Website package configuration

[DocRichard]

Members of this forum clearly have huge amounts of skill and expertise in custom building websites suitable for e-commerce; I don't, but I do need a website. If I was to do it myself I would start with a package (eg 123-reg ecommerce). Although relatively simple, it would take some time for me to configure the application but eventually my guess is that it would do 80% of what I wanted, and that would (probably) be good enough. Total cost including hosting:- £10 per month.

But the common concensus on this forum seems to be that a website costs as much as a car! My instinct is that if the same person has built multiple sites using the same package, then it should be a very quick and therefore low cost process. So my question is are there individuals or organisations who configure COTS website packages rather than custom building websites from scratch?

My website is to sell a new service (rather than a product) and needs a public area containing about 3 of pages of brochureware, the ability to login, a webform, PayPal and card pament facilities and the ability to create a direct debit. May later want to add a video and sell a couple of products in addition to the service.

The website also needs a private area, resticted to staff, that hosts a database (fed by the webform), a shared work area for spreadsheets, word documents etc, email facilities, a billing application and also a CRM application.

I don't want to set it up myself but might (or might not) manage it post implementation so it must be simple; another attraction of packages.

Please may I have your thoughts, or perhaps configuration of low cost e-commerce hosting solutions is what you do - in which case I would also like to hear from you.

Thanks for reading to the end of this long post!

[Batra Ventures UK Limited]

First of all buy yourself a domain from a registrar which may come with free hosting depending upon the registrar.

You can then go to your control panel and install a Cart, which you can play around and see if you like it. Many types available.

Web design may cost upto a four digit figure depending upon the designer.

You need to get a merchant to accept card payments, paypal payments are fairly easy.

You may nearly forget about direct debit, use standing order instead.

[Page]

I think I know where you are coming from and you essentially are looking for an ecommerce buddy/helper.

Someone to give you guidance and do the once off parts that are not worth you learning while you do the rest.

Forums can do a lot but you want that one controlling guide to give you focussed direction and overview.

Is that right?

I have never read on this forum about a website costing the same as a car unless you are talking about an old banger.

[sanjiv]

PM'ed you.

[DocRichard]

Page - you have got it spot on.

Are there any ecommerce buddies / helpers out there who are prepared and set up to give guidance and do those once off parts?

[MASSEY]

I think I know where you are coming from and you essentially are looking for an ecommerce buddy/helper.

Someone to give you guidance and do the once off parts that are not worth you learning while you do the rest.

Forums can do a lot but you want that one controlling guide to give you focussed direction and overview.

Is that right?

I have never read on this forum about a website costing the same as a car unless you are talking about an old banger.

a buddy/helper could cost you over a grand theres a fair bit involved in that spec

[CaterTrade]

Having been a web designer, I'd advise you approach your local web designing companies stating what you require. Play them off against each other until you get a package you are happy with at a price you are happy to pay. That sort of setup with domain and hosting shouldn't cost more than £1000 imo. Dont get won over by a sales pitch but take note of any good ideas they have.

Good luck!

[dataferret]

Sounds to me like you have champagne tastes and lemonade money.

I do not wish to sound rude but I suggest you increase your budget to a more realistic scope which will be attractive to the type of advisor you are seeking. Put simply if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys.

[DocRichard]

Hi Dataferret

You don't sound rude, but you do appear to be jumping to conclusions; I have not indicated what my budget is. To reiterate, the issue I am trying to air relates to configuration of packages versus custom building websites.

In a pm one forum member has, for example, explained that he configures Joomla and that, together with the VirtueMart Component, might be well on the way to giving me what I need. As a rookie I had never heard of Joomla, but it seems a pretty solid open source content management system and VirtueMart is an open source E-Commerce solution. If he has experience in configuring these packages then should it not result in a cost effective solution?

Regards,

DocRichard

[webgeek]

Joomla/VirtueMart/PHPBB for the win!

Having created many online shopping cart solutions, a ton of Wordpress sites, and a good number of regular old xhtml/flash sites, I'm confident that what you're looking for could be had under £500. It could be well under that price if you offshored the project, but that's another matter.

You could easily pay 10x that price and get the same quality of site, so don't believe that expensive websites are better than cheaper ones even for a second. My wife and I used to compete with a poncy firm that charged multiples of our pricing and didn't even include SEO in their build price. When asked why our prices were so much cheaper, we told people that we didn't have the High Street overhead, and were committed to providing the community with a high-value service, not a predatory pricing based service. We always had plenty of customers queued up from word of mouth advertising ONLY.

That said, everyone please don't contact me to ask us to design your site/shop/whatever. We're both doing SEO/SEM/IM for a select few clients and don't have the desire to work more hours (nor do we wish to oursource and scale). The above was not an advert, just info to support my point.

DocRichard - my advice would be to look at 20, 30, 50 sites along the lines of what you want done and are sites that you look at and go, "Yes, that's what we want", though likely in different industries. See who designed them, check their portfolio and pricing. Besides helping you confirm pricing ballparks, it'll give you a lot of information about you - what you like, don't like, wan't, don't want, and so on. Your clear vision is critical if you expect someone to share your vision. Prep a brief detailing your requirements, and get that list of companies to give you a bid.

[dataferret]

Hi Dataferret

You don't sound rude, but you do appear to be jumping to conclusions; I have not indicated what my budget is. To reiterate, the issue I am trying to air relates to configuration of packages versus custom building websites.

In a pm one forum member has, for example, explained that he configures Joomla and that, together with the VirtueMart Component, might be well on the way to giving me what I need. As a rookie I had never heard of Joomla, but it seems a pretty solid open source content management system and VirtueMart is an open source E-Commerce solution. If he has experience in configuring these packages then should it not result in a cost effective solution?


Hi DocRichard
I think you need to beware people selling you something which fits them rather than fits what you want. For example, whilst Joomla is a robust system, there are others such as Drupal which are far more extensible. Also, systems such as Joomla have lots of plugins but you will find many of the good ones will cost extra. Compare this with systems such as Drupal and you may find most of the good plugins you require are free.

The point I am trying to make is you first need to define the purpose of the site and where you intend to take it. This will give a broad idea of the most suitable CMS systems and then your short and long term budget will help decide the rest. There is much more to it than this but I am trying to keep things simple.

Good luck

[sanjiv]

This would be done for less than £500 in the UK. I don't think offshoring it would gain anything.