If you check on Google under the term website designer you will see thousands of different websites to look at, but what can you really afford to spend. If you fire off a couple of emails to just a handful of these companies, with a brief description of what you are after, you may be surprised by their comments!

You will regularly receive quotes ranging from £2000 upwards, with 50% upfront and 50% on completion - but also the potential for even more expense if your require “something out of the ordinary”. So what can you really afford? What is you budget? What are the alternatives?

There is no doubt that to commission your own unique design can be very expensive, and while you may be able to find cheaper alternatives to those charging a few thousand pounds, you only really get what you pay for. Many of the companies which you see at the top of the search engine keyword searches have spent a fortune on Search Engine Optimisation, and continue to advertise heavily to keep themselves in the limelight.

These are the companies which may employ some of the best designers in the industry, something which will not come cheaply. In the real world there are various levels of website design firms, with some offering the best designs around from the best designers, down to those who do it on a part time basis and are only really starting up.

Which designers you choose will depend on a number of factors including, how much you want the site to work, your budget and the market in which you will be operating. Do not be scared off by some of the more way out quotes you will receive, as there are many levels to this industry, some you will only find after much investigation.