How much does a site build: reboot
I stumbled on the other day on an article by Igor Sukhinin about the cost of web development. And already for several days the topic touched by the author jumped, jumped and made faces, without letting itself be forgotten. And all this for the sake of me finally remembering the disk already dusty on the shelf.
On the disk, one St. Petersburg company (someone, for sure, a friend - Yumisoft) shares his thoughts on the present and the future of the site-building market. Riding through the cities and villages, the guys were amazed: in the regions, web development is in full ... decadence. They scratched their turnips and decided to figure out what was happening and how much.
So, here I will tell only about the most significant, in my opinion, points of research and answer the question indicated in the topic. I would be glad if you share your thoughts.
')
And in order for my article not to become subjective, and in order to back up or refute the research with real data, I asked my friend from Cheboksary, Pavel Nikiforov, to comment on my conclusions (he has been working as a freelancer for over 7 years, and for the last 2 years directly makes websites by opening its small design studio “BAS” ).
The report says that 47% of web studios in the regions create websites in the price range up to 30,000 rubles, 39% at prices ranging from 30,000 to 90,000 rubles. With freelancers in the regions of Russia, the situation is even worse - 49% of them create websites at prices ranging from 10 to 30 thousand rubles, and 39% do up to 10,000 rubles. In the capitals, the cost of similar work is 2-3 times higher.
Summing up the interim result, I note that the low cost of developing sites in the regions is largely due to the fact that the customers of these services have not yet psychologically realized their real value. I mean, a regional customer does not understand what makes up the cost of a site creation service. We must pay tribute to some regional businessmen who, having burned themselves on the first experience of ordering a site on the principle of “cheap and angry for it”, begin to perceive the site as a real commercial tool. They are more serious in choosing a contractor and the amount of investment in creating a site, so the task of the developer is to increase the level of their qualifications, helping the customer to realize these goals.
By 2009, change is coming. The number of proposals in the price range from 90 to 150 thousand rubles. and from 150 thousand to 500 thousand rubles. This concerns the capitals. Regional developers must move to the next price category for them - studio services should cost from 30 to 90 thousand rubles from, and from 10 to 30 thousand rubles from freelancers.
The following part of the research is much more curious. It turns out that the share of CMS in the cost of services for creating a website ranges from 30% to 50%. At the same time, the balanced cost of the CMS as a tool should not exceed 20-30% of the cost of the entire service. Moreover, now regional developers earn not on their services, but on the resale of the CMS itself. They buy it with an affiliate discount of 50%, and sell at an initial price. Their earnings are the remaining difference. I agree with the authors of the study: in such a situation, business becomes a dead end. The developer is strictly tied to the CMS brand, he does not create added value due to the provision of his services, which means that he does not have opportunities to develop his own business. In this situation, he has no opportunity to improve the quality of his services.
Another development perspective for regional developers can be interaction with capital companies. Against the background of a shortage of IT staff, many Moscow and St. Petersburg developers are ready to give existing orders for outsourcing to the regions. With such a scheme, a lower cost of services in the regions is a competitive advantage, but the quality of implementation should be at the level of capitals.
Actually, why all this. I return to the article by Igor Sukhinin. Igor speaks about the illiteracy of the customer. It turns out that this is not a special case, but a modern reality. BUT: do the developers themselves do something to increase their credibility and earn more? How else can we say that customers pay more and adequately respond to the six-digit numbers? A small studio-at-home? They also do not claim to be a real business. After all, what's the point of learning, doing more, if the customer is not ready for it? They continue to sit at the “work at home” level.
What needs to be done to make web development, a promising, dynamic direction, become one? And did not exist as a hobby for high school students? And how to deal with customers, who still believe that the site is 10 pages that are written in a notebook?
On the disk, one St. Petersburg company (someone, for sure, a friend - Yumisoft) shares his thoughts on the present and the future of the site-building market. Riding through the cities and villages, the guys were amazed: in the regions, web development is in full ... decadence. They scratched their turnips and decided to figure out what was happening and how much.
So, here I will tell only about the most significant, in my opinion, points of research and answer the question indicated in the topic. I would be glad if you share your thoughts.
')
And in order for my article not to become subjective, and in order to back up or refute the research with real data, I asked my friend from Cheboksary, Pavel Nikiforov, to comment on my conclusions (he has been working as a freelancer for over 7 years, and for the last 2 years directly makes websites by opening its small design studio “BAS” ).
So how much is it?
The report says that 47% of web studios in the regions create websites in the price range up to 30,000 rubles, 39% at prices ranging from 30,000 to 90,000 rubles. With freelancers in the regions of Russia, the situation is even worse - 49% of them create websites at prices ranging from 10 to 30 thousand rubles, and 39% do up to 10,000 rubles. In the capitals, the cost of similar work is 2-3 times higher.
- Pasha, how much can you disprove or confirm these figures?
