Website Development
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You require a certain sum to make your website accessible to everyone and that is what accounts for hosting cost. The cost you will put to host a website would determine the amount of space it will get on the server to store your website’s files. In today’s post we will learn about the different hosting service providers and the website hosting charges in Uganda.
In other words, a website is hosted to reserve a portion in the webserver to store its files. The more you will spend on hosting your website, the more space you will get on the webserver and it may increase the website development charges.
Today’s business environment demands every business to have a website. It is no longer a question of whether you need it or not; a business website is an absolute necessity. Whether you are a small enterprise or a large company, online presence is vital for the business success.
By taking a glimpse of the marketing environment today, one thing you can tell is web technologies have forever changed the market. A lot of business and transactions are happening online. Millions of customers are doing all their shopping on the internet and hence, getting a business website is one of the top priorities for every business.
Although the need for a website can’t be overlooked, some business still lacks a website or a proper website due to the preconceived notion that websites are expensive to acquire or maybe after being scared by a web design agency with exorbitant prices. Today, web design cost should not be one of the hindrances of getting a business website. The cost of getting a site built has significantly reduced. This guide we will comprehensively look at the website design cost in Uganda and what you should go for to make sure you get the right quality. This article will point out how much professional web design companies in Uganda should charge you and the different options and packages available.
Web design and development in Uganda is now a fully developed industry. The number of web designers in Kampala has steadily increased. Today finding the right designer is just a click away. Although the process of finding a good web developer has become easy, there is a catch, you should follow the best practices in hiring a web designer , and you also have to be extra careful when selecting a web designer. Why do you have to be careful? There is a high probability of landing right into the hands of an incompetent or amateur developer who will design a website that can do more harm than good. There are so many incompetent web developers in the market who will lure you with their cheap prices and eventually you will lose your money and time. In this guide, we will explore the industry standard rates which are charged by most of the professionalweb design companies in Uganda.
Two major categories of websites at different prices
Before we even look at the cost of designing a site, let me bring to your attention that there are two major categories of websites and both attract varying costs.The first category is custom websites. These sites offer more control, more functionality, an easy way to integrated with other apps like mobile applications, an easy process of scaling as users increase, more flexibility and other real benefits, but to get this kind of website running there are special skills required and also more work has to be done and thus they attract high prices.The second type is the "out of the box" ( ready made/customized ) solutions like WordPress, this option is fast to develop, and there is much less work here thus it's cheap to get developed, but you end up sacrificing a lot with this option. For complex business websites, or where in need of a website that will offer more control, modern UI (angular or react), easy to scale (grow) and more flexibility, always choose custom solutions. For simple websites that do not have much functionality go for a WordPress (out of the box solution) site.
General cost of a standard website
Most web designers in Uganda specialize in WordPress sites, but there is a significant number of developers who build both categories. The cost of having a standard website built will range from UGX 400, 000 to 5,000,000 for standard websites.
There are instances where a developer will charge you UGX 500,000 but to be on the safe side; you should ask the features that will be missing and the futures to be included with the UGX 500,000 package. If a developer claims to build you a website with all the features at 500,000 then you should think twice, “when the deal is too good...” I have been in the industry for some time and I have heard the UGX 500,000 and I can tell you the story doesn't end well.
If you can get a website with all the features at UGX 500,000 then why do some people pay UGX 800,000 or more to have their websites built? There is always a sacrifice that is attached to the cheap sites and all the cheap things. It is always advisable that you know the sacrifices (opportunity cost) to be made beforehand.
Be wary of fake web developers
Most incompetent web developers will hide behind the cheap website concept and most of the time they mislead customers who end up losing a lot of cash while trying to save a thousand or two. Be aware of this kind of developers and be careful when selecting a web design agency.
Website design cost in Uganda
Website design cost in Uganda is determined by several factors. Different websites will include varying features, functionality and capabilities. A website that will be used by 100,000 users on a daily basis will have diffrent requirements compared with a website that targets only 500 daily users; likewise, an ecommerce website will have different requirements from a blog, and thus the cost will differ significantly. Let us look at the major factors that will determine the cost of developing a website.
