Answers To A Few Common Questions

 

How much does a website / mobile app cost?

That's a little like saying "I want to build a house, how much will that cost?" To answer that question you'd need to ask/answer a variety questions: How big is the house? How many rooms? Granite or Formica? You get the picture. The same goes for a website or mobile app. Prices vary dramatically depending a number of factors: the size of the project, the complexity of the project, what assets you'll bring the table, etc. Once we have brief conversation about your project we can typically provide a rough ballpark of the costs, and then we can provide a detailed proposal which will include a specific cost estimate. We can tell you, however, that most CMS websites start at $7,500, ecommerce sites start at $15,000, and mobile apps start at $5,000 … and custom software development cost can grow (substantially) from there depending upon your specific project requirements.

 

How do you determine the cost of a website / mobile app?

We begin by learning as much as we can about your project requirements. Typically this involves multiple conversations and access to any technical documentation you may have available. If possible, we also like to get in touch with key stakeholders in the project, including marketing, operations and technical contacts. With this insight we will prepare a detailed proposal that includes the specific tasks, steps and deliverables to meet your project requirements. This proposal will include time/cost estimates, which typically are quoted within a range to allow for minor changes in scope without cost overages.

 

How long does it take to build a website / mobile app?

This varies depending upon the complexity of the project, but most projects are competed in 75 to 90 business days.

 

What happens after my project is completed? Are you still around to support me?

We are not a “build it and walk away” type of company. While you will be empowered with tools to maintain your project, we’ll be here to support you along the way. This may include enhancements that are beyond your capabilities, or simple day to day maintenance that you just don’t have time for.

 

What do we need to supply?

You know your business and industry better than we do, so we expect that you’ll provide the ideas and insights necessary for us to create a website or application that meets these needs. Typically we also see clients provide: brand use guidelines; previous marketing materials; technical documentation; 3rd party integration details/contacts; product & pricing information; business logic and process flow; and access to appropriate people/information as needed. You may also elect to provide site content (copy and images), or we can include this in our scope of work working with copywriters/editors, photographers and illustrators we have available. Once the site is initially constructed, we’ll also rely on you to provide thorough review and testing of the site to ensure that it meets your criteria before the launch.

 

How long have you been in business?

Sandcastle was officially founded in 2001, however Ashlee and David (the co-founders of Sandcastle) have been working together since the mid 1990’s. That’s a long time in "internet years"!

 

What are your payment terms?

Typically projects are billed in ¼ increments based upon key project milestones: project onset, design approval, site posted for review and testing, site launch. Hosting and regular maintenance fees are billed monthly and include complete time tracking logs.

 

Do you have a guarantee / warranty?

Certainly. We stand behind our work. If you discover a bug, issue, or error that is due to Sandcastle we will correct it at no charge to you. More information is available on Our Guarantee page.

 

Do you offer hosting?

Yes, but only for our project clients. We are not a general hosting facility. More information on our hosting can be found on our Hosting & Maintenance page.