When consulting with a new potential client, the biggest fundamental question is – “do you want to be able to update the web site yourself (lets call this “option A” or “dynamic”) or do you want to have to employ a programmer to do it for you (lets call this “option B” or “static”).”

At White Wall Web, we only do option A type sites and I will explain below why I believe that this is the only way for a business to run a website effectively. The crux of the issue revolves around scalability and website management issues – but there are also hidden costs associated to running a static site. Below I go into further detail about costs and motivation for using option A, but let me also first explain why we developed our own CMS (Content Management System) which is called WebStream.

  1. Because we can – many web site companies don’t have the skills in house to do this. Often they use open source or proprietary products to provide CMS sites for their clients (which is completely legitimate). We on the other hand are a web application development company and our core business is building bespoke web products.
  2. We couldn’t find any open source CMS products that worked the way we wanted them to.
  3. We didn’t want to pay the high license fees for the good proprietary CMS products and then have to pass those fees on to our clients.
  4. We wanted to build a framework that we could use to build larger more complex apps on top of, and could not see the logic in having this framework separate from our CMS framework. This also gives our ‘smaller’ CMS clients a more cost effective upgrade path.

Basic web principle: A good website is useful to the end user. A useful website has regular changing content.
With that in mind, lets look at the details of costs and the difference between option A and option B…

* Please note all costs below are guides which are very variable according to your requirements. Asking how much a website will cost without knowing details is like asking how much a house will cost to build without knowing details.

Option A – updating your own site

An “updateable” website is called a CMS (Content Management System) Website. This is a website that is built with an application which allows you to be able to log in with a user name and password and make changes to the content using a rich text editor (similar to MS Word).

We have built a CMS called WebStream and have numerous clients using it. A WebStream site has an upfront cost and then an ongoing monthly cost which includes hosting and email.

An advanced CMS will allow various levels of user rights and permissions. WebStream is a simple CMS – we only have one level of backend user rights standard.

WebStream Upfront Costs:

Graphic Design – we outsource this to design agencies. They will meet with you and quote you. Once the design is complete they will provide it to us in the correct format. This should cost no more than R 2 000 unless you want to get very fancy or need more than one template. (Are you a design agency who wants to partner with us? Contact us…)

WebStream Setup – we will need to get your requirements, plan them in detail, use existing WebStream modules, develop any new modules you may need, insert your first round of site content, train you on the use of WebStream. Depending on the details of your requirements, the number of “modules” or “page types” this will cost between R 3 000 and R 8 000.

Domain Name – You will need to purchase a domain name (web address). R 150 p/a. Use RSAWeb for this – their service is great.
Total Setup Budget: approximately R 5 000 – R 10 000

WebStream Monthly Costs:

400 p/m

Includes:

  • hosting with UPS (uninterupted power supply) and daily backups
  • 25 email accounts at your domain (web address)
  • A hosting and email management console
  • One hour of support included per month
  • Web Traffic Stats

WebStream Maintenance: Free – you do it yourself

Total monthly budget: R 400 pm

The WebStream monthly contract is open ended – so you can cancel whenever you choose as long as you provide one month’s notice.

WebStream Examples:

www.swishproperties.co.za | www.blueprintgroup.co.za | www.capeclusters.com | www.thewritingschool.co.za | www.investmentindicators.com | www.imbongisa.com | www.classycrete.co.za |

Option B – “static” site

A static site is one that you are not able to update without a developer doing the job for you (unless you know how to us the web language called HTML).

Often businesses that employ someone with “some” HTML knowledge to “manage the website” alongside their other duties discover that “some” HTML knowledge is dangerous! Their is a huge gaping chasm between a web site and a professionally built website.
White Wall Web does not create or manage static web sites – we don’t believe in them – but we can refer you to companies that do.

Static Site Upfront Costs:

Graphic Design – A design agency meet with you and quote you. Once the design is complete they will provide it to us in the correct format. This should cost no more than R 2 000 but it could be much more, because often static site designs have multiple templates.

Site Setup – most companies bill per page or for their time. Hourly rates are usually between R 250 and R 400 ex VAT. Page rates can be between R 800 and R 2 000 per page.

Domain Name – You will need to purchase a domain name (web address). R 150 p/a. Use RSAWeb for this – their service is great.
Total Setup Budget: R 5 000 – R 15 000

Static Site Monthly Costs:

R 100 p/m. Use RSAWeb for this – their service is great.

Includes:

* hosting with ups and daily backups
* 25 email accounts at your domain (web address)
* A hosting and email management console
* Web Traffic Stats

Static Maintenance Fees: Every time you use a developer they will charge their hourly rate of R 250 – R 400 p/h ex VAT

Total monthly budget assuming some updates: R 350 – R 5 000