"But what is a fair price for a basic web site?", you ask. You won't get an attractive custom site for $200 like the roadside signs advertise. What you get for that price will be a site created using templates... and your site will look just like everyone else's who tried to get a web site on the cheap. Most companies who offer the bargain-priced sites don't include many of the things you may think come standard with a web site... like your own domain name, or hosting of the site, or listing it with search engines so potential customers can find you. They may not even upload the site to the internet... And what are you going to do when they create your web site and burn it to a CD and hand it to you? Will you know how to upload it to the internet? Will you know how to obtain hosting services or even what kind you need? Will you know how to buy a domain name or get your site listed with the major search engines? If the answers to many of these questions is "no", you'd better figure on a budget that will allow you to pay a competent designer to do these things for you.

If you're looking for a ball-park package price to have a custom web site created, a domain name purchased, have the site uploaded and hosted on the internet, and listed with the major search engines, think about the $700-$1000 range for a well designed basic web site. If you want animation, e-commerce, forms, databases, and the like, expect to pay more. If you want your site to be listed at the top of the page when you search Google or one of the other major search engines, expect to pay more. You get what you pay for.

Another thing to keep in mind is, who are you working with? Are they reputable? The best way to find out is to ask their current customers! Have they been in business (under the same business name) for several years? Are they personable and responsive to your questions? The only way to know this is to ask some questions and see what happens!