Web design can be a daunting and expensive process, but it doesn’t have to be. Learn five ways you can save below.
1) Use a website builder service
Many companies are trying to turn the process of web design into software as a service. The idea is to build an idiot-proof web program that allows you to design and maintain your own website. There are so many of these services it’s hard to keep track of them, but a few that come to mind (not necessarily because they’re good) are Weebly, Intuit, Godaddy and Yahoo.
Many such services offer a free trial, so if you have the time, then you can easily play around with the service to see if you like the results. As a general rule, the trade off here is that you can use them without knowing anything about web design, but you lack the ability to completely control and customize your website. Depending on your needs and the site builder you choose, this can be a very inexpensive, yet good, way of building your website. (Tip: if you do this, pick a service that lets you use a unique domain name that you own, since it helps with SEO if you leave the service later.)
2) Buy a pre-made template
Much of the expense in the web design process is in building the template, which is the “skin” on your website that controls how it looks. Traditionally, a designer mocks up several versions, you give feedback, and then after some vigorous back and forth you settle on a design.
You can skip this expensive, time-consuming process by using a pre-made template (which is what some web designers do anyway, and then sell it to you at a profit). If needed you can hire someone to lightly customize the template for less than you would spend designing it from scratch. Once you’ve got that template in hand, you can go to a local web design firm and save big since most of the design work is already done. There are tons of places on the web that sell web templates, and some are completely free. Here is an example of a place selling 200 legal website templates for around $60 each.
3) Hire a foreign contractor online
Companies like Elance and Rentacoder have made it easy to outsource web design work. The contractors you hire with them cost a fraction of their US counterparts. Plus, many such companies use an escrow service to handle payment, so you don’t have to worry about getting ripped off. But outsourcing abroad is no magic pill.
Outsourcing to foreign contractors works best when you know exactly what you want because you can’t sit down and discuss your options like you can with a local designer, and to the extent you can discuss things, language barriers and time zones make it difficult. So if you’re not sure what you want, or need in-person or phone contact, then avoid this route.
However, if you can adapt to doing business across the world, then it’s best to break your job up into small bits, e.g., have someone design your template, and then have someone else code it into a functional website (it’s usually best to separate design and coding work, since they’re different skills). Breaking up projects into smaller projects makes project management easier and reduces your risk. Lastly, make sure to pick contractors with good feedback history, good English skills and set firm deadlines to avoid never ending projects.
4) Get a custom designed template at 99designs.com
If you’re very picky about how your website looks, then a great way to have a template designed cheaply that you’re guaranteed to like is to go to 99designs.com and hold a contest. There, for as low as $300, you can have several people (sometimes up to 50, depending on your prize amount) design templates, and you only buy the one you like best.
The real advantage of using 99designs is the high number of different designers taking a crack at your design and how little you pay per design. Once you’ve got the perfect design in hand, you’ll need someone to code it into a website. You can have a local web design firm do it, or to save even more money you can have a foreign contractor do it. If you need any more pages designed, you can directly offer the same person who won the contest the job, and they will often do it at a very reasonable price, particularly if they’re offshore. (Tip: 99designs is also a great place to have your logo designed, regardless of how you have your website designed.)
5) Use a free CMS to power your website
A content management system (CMS) allows you to handle your own web maintenance without knowing HTML. Put another way, using a CMS allows you to edit your web pages just as easily as you would edit a Microsoft Word document. Best of all, you don’t even have to pay for CMS software because open source CMSs like Joomla and Drupal are completely free.
If you don’t use a CMS, then you’ll need to learn HTML yourself or rely on (and pay) a web designer every time you want to change a word on your website. If you’re constantly changing your website, then building it on a CMS can save you a ton of money by allowing you handle simple maintenance on your own. The downside of using a CMS is that it can be a bit more difficult to setup at first (for example, you need to modify most templates to work with them), but the increased costs, if any, aren’t much and they can easily pay for themselves.
Do it yourself web design isn’t for everyone
If you have no spare time, zero interest in web design or need to have your hand held when it comes to technology, then you’re probably better off going to a local, full-service web design firm. If, however, you’re the type of person who enjoys getting your hands dirty, sees the inevitable frustrations of web development as a fun challenge and you’re willing to put in the time, then the above options could be a great way to save money.
Trevor is the Product Marketing Manager for Google Analytics and Website Optimizer. Over the course of his three years at Google, Trevor has worked throughout Google’s business to business products including AdWords, Google Ad Planner, and Insights for Search. Currently, Trevor focuses his time on educating businesses on the importance of conversion and how they can improve their own conversion rate.
Currently, Doug is the managing partner of the Mandell Law Group, PC, a boutique law firm he founded in 2001 specializing in technology transactions, corporate, employment law and general counsel services. Clients of MLG include Fortune 100 companies such as 
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