November/December 2001

Cheap tricks

7 tips for cutting Web site costs

By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

Not every organization can commit big bucks to building an eye-popping Web site, but the shows they produce may compete with some big spenders. What are the options for creating a professional site with the functionality attendees and exhibitors expect? Here are seven cost-saving tips and low-cost features.

1. “Spend more time in the design phase — getting all the necessary buy-in and planning the whole thing out — before building the site. The smaller the budget, the more essential it is to avoid rework and overtime.”
— Joe Quinn, CyberCentral Marketing Director, Applied Theory, Austin, TX

2. “Application Service Providers (ASPs) are evolving to handle very complex tasks for a range of clients. For example, registration ASPs can now accommodate multi-day, multi-session, multi-payment programs. It would be very costly for a company to develop such a full-featured application on its own. Often, when you calculate total cost of ownership, an ASP model is less expensive.”
— Corbin Ball, CMP, 
Corbin Ball Associates, Bellingham, WA

3. “If a tight budget is an issue, check with various Web solution vendors to see if they offer ‘lite’ versions of their products. It may be possible to enable solutions for online registration, exhibitor manuals, online floor plans and the other basic features that make these products functional, while disabling the more advanced features included in the full-price versions.”
— Susan Dupont, Vice President of Marketing,
TSCentral Inc., Wellesley, MA 

4. “Aggressively position your printed materials to direct attendees and exhibitors to your Web site. By cutting back on the contents of each direct mailer, you’ll also cut the costs of printing and postage — which can then be filtered back into your Web initiatives or the show’s bottom line.”
— Michael F. Garity, 
Director of Marketing and Product Management, MOMENTIX, Boston

5. “Don’t spend too much time or money on Flash animations or presentations. Flash can be cumbersome and slow for visitors using a dial-up connection. Why do you think most Flash animations have a ‘Skip’ button? Instead, focus on a simple site, rich in content and easy to navigate.”
— Darin Boring, Director of Business Development, iTradeFair.com Inc., Stillwater, OK

6. “Surveys help you understand attendee and exhibitor requirements and whether you’ve met those requirements. Online survey applications are quick and inexpensive. The one I use, Zoomerang, costs $599 a year for up to 1,000 survey responses. You still have to put in the hard work to design an effective survey, but the rest is fairly easy and hassle-free.”
— Doug Fox, Publisher/ Editor, EventWeb Newsletter, Richmond, VA 

7. “The costs of Web site maintenance can easily outstrip those of design. Ask the Web designer to provide the capability for WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing so your non-technical staff can make content changes — without having to master HTML. That eliminates the need to recruit or train an in-house HTML expert or farm out routine Web maintenance.”
— Bryan Jackson, Vice President, Product Development
ExpoExchange, Frederick, MD

Cathy Chatfield-Taylor writes about technology solutions for the meeting, convention and exposition industry. E-mail:cathy@cc-tunlimited.com