Getting ripped of paying for custom static websites
Saw this adverts on the walls beside a sundry shop in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands.
Do people still pay for static websites that costs RM 1500-2500 (USD 470- 800) ? With RM 300-500 (USD 90-150 ) per update ?
Apparently they do because I was just told by a friend of mine who just started his accounting business he paid RM 1000 (USD 312) for creation of some cheap looking company website that looked like it was some template downloaded from the internet. Every update is charged RM 200 to change content. That’s just so 2001. Nowadays, WordPress can easily substitute for a company website.
All you have to do is designate a page as your static front page (introduction home page) and the rest of the main pages (our products/services, contact us, etc) as WordPress “Pages” without using any blog posts pages. Moreover with WordPress, you can easily change the content yourself by clicking “Edit” on the page (after logged in as Admin). There is also a whole bunch of corporate style themes you can choose from.
I can’t help but feel many companies are getting ripped of buying these types of static websites.
Popularity: 41% [?]
February 26th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
wordpress is good..but there is limitation on font type, colours, and font size. unless u know a little html
February 26th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Yeah you are right. Need a little HTML/CSS skills to do some customisation. Not a difficult thing to do as you can find some half-savvy teenager to do that for you
February 27th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Well, one has to remember that when there’s a “Powered by Wordpress” or something similar, it doesnt look too coorporate anymore. I mean, you’re opening a company’s site and running on from a free provider, not everyone thinks that it’s a clever thing to do. Saves budget, surely but your potential clients who love for their tender budgets to be reduces. Afterall, you’re staying with an open source stuff ma, supposed to be cheap, etc. A few friends of mine complained about that really lol.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Ooops, my bad. From my previous post you must have misunderstood that I was talking about free WordPress.com blog hosting to replace a company website.
Not so.
I was talking about using WordPress on your own hosted server like MyCompany.com and domain name. That would only cost at budget price around USD 30 - 40.
As for “powered by WordPress” it’s all in the template and in some you are free to remove that text.
If you really wanted to, you can make the WordPress site so corporate looking no one even knows it’s “powered by WordPress”.
Hmmm.. you’ve given me an idea. Perhaps that will be my next mini project. “WordPress to power a company website” - a how-to tutorial.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Andrew,
I think the charges is reasonable as you’re selling your expertise. This what it call branding. why some people cheap…why some people expensive… quality does speak…
people pay me RM **** for a week!!
krazl
http://www.krazl.com
February 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Yes I agree with you. But from the work that these so called “web designers” offer, I wouldn’t pay a cent for it as I can download the same boring template and set it up just as easily.
If there were some custom design made coupled with some unique design, then probably it’s worth the price they are asking for.
But unfortunately it is not, for this case.
That’s why I say it’s a rip-off.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
you’re right.. there are many so called “web designers” who just tend to cheat those people who don’t know any knowledge regarding website design…. If like that you and me also able to so called as “web designer already
February 28th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Yeah lor.
I have made some company style websites using Wordpress for friends for free and even those look better than the RM 1500-2000 ones..
February 29th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Not many ppl know how to do a website. As much as u and me are net and tech savvy, most ppl aren’t. I even know some ppl who do not want to touch a computer keyboard because they are afraid they will screw it up and blow up the pc.
Yes. It’s that bad.
And here we are on a country with it’s own MSC and 64K chip embedded identity card but most of our citizens (in the rural area mostly) do not know anything about net and tech.
No one to blame. Same thing as starbucks charging us skyhigh for a cup of joe that we can make it on our own.
March 7th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I paid about $50 for a simple WP theme ones. Time are changing now that everyone has access to free hosting..
March 10th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
mannycavalera :
Probably it’s tech people like use who could create a service (either free or paid) around this small niche in helping people create company brochure type websites.
Menj: Yeah if the template is unique enough than USD 50 is worth paying..