Many calls come in, and the usual question is, "How much do they cost?"

And the usual response is, "It all depends."

Have you established an advertising budget for the year?

If you budget for a Yellow Page ad - you know they can cost from $35 to $1000's per month. Or a monthly trade journal, $100's to $1000's per issue!

How can you establish a website budget if you don't know what they cost?

Ever had a brochure designed and ready to go to press? If the answer is yes, the cost is about the same. And, it all depends if it is a four page or eight page; color or black and white; has new copy written or uses existing content; new or existing photographs; or needs stock photos researched and purchased; intended printed look; and so on — as to how much it costs.

Okay, keep reading to learn more or cut to the chase...

Another statement provided is, "I just need a simple 3 - x page website."

Isn't changing the engine oil on your car simple — if you had the right tools, facility and equipment, know-how,  inclination and determination? Really, it is just a matter of unscrewing one plug and out comes the oil in a gush. Ask your mechanic for a demonstration.

Websites are not a lot different. You need the right tools — software, lots of it in this case, facility and equipment like computers with fast processors and lots of memory, flat bed and film scanners, printers, digital cameras, CD, DVD, multi-format card readers and so on.

Know-how — are you looking to have a new career? Sure you have the inclination and determination, but how much time do you have and would you see it through to completion? Do you like getting under the hood or below the engine block? How about greasy and oily hands? No, websites won't get you dirty but they can be overwhelming in the amount of information you need to know; how to use the right software at the right time; how to make a layout look good to the most people no matter what computer, monitor and resolution they may be using.

It depends on complexity or simplicity, in design, in content, in function.

It depends on how well you want Graphic Visions to understand your special situation, your business, your needs and your goals. All websites, like people, are individual, and should have their own personality and be unique.

It depends on where the source material comes from or even if it exists. Photographs, Photo-CDs, paper or electronic documents, for instance. Copy needs to be written, or re-written or extracted from PDF files; photographs of people, products, places, may need to be scheduled and shot, or flat-bed scanned and retouched; data to be used has to be gathered and stored in a database, for instance.

Next: What are they made of?

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