on the site.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when planning your site if you want to keep the cost down.
- The number of pages doesn't necessarily increase the cost of the site. If each page follows the same template (all pages have the same basic structure) then the cost stays down because we only have to create one template.
- If someone in your organization is going to take on the task of inserting the content into the site, formatting it and structuring the site content then that also cuts the cost.
- Keep special features like the calendar, coming events, classified ads, photo gallery, etc., to a minimum. Every one that you you add, increases the cost. However, these are also very compelling features on a site, so you can't eliminate them if they're essential.
- If you keep the photos on the site simple, that also saves costs. For example, photos might be edited to have a drop shadow background our a coloured or patterned outline. This kind of work isn't going to be a huge cost if we're only talking about a few photos but it takes a little more time and if you have a lot of photos it can add up. It also adds complexity for maintaining the site in the future. Not everyone has the technical knowledge or software tools to edit the pictures this way.
- One big cost variable is graphic design. Stock templates may be purchased for as little as $50 and lightly customized it a little bit to make it unique to your site. Or, we can bring a graphic designer to the project to create a unique design from scratch which can cost a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars depending on the site and utlimate design. If you have a really specific vision that you want a designer to implement, it's likely going to cost you more than if you trust the designer to create an appropriate, professional design for your site.
- Adobe Flash. It's more expensive to develop and doesn't lend itself to content that can be updated by non-technical people. There are also concerns over accessibility and how well search engines can index your site.
- The more decisions about content, design and layout that are made before we start, the faster the process goes and the lower the cost to you.