1. Custom vs out of the box (e.g., WordPress)
This is the major determinant of the web design cost. The first question that most web designers in Kampala will ask you is whether you need a custom site or an out of the box solution. There are many advantages associated with custom websites, and that is why the top internet companies and ecommerce websites go for the custom solutions. For custom websites, a simple site without a backend (content management system) will range from UGX 500, 000 to UGX 800,000 if it is done by a professional designer. If you find yourself in a situation where you are negotiating for a large sum of money, say UGX 500, 000 for a WordPress site, you are approaching the problem in a wrong way because at that price/complexity, you need a custom solution. I know there is a hype that even some of the large websites are built with WordPress and how WordPress can build powerful sites. The truth is, WordPress was built for blogs, news websites and other standard websites. There are huge web-based companies using WordPress, but they use a custom version of WordPress, a version far much different from the standard one. There are situations best solved by WordPress, but in most cases, in the modern web design world, things are changing. For an organization or business website, you should consider custom solutions. Before you make your decision seek consultation from a reliable web designer Uganda.
2. Technology used
There are more than 50 technologies used in web development. Some web design technologies are easy to implement thus cheaper to implement while others are much more complex hence are associated with high prices. For instance, some websites have real-time capabilities, super fast and can be used by more than a million users concurrently, this types of websites are powered by modern, reliable and stable technologies. Acquiring such technologies for a small website might be unreasonable, but for a large web app, the advantages are clear. If you compare the costs charged by Crystal Website Hosting developers in Uganda or React developers in Nairobi, one thing you will realize is that their costs could be a little high, but their quality is the best.
3. Size of the website
Some sites are so huge that they can take up to 5 months developing while others are simple and can be completed within a week. For a simple website, if you hire one of the best web design company in Uganda, they might give you a deadline of a week and charge you a relatively small amount, say UGX 500,000. On the other hand, if your website is huge/complex it can take a month or two, and this will attract high costs. It is important that you find a genuine web design agency that will give you an honest and accurate information regarding the development period and also not overcharge you.
4. Search engine optimization features
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making your website rank better on search engine results. SEO features are essential for every website especially the websites targeting customers or a specific audience. A website can be built with few or no SEO features, and the total development cost will be a little lower but for sites with all SEO features the cost might be a little high, but it is worth the extra coins. Find a web design and SEO company in Uganda that can handle both website marketing and development at the same time as this lowers the total development cost. If you hire two different agencies, one for web development and the other for SEO the total cost can be a very high.
5. Mobile friendly
Today, every website ought to be mobile friendly since most of your users will visit the website using smartphones and other mobile devices. You should not accept a website that is not mobile-friendly unless you are certain you want it used only on desktops. The cost of developing mobile-friendly websites should not make a significant difference; it should not be an additional cost. To get glimpse of other factors affecting web design cost you can check this article.This article has explored the major determinants of web design costs for standard websites, and this should be sufficient for small and medium business. For a large business that needs complex web app or ecommerce website, the cost will vary from one web design company to the other. It is imperative you contact several web design agencies to get a quotation and do the comparison.
Having said that, I would urge you to strongly consider the online market, it's our future, I would compare it to buying a piece of land back in the day while prices are low. Look at all the biggest global companies, they are all web-based. Getting a website built is the first step of the journey thus consider working with someone who will guide you through the journey. Many websites fail in the first year, to avoid this get a good foundation from the get-go. Consulting an agency like Crystal Website Hosting is advisable this is because we aren't just web developers, we build your idea, support it and do our best to have you succeed.To get the best quality, always make sure you get services for the best web designer , go for quality not cheap but also don’t pay so much for so little. Strike a rational balance between the amount you pay to the web design agency and the quality you get. It goes without saying that you should do some research before hiring a web design agency, and also be careful in the selection process, here are the major questions you should ask a web designer before you hire them. For any consultation regarding web design project, small or huge contact us here at Crystal Website Hosting and get valuable information that will help you in making the best decision.
