The 3 choices to a web project
There is a commonly used axiom in the programming world. This applies to projects of any type, including web projects. Basically stated, you have quality, speed, and cost. Pick the 2 you want the lowest because the third is going to go up.
Examples:
If you want a high quality site and you want it done fast you will have to pay more.
To get a good quality site done fast will take more people working on it and possibly overtime and extra time to achieve the desired results. To accomplish that costs more money.
If you want a high quality site at low cost, it will take longer to get done.
If you want high quality but aren’t able or willing to pay the cost, the project will take longer as it gets ‘fit in’ between other projects.
If you want a fast site at low cost, the quality won’t be that good. You can’t expect a high quality site quickly from a professional without paying the cost.
Now, I’ve seen plenty of examples of someone finding a designer that charges very little and has fast turnaround. Usually, though, the quality isn’t good compared to other sites, but unfortunately many clients don’t realize that the quality isn’t good. Or the designer has 1 design they use for all clients so you have to adjust content to fit that design and then you look like every other site they’ve done. It may be a good quality layout, but unprofessionally done.
Very rarely does someone realize the extent of a project and agree to cost and time constraints to achieve the high quality desired. Somewhere there will be a tradeoff.
Too often, we talk with clients who want the next amazon but only have $200 to spend on it. Right. They don’t realize that amazon has taken a team of programmers many years to get it to where it is at now. Not 1 guy for a couple hundred bucks.
This isn’t meant to be discouraging, just a look at the tradeoffs needed to achieve the goals for any project.