As web developers we immediately get asked: 1. can you do what I need? and 2. how much is it going to cost? The first question is easy to answer. The second is not. Why? The cost of a website depends on what’s going to go in it and what it’s going to do. And there are a lot of variables involved in finding this out. We have to ask a lot of questions from each prospect in order to put an accurate estimate together.

We prefer to turn this question around and ask the prospect: what is your budget? We don’t ask this question so we can charge as high as possible. That would be unethical. We ask it for the following reasons:

• To do a reality check and see if everyone is on the same page and if we are a good fit.
• To evaluate the number of features and add-ons that can be implemented to meet the prospect’s business goals.
• To see if we need to develop a project in phases and help the prospect prioritize and plan ahead.
• To determine is there will be funds available for marketing purposes so the site will be more than an online brochure.

But how can you answer the budget question if you don’t know what a website costs? And it’s not your job to know! Think in terms of ranges. Are you prepared to spend 5K-10K, 10K-15K, 15K-20K… higher? Providing a web developer this type of range will save you a lot of time and frustration and rounds and rounds of proposal revisions. The web developer will also be much more able to offer you a customized solution—one that will meet your site’s business goals.

If you don’t know what your company is prepared to spend on the site, find out. If your job is to get quotes, it will be much faster and efficient if you’re able to discuss numbers from the start.