New Dating Website (Cost to Build)

JediMaster · 17-07-2008, 14:32

I've have a friend who has had a quote for building a new Dating Website & wanted to ask what would you think the cost of building one from scratch *(to their custom needs & design) ? Is Ã‚Â£32,500 right do you think?

Also what would you have thought the best Sripts would be to build it? They are saying PHP & MySQL.

**Rob M** · 17-07-2008, 14:33

Sorry mate, realy wouldn't have a clue.

I would suggest though that this is likely to be a serious minefield of an area to get into - think of all that personal data you'd need to thoroughly secure

Ã‚Â£32,500 sounds cheap to me, but I don't do web design for a living so

Damien · 17-07-2008, 14:37

It really depends on the specification your friend asked for, as Rob says you would need to keep the data secure and that costs. As does having it fully featured, well-designed, and so on.

What did he want/ask for? These things would push the price up:

Secure data and coding for the site
Credit card payments system
Full database features akin to facebook
Any things he wants the users to be able to do, if they can edit their images than that would be expensive for example.

Scripts would ideally be ASP.Net/MS SQL or PHP/MySQL. Although there are others, those combinations are best

Acathla · 17-07-2008, 14:54

Save some money:
$700-$1700 http://www.datingpro.com/dating/pricing.php
$600-$700 http://www.abledating.net/Buy-Matchm...t-ABK-Soft.htm

I'll be honest and say that I think Ã‚Â£32,500 is a lot of money to spend on it even if it does involve building it from the ground up. If there is that money floating around for it, I would dust of my coder hat and get back in the game!!

To be honest it's not an easy thing to quote for, assume when he got the quote he did describe everything he wanted on the site. Without all that information its not easy to comment (even though i did)

**Graham M** · 17-07-2008, 15:04

If that's including Hosting, Domain names, full set up and an SSL certificate then maybe, just about!

Damien · 17-07-2008, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham M

If that's including Hosting, Domain names, full set up and an SSL certificate then maybe, just about!

Also, if they are providing support for a certain after it's completion.

JediMaster · 17-07-2008, 15:14

Yeah Data Security is the BIG thing these days. If Facebook has the cash they do & get attacks, how do these smaller firms do it?

As long as they dont burn the Database to CD & leave it on the Train (or post it)

they should be OK

sarahlouisejones · 17-07-2008, 15:17

Just came accross this...

http://www.datingsitebuilder.com/dating_site_review.asp

don't know if it is of any help???

Damien · 17-07-2008, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediMaster

Yeah Data Security is the BIG thing these days. If Facebook has the cash they do & get attacks, how do these smaller firms do it?

As long as they dont burn the Database to CD & leave it on the Train (or post it)

they should be OK

If they are smaller they are less of a target for would-be hackers. Also, it's not as difficult as some make out to ensure your data is secure. You just need to make sure the server is secure, the database itself is protected and secure, and that the data is encypted.

We would need more details if we were to be any more help on if the quote was fair or not.

handyman · 17-07-2008, 16:11

http://www.whitelabeldating.com/

Damien · 17-07-2008, 16:32

If you needed any more proof that dating sites are all over the internet the amount of 'build-your-own' template sites are that. He would need to have a great business plan, a good marketing sense, and a good site if he were ever to stand a chance of recouping an investment of Ã‚Â£32,500. He is entered a crowded market.

I would also advise against using a pre-built package since it would not provide you with that much uniqueness making it hard to stand out.

JediMaster · 17-07-2008, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

I would also advise against using a pre-built package since it would not provide you with that much uniqueness making hard to stand out.

i'd not fancy a template one, thanks for all the info. i'll email this link over to them and they can read the replies.

Damien · 17-07-2008, 17:36

Ok. Again, if we were to know more details about what he was asking for then we could be more helpful in terms of judging if the quote is too high or not.

NeilH · 17-07-2008, 22:11

Stay away from the dating game as its way over saturated with the likes of adult friend finder and fling. 32.5k ?? I nearly choked when i saw that figure (Does he get breakfast in bed for a year thrown in). Take a look at some other independents who will not charge anywhere near that.

You also have to ask the question nowadays, are they using a php based program and have any known bugs or exploits been found with it or sql for the same reason.

It would really open your eyes if you knew how many compromised webservers out there think their databases are safe. Just make sure you get some examples of previous websites that the programmer has designed and see what you think of his work.

Neil

SMHarman · 17-07-2008, 22:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediMaster

i'd not fancy a template one, thanks for all the info. i'll email this link over to them and they can read the replies.

If you get the template you get the basic code and then start customising the look.
Take a look at x-cart and the basic templates and then how customised it can get by modifying the view scripting.
http://www.ryandesignstudio.com/portfolio-xcart.html
Shows some examples of how the look and feel of the same database can be adjusted.