How much would it cost to start this site?

Hey, guys. You've helped a lot in the past, so I figured I'd throw another one at you.

This is a question for anyone with some website development experience.

Basically, my site is a search and register site. The homepage would include a GoogleMaps Box, where the user would input their zipcode. Once this happens, the map would automatically update to pinpoint all locations that have been inputted into the website.

On the right-hand side there would be a filter; all changes would be reflected in the map.

There would be about 3 or 4 more pages similar to this.

It's a very basic design, similar to craigslist.

Any thoughts or opinions?

12 Comments
 

Very hard to say with specificity. 99% of your cost is going to be the labor cost of the web developer. I'll say this - if you find yourself willing to pay ~$10,000 for it, PM me and I'd be happy to discuss my capabilities as a developer, show you some websites I've made in the past, get a better sense for what you're looking to develop, and maybe work out a deal

 

Everything besides the map is easy and you might be able to find a developer to do it for under $500. I have no idea how much a custom app like that map would cost. You also have to know how many site visits/users you'll have, that impacts how much you'll have to drop on a server (if you even need your own).

I'd probably charge $500 to build a basic site with some tweaks for everything besides the app.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Thanks for the input, guys!

For the map, there is a website that already uses it in a similar way - would this help bring the price down in anyway? Is it possible to copy the script?

 

I'd be careful about copying anything, you'd be surprised how quickly and powerfully that can bite you in the ass. I doubt it will bring the price down at all, there are a lot of sites that do this (and most have likely paid a good amount of money for them). This is because, unless you find, say, a free plugin for wordpress, they're all custom built.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
nyboarder

Thanks for the input, guys!

For the map, there is a website that already uses it in a similar way - would this help bring the price down in anyway? Is it possible to copy the script?

I think Google has an API for its map you can use (if you don't know what these means you can search API on wikipedia or google)

 
Best Response

Post the project on freelancer.com and you'll get a better assessment.

I think you can get it done neatly (in terms of logic and appearance) for $1200. You can get a cheaper bid (maybe $600-$750) with a quality compromise.

Most important is the rating of the developer. Go and check the reviews on his previous work paying a special attention to the reviews from clients with comparable requirements (project scope and function).

In general, the developers from north america are good but a little priceir. Western europians are rare but you can find good options. Eastern eurooians are hit and miss. Indians and pakis are reasonably priced (probably the cheapest) but they require a ton of inputs from you to get exactly what you want and you may end up paying a lot more than what you would pay to a north american developer with the extra time and effort you need to put in.

Source: computer science major, worked on several projects in various roles.

 
cutepathogen

Post the project on freelancer.com and you'll get a better assessment.

I think you can get it done neatly (in terms of logic and appearance) for $1200. You can get a cheaper bid (maybe $600-$750) with a quality compromise.

Most important is the rating of the developer. Go and check the reviews on his previous work paying a special attention to the reviews from clients with comparable requirements (project scope and function).

In general, the developers from north america are good but a little priceir. Western europians are rare but you can find good options. Eastern eurooians are hit and miss. Indians and pakis are reasonably priced (probably the cheapest) but they require a ton of inputs from you to get exactly what you want and you may end up paying a lot more than what you would pay to a north american developer with the extra time and effort you need to put in.

Source: computer science major, worked on several projects in various roles.

This is extremely helpful, thanks!

 
nyboarder 7xEBITDA:

Have you checked out Wikimapia (www.wikimapia.org)? Your idea sounds similar. They do a great job.

My competition would be Meetup.com - but I'm targeting a niche aspect (I think.)

If I can add $0.02 - if you're starting a business you might want to really take some time to consider building the site (or parts of it) yourself. I'm guessing you do not have any background in web development, so outsourcing that role seems like the obvious choice, but my understanding is things could get difficult when you find the site doesn't come out quite right and you need to do iterations of edits, and they just take longer and are more expensive than if you did it yourself. The way I think about it is, there's probably a tech-savvy entrepreneur somewhere who has a similar idea to yours - are you going to be able to beat them to market/have a higher-quality product/have lower costs than they will. It's probably possible, but i think its quite a challenge.

If you want to learn, there are a ton of places online where you can start: www.w3schools.com and codeacademy.com are all I can think of right now. Also, befriending some web developers would be immensely helpful. With the right resources, I think you could get quite good in about a month

 

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