August 2007

Need a Web Site? The Choice is Yours By Joel Albizo Vice President, Sales & Marketing

PlantAmerica

A web site is rapidly becoming as important to small businesses as business cards, fax machines, and cellular phones. What was once a highly expensive, confusing and uncertain endeavor has become affordable and far simpler, with more choices available than ever before.

While there are many different options for building and maintaining a web site, there are two principal choices available to green industry firms: custom sites and template-based sites. By examining the pros and cons of each type of site, you can determine which option best suits your business needs and resources.

Custom Sites

A “custom” site is one that a web development/design firm builds for you. A custom site can range in size from a single page to over 100 pages. Custom sites can be either “static,” meaning that you cannot easily make changes yourself, or “dynamic,” meaning that you have the ability to make changes to the site.

Advantages

The major advantage of a custom site is that you get to determine its look, feel, and functions. You might spend anywhere from $2,500 to $50,000 or more on a custom site. Typically, you get what you pay for: less if you just want a static “Yellow-Pages” type site, while the more flashy graphics, rotating photos, tips, etc you want, the more it will cost.

Disadvantages

The major disadvantage of most custom sites is the challenge and cost of keeping them up-to-date and interesting. Typically, you either need to submit changes to the designer (who makes them according to his/her schedule, for a fee) or hire or train someone in-house to make the changes. Given the high salaries webmasters command in today’s marketplace, relying on either of these options can increase your costs considerably.

According to design firms, you should budget to spend roughly the same amount in annual maintenance and hosting as you spent on your original design, unless you don’t update your site very often. For example, if you spend $5-10,000 on the original design (not excessive if you want to build a nice, functional site) you should budget a similar amount for hosting and maintenance. Plus, you will learn that you want new functions, etc., after the site is built and this requires further investment.

Template-based Sites

This type of site allows you to insert your custom content in pre-designed graphical templates. Most “free” sites have disappeared, and template-based sites can cost anywhere from $29.95 a month to several hundred dollars a month, depending on what features and functions you want.

Advantages

The major advantage of a template-based site is that virtually anyone can make most updates quickly, easily, and at no cost. Second, a template-based site typically provides many more features and functions than you could afford to create on your own. Equally important, the cost is typically much lower than a custom site — and very predictable. Also, if you decide in the future that you really want a custom site, the “switching cost” is relatively low, as you have not invested thousands in custom design work and programming. However, by starting with a more costly custom-built site, if you want to change in the future, the switching cost is high.

Disadvantages

The major potential disadvantage is your limited choices to create the “look and feel,” navigation, and functions of the site. For example, most programs have a selection of templates from which to choose, but if you don’t like them, you don’t have the option to design something else. If you want a particular feature, and the template doesn’t offer it, then you don’t have that as an option.

What Do You Value?

In the end, the question is value: you must consider the variables of cost, functionality, and flexibility, and decide what makes the most sense for your business. Template-based sites can offer excellent value, providing you with powerful technology for a small fee. However, if your priority is an original design and the flexibility to have exactly the features and functions you want, and money and time are less important, then the custom route may be for you.

Joel Albizo is vice president of PlantAmerica (www.plantamerica.com), a green industry business tool firm, and a former senior director with the American Nursery & Landscape Association. He can be reached at [email protected].