The prices of development of the websites in Russia 2013

At the beginning of 2013 the Internet-client studio carried out monitoring of the prices of the websites in Moscow. Obviously follows from a research that most studios, I offer the website with very low margin, and even myself at a loss. Why they do it and what in it there are risks for the client?

Of course, it is pleasant to purchase something very cheap, with a huge discount. However, as at any goods on a sale, cheap or more precisely the unprofitable websites have a number of restrictions. Let's them discuss.

Dumping on the standard websites

For the beginning of 2013 most studios offer clients the so-called standard or ready websites. The standard website does not require work of the programmer and if the unique design is not required, then hours of the designer and maker-up in the project will be considerably reduced too. It, certainly, allows to reduce website cost many times.

However, comparison of our cost accounting on the popular standard websites, such as website business card or online store, with the prices in the market showed that many studios sell at a loss even the standard websites.

Website business card cost accounting

According to the data which are saved up in a system of accounting of working time of our company, the website business card on Bitrix with unique design becomes on average in 20 hours (work of the seller, project manager, designer, maker-up, programmer, content manager, tester).

What is 20 working hours of studio? If to estimate it in salaries (the 40-60th. the river) + workplace cost + payments in funds of insurance and taxes on salaries + costs an average of advertizing expenses, a working hour in studio with experienced personnel from 850 rubles.

Thus, cost value of the website business card on paid CMS according to the most conservative estimates makes 22,000 rubles. The normal studio will put here still profit, will pay a tax, will invest development in the fund, will consider risks of a delay of the project from client side.

The average price on the website business card in the market – 36,000 rub (according to monitoring for studios of Moscow)

The reasons of sale of the website by studio "in minus" or "in zero" can be the following:

• The studio does not use paid CMS,
• Do not invest development and advertizing in fund,
• Expect to earn in the future from promotion or support,
• Do not pay taxes, white salaries,
• In regions of salary it is less, than in Moscow, in Ukraine it is even less, and in China slavery …,
• Do not rent the premises or rent "garage",
• Young studios are ready to work at a loss for the sake of experience and a portfolio.

These are the harmless reasons for the customer, they can not affect quality and terms. Such price policy is rather dangerous to the studio, its existence and development. For the client the only risk consists that the studio can just not live up to the end of the project …

Here Discounts, dangerous to the customer:

• Deceive (issue sample design for unique, sell others website as is, crack keys from paid CMS).
• Programmers and maker-ups do not know SEO requirements to the website and do not do the corresponding works. As a result - the website is not ready to SEO.
• The website in lease or SAAS (it is necessary to pay for the website of the baby, but always and it is impossible to use services of other studios).
• Use a cheap unskilled labor (salary lower than 30 thousand rubles).
• There is no guarantee and the agreement.

Selecting the developer, it is worth deciding on what factors of wrapping on cost value and "discounts" you are ready to agree and that is unacceptable, - with what wage level specialists in your project should work. Would you like to support the Chinese producer and to require from future Russian programmers to read code comments on Chinese, English or Ukrainian. Try at once frankly to discuss structure of the price with the developer.

Difficult websites

Unfortunately, often difficult websites are offered at very low prices too. Every month to us the next victim with the thrown left unfinished website from the disappeared studio comes. Unanimously ordered the difficult atypical website for cheap.

Except the reasons to reduce the price, listed above, at assessment of difficult projects managers of young studios and, especially, private specialists often are mistaken.

Errors in assessment of terms and cost are connected, as a rule, with lack of experience of similar work, lack of due design (drawing up the technical specifications, a prototype, architecture of the website) and ignorance of opportunities of the engine. The beginning programmers and designers often too fondly rely on functionality of CMS which can be also with errors, and crude and not suit the client in any trifle, but this trifle will demand serious alteration which the studio did not expect.

We also constantly catch the young specialists on incorrect assessment of terms. However we have an insurance in the form of experience of managers and senior specialists, and at the client of such insurance – no. And he sincerely rejoices that found profitable option.

Incorrect assessment of terms and cost - most unpleasant "discount" from web studios. Studios do all above-mentioned "discounts" consciously, and this is not present. Having faced understanding that the website at a loss, the diagram is broken, the client is dissatisfied (and will hardly purchase promotion and support with such mood), the studio can throw the project, disappear, hand over somehow and sometime, doing the project at the nights in off-duty time, free hands.

How to the customer to avoid such situation? Everything is simple:

• The non-standard websites cost much, from 300,000 rub for the simplest non-standard online store,
• The non-standard websites are done by experienced specialists with good salary, but not students,
• The difficult websites require long and detailed design. So, if for the difficult website from you do not ask money for technical specifications and do not offer a prototype – it is already very suspicious,
• The difficult and high-loaded websites are always a product of team creativity as profound knowledge in each area is required (management, design, programming, design, testing, server administration, etc.). Therefore the command numbering less than 8 people (the manager, the designer, the designer, the maker-up, the programmer, the server administrator, the tester, the content manager), and, especially, one freelancer or regular "programmer" cannot create the difficult website.

We recommend to order the website from large studios

Summarizing all aforesaid, it is possible to advise owners of web resources when choosing studio for creation of the difficult or high-loaded website to be guided by large web studios which specialize in the difficult websites many years.

And it would be desirable to finish article with a joke, unfortunately, very relevant in our market. Telephone conversation:

• Do you do the websites?
• Yes! - the voice answers with whisper.
• And why you speak in a whisper?
• I on algebra …

Author: Maria Smirnova, director of Internet-client studio

See Also

Web development (market of Russia)