Before we begin to elaborate on anything, let’s first consider what is an MVP. For a layman, what is it all about? Or on the other side, for a website development company, why is it necessary to build an MVP upfront? How much does an MVP cost? What to include in an MVP? And more.
Let’s begin!
What is an MVP?
An MVP is a Minimum Viable Product having just enough features that are required to satisfy the urge of how the product will work in real-time, and get feedback for the same. Getting involved in building a full-fledged product doesn’t make sense in this highly volatile and competition-ridden market. Instead, building an MVP certainly does.
It is logical too. Before putting in your hard-earned money in website development, it is recommended to develop a website with a limited number of web pages (only the essential ones) for generating a quick feedback from the users and knowing whether it addresses the market’s demand as intended or not.
There are several other factors that state the importance of building a Minimum Viable Product at the start of a web development project. Here we’ve listed down some of them so that you make efficient utilization of the funds that you plan to put in.
Benefits of building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- You cover limited yet important features
- You get through the process quickly
- Your website goes live in a matter of few days
- You beat your competition in launching it first in the market
- You have enough money in your bank for marketing, MVP revision and other facets
- You get over the risk of failure and reduce loss, in case it’s a disaster
- You generate valuable feedback from genuine users
Basic features you need to include in a website MVP
Since we are focusing on building an MVP for a website in this article, we’ll be addressing points and features you need to include to get the right feedback, right costs estimation and feasibility of your idea in the market.
- UI/UX design
The look and feel of the website are important for you to penetrate the market. You got to have modern yet simple interface for users to interact with your website in a seamless manner. You need to pay attention to the color scheme, typography and font family selected by your web development company. Make sure the scheme matches your logo, the industry you work in and the overall style of the website.
- User profiles
There are two kinds of users who’ll be using your website. One is a visitor while the other is referred as a registered user. You need to have easy registration mechanism in place without bothering users’ experience much. Small forms with at most three fields or social logins can be a good option.
- Security
Since users will be sharing their personal details including their bank account or credit/debit card details in case of an eCommerce website, it is important to safeguard the information entered at any given level of the registration or checkout process. Ensure that necessary security procedures are in place.
- Modes of payment
If you plan to accept online payments, then you need to offer them several modes of payment. This could range from net banking to debit/credit cards to mobile wallets. Also, enable registered users to select default mode of payment from the available choices.
- Interactive content
Ask your website development company to include interactive elements in the MVP for improved user engagement and retention. A comment section, like functionality and ability to post on the website, can be of great help.
- Landing pages
The aim is to impress the first-time visitors presenting your service offerings in an intriguing way. It won’t be surprising if your web development company takes days to develop a landing page as it is the entrance door to your beautiful home of services. Make sure that it is built keeping in mind the interests of your target audience and the services you offer. It should be interesting, inviting and pleasing from the outset.
Cost of developing a website MVP
So, it all comes down to money. The development cost of an MVP will depend on the company’s reputation, experience, competence and the country they operate from. A startup may do a certain task for ‘X’ dollars while big companies may charge ‘X + Z’ amount for exactly the same task. This raises a question for the research team on the premises as they have to perform an extensive research of website development companies in India and beyond. We mentioned India specifically here because outsourcing your work to Asia, especially India, can help you save a lot of money.
Development costs in Asia vary in the range of $10-80 per hour, which in case of the UK or USA varies between $40 to $250. The cheap development, sublime quality and experienced personnel in India often persuade businesses around the globe to outsource their work to web development companies in India.
Depending on the features you want to include, the time taken to incorporate the desired functionality in an MVP and the hourly rate of website developers will dictate the final cost of building an MVP.
Calculating the cost of an MVP is extremely simple. Make a list of features you want to include, consult a proficient and reputed development company for the respective efforts, inquire about their hourly rate and watch the portfolio for getting an idea of their work quality.
You can calculate a tentative price of developing a website MVP and decide if you want to move forward with the same or look out for more options in the space.