When we sit down with our customers, one of the first things we do is discuss the "Bigfoot in the room", which is what we call the various factors that can impact the price of designing and building their website. It's not something that everyone is comfortable discussing, but like building a house, there are specific costs associated with planning, development, and design. Here are some of the factors you can expect when working with most anyone who helps you design and build your website.

We start with project management - and you should, too. You'll need someone to keep the project on-target and on-budget. If you have a small website and you're working with a freelance designer or web programmer, they might be organized enough to keep on top of all the details. Larger sites and agencies will have a dedicated project manager that coordinates the schedules of the designers, writers, and developers and also keeps an eye on the budget.

Many agencies are now moving to what's called "content first" which doesn't mean providing all content before anything else happens. "Content first" simply means keeping aware that design is reliant on what will be featured on the site - video, text, and photos - and where that content goes. Perhaps your company has people on-staff who can deliver well-written content, but many agencies have writers who can help with site content, editing, and blogging.

When it comes to design, you want to make sure that you're working with someone who understands the web user experience, otherwise you'll end up with a site that people can't navigate easily. Experienced designers are also skilled in coordinating typefaces and matching colors so the site has a cohesive feel. Responsive websites - ones that work as well on mobile as on a desktop machine - require a lot of back-end development, but getting the experience right is the responsibility of your designer.

Web development is the art of programming sites so that your sliders, animations, videos, photo galleries, contact forms - basically everything - functions properly. A responsive site with lots of bells & whistles may cost a lot to get everything working properly together. It's possible to cut this or that feature or functionality, so it's a good idea to have a baseline of what you need for your site, and then possibly let the designer or developer add some cool features.

When you start looking to build a website, all of these costs can be overwhelming. Nobody really likes to talk about the "Bigfoot in the room," but here at Bigfoot Web, we're used to it being there, and we know how to address the Bigfoot to get you the best website for your money. Reach out and start the conversation - we promise Bigfoot won't bite.