- Looking at this data, I see in them a reflection of my opinion. Although there are very highly qualified freelancers in the regions whose services are far from being cheap. They can even work only on the European market (this is now a very interesting prospect). In Cheboksary there are 5-6 of them. Some of them are familiar with it.
- What prices were for work 2-3 years ago, what now?
- I can’t say the prices of the studios, I'm used to working without looking at the prices of my colleagues. 3 years ago I made a couple of sites as a freelancer for 10,000 rubles each. But 2 years ago I started working at other prices and on a different principle (teamwork) and the cost of projects increased. We did the first joint project with a photographer for 15,000 rubles, what would be what to show to clients (a portfolio from one good work is also a portfolio). Then more complicated, already for 50 000 rubles. Both sites are made to flash.
Summing up the interim result, I note that the low cost of developing sites in the regions is largely due to the fact that the customers of these services have not yet psychologically realized their real value. I mean, a regional customer does not understand what makes up the cost of a site creation service. We must pay tribute to some regional businessmen who, having burned themselves on the first experience of ordering a site on the principle of “cheap and angry for it”, begin to perceive the site as a real commercial tool. They are more serious in choosing a contractor and the amount of investment in creating a site, so the task of the developer is to increase the level of their qualifications, helping the customer to realize these goals.
By 2009, change is coming. The number of proposals in the price range from 90 to 150 thousand rubles. and from 150 thousand to 500 thousand rubles. This concerns the capitals. Regional developers must move to the next price category for them - studio services should cost from 30 to 90 thousand rubles from, and from 10 to 30 thousand rubles from freelancers.
- Pasha, do you agree with such trends? Is there a movement towards cost increase? What contributes to this?
- Freelancers are different too. There are freelancers who do the work far from cheaper studios and do it justifiably. I work in the region and, today, with amounts from 30 to 150 thousand rubles. The increase in cost is accompanied by a rise in prices for everything (simply, inflation), respectively, and the team’s salary must also be raised. And the second point is the portfolio. If the portfolio grows and improves, then prices can be raised, I think.
CMS and web development
The following part of the research is much more curious. It turns out that the share of CMS in the cost of services for creating a website ranges from 30% to 50%. At the same time, the balanced cost of the CMS as a tool should not exceed 20-30% of the cost of the entire service. Moreover, now regional developers earn not on their services, but on the resale of the CMS itself. They buy it with an affiliate discount of 50%, and sell at an initial price. Their earnings are the remaining difference. I agree with the authors of the study: in such a situation, business becomes a dead end. The developer is strictly tied to the CMS brand, he does not create added value due to the provision of his services, which means that he does not have opportunities to develop his own business. In this situation, he has no opportunity to improve the quality of his services.
- What do you think about these numbers? What is the cost of CMS in your work?
- It is not always possible to estimate the cost of the engine as a percentage, it is more convenient to make a table, which will also not be entirely true, to be honest.
Website business card: the cost of the engine at work - 10-15%
Online store: the cost of the engine is 25-30%
Corporate site: the cost of the engine is 30%
This ratio is for the developer, not the customer, the prices are based on my partner discounts. But prices for content management systems, if they change, will be only upwards. In this case, the web developer needs not only to optimize their costs by choosing a more affordable product, but also to increase the total cost of their services by improving the quality and customer needs in terms of the site’s commercial efficiency.
Another development perspective for regional developers can be interaction with capital companies. Against the background of a shortage of IT staff, many Moscow and St. Petersburg developers are ready to give existing orders for outsourcing to the regions. With such a scheme, a lower cost of services in the regions is a competitive advantage, but the quality of implementation should be at the level of capitals.
- Pasha, tell me a lot on your list of customers from St. Petersburg and Moscow? And how many customers are from regions?
- Yes, probably, most of St. Petersburg and Moscow. From Cheboksary (here I live) there are also customers, but it’s more difficult to work with local customers, because for regions, however, an amount in excess of 30,000 rubles is considered large and the requirements are very strict and not always justified.
- When assessing the value of your work, do you consider where the customer came from?
- I do not look at the region, I try to predict the difficulties that may arise. Here you have to be a psychologist. There are customers from small companies, and there are “corporate employees”, so it’s more difficult to work with “corporate employees” and there are a lot of rework, respectively, and the price is higher for such clients.
Actually, why all this. I return to the article by Igor Sukhinin. Igor speaks about the illiteracy of the customer. It turns out that this is not a special case, but a modern reality. BUT: do the developers themselves do something to increase their credibility and earn more? How else can we say that customers pay more and adequately respond to the six-digit numbers? A small studio-at-home? They also do not claim to be a real business. After all, what's the point of learning, doing more, if the customer is not ready for it? They continue to sit at the “work at home” level.
What needs to be done to make web development, a promising, dynamic direction, become one? And did not exist as a hobby for high school students? And how to deal with customers, who still believe that the site is 10 pages that are written in a notebook?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/21534/
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