How Much Does A Website Cost?
Are You Doing Research?
Are you are on your way to starting a new business? Maybe time is right to redesign your website and engage your clients more effectively ? Do you need to start selling your products and services on the web? Regardless, we are here to help you understand the cost of website production and ownership.
What Are The Common Questions?
- What are the prerequisites?
- How much does it cost to create a website?
- How much does it cost to run and maintain a website?
- How much does an eCommerce website cost?
- Can I redesign and improve my existing website?
- What are my DIY options and should I build it myself?
Website development cost depends on the project, i.e. what you want and need for your specific business application. It is very difficult to provide a template for building an accurate estimate particularly since the process involves various types of skills. Each skill has it’s own hourly rate. Every project requires a different mix of skills and duration. However, considering that minimum requirements for businesses of similar size are closely matched we will likely land in the ball park.
Comparison-shopping does not really work with websites because not all websites are created equal. Also, consider that very few agencies post their rates publicly. In the end, creating a detailed description of the project and an upfront conversation with a developer will yield the best result.
Read on, we have some cost estimates and perhaps a conversation starter.
Let's Begin
Try to narrow it down by business size and need.
A basic website with 5-10 pages would cover most needs. Describe you, your services, provide contact info, add real time social media integration. Attractive, mobile-responsive website design.
Ballpark rate: $2,000 to $8,000.
A good fit for
- Personal Websites
- Small Business Websites
Commercial websites with 20 – 80 pages. Website created with industry-specific theme and mobile-responsive features. A content management system (CMS) platform at the core with some unique functionality added by developers. Search Engine Optimized (SEO) content with slideshows, calendars, menus, contact forms, email distribution, micro-blogging, social media, third party API integration and more…
Ballpark rate: $10,000 to $25,000
A good fit for
- Small Business Websites
- Medium Business Websites
Enterprise scale website with 100+ pages, custom layouts and branding. A content management system (CMS), unique functionality, user interface/experience (UI/UX) personalization features, blog integration, eCommerce integration, multimedia. High availability, scaleability, redundancy – multi server/multi data center deployment (Cloud deployment).
Ballpark rate: $25,000 and up
A good fit for
- Big Business Websites
- Corporation Websites
Online store where customers can browse and purchase products. Built on top of an industry leader shopping cart platform of choice (WooCommerce, nopCommerce, Shopify, other) and integrated with a payment gateway, shipping provider services. Supports physical and digital products, discount offers, digital marketing. Relies on search engine optimization (SEO), content management system (CMS), third party API and other functions.
Ballpark rate:
- $5,000 to $25,000 open source platforms (WooCommerce, nopCommerce, Shopify)
- $30,000 and up custom eCommerce implementation
A good fit for
- Online Retailers
- Traditional Retailers (with Online segment)
Basic Website
A basic website site helps brand and market your company. It validates your business posture for your customers and your competitors. You can showcase your products and services, inspire sales and gather leads. At this entry level cost, your website design will most likely be templated – or mirror the look and feel of other sites. However, among billions of websites on the web you shouldn’t concern yourself too much. Applying responsive design allows your website to render on every device, covering smartphones, desktops and everything in between. Application of search engine optimization (SEO) will earn your content best possible natural search engine ranking. Add performance analytics to understand your web traffic and customer behavior.
Advance Website
Consider the frequency of communication and the amount of content your company would generate to to stay on message and effectively engage your customer. Websites in this category are built with the idea that you will have a significant number of content changes (hourly, daily, weekly, etc). Using a content management system (CMS) as foundational technology platform enables you to do majority of the changes on your own. This approach will offer significant long term savings since you forego hourly rates to make such changes. Interactive elements can be added to CMS as bolt on additions, often with not much additional effort or cost. Social media, blogging, multimedia, lite eCommerce are all within reach.
Custom Website
In this category, the project is hyper-focused on the intricacies of your business and your vision. It means your project is unlike any other and requires the attention and experience of a team of experts. It will take months of planning, research, meetings, software development and integration, quality assurance and testing. It could be a larger site, with advanced functionality and eCommerce or __ (fill in the blank). Even when functionally in your project is not out of the ordinary, the expense is added with tighter timelines, meetings, compliance/regulatory requirements, multiple concurrent development environments, larger demand on human resources.
eCommerce Website
This is the most difficult topic to cover because so many questions exist around eCommerce. Some companies sell one thing, all they need is a PayPal button on the page and yet other companies, are Amazon.com… There is really no middle in this topic. It is very common to start online vending with an open source shopping cart software like WooCommerce (WordPress) or nopCommerce to name a couple. There are software as a service (SaaS) offerings from many vendors, Shopify is our choice. They all have their strengths and limitations and it really depends on your specific business model as to which is right for you.
What Else?
What are my DIY options and should I build it myself?
Wix.com, SquareSpace.com are among many DIY tools out there. They are amazing tools. It’s sometimes scary to see how far things have come, especially if you are a web design agency.
PROS: Higly configurable tools put you in charge of your destiny
CONS: Tend to become complicated quickly, still require code, graphic design, specific knowledge to create a desired look.
Ballpark Costs: FREE – $50/month
These tools tend to be jumping off points and quick starts. They may totally satisfy the needs of some companies, but more often than not they are stop-gap measures.
What are the prerequisites?
There is a short list of where everyone has to start.
- Domain Name – is what people type in their browser to get to your website. It is like an easy to remember bookmark for places on the Internet. One can be rented for as little as $2.99 a year ($10-30 more likely); custom names get into the thousands. Renewals are annual.
- SSL Certificate – encrypts sensitive data while it is transported between the browser and the server, creates trust. If you are accepting payments it is a MUST, but a good practice to have in general. Costs vary from $50/year to $1000/month, it really depends on your application.
- Web Hosting – you are renting space on a web server where browsers go to to download and display your content. Servers, databases, networks, elementary security are typically lumped into this term. Cost can vary from $9/month for Managed Hosting to thousands/month for Enterprise scale deployments.
Can I redesign and improve my existing website?
It’s always a good idea to keep things fresh. A makeover can do wonders for your customer engagement metrics especially if you know what areas of your website have a high attrition rate. Again, the costs here depend on what kind of website you’re running, what CMS you’re using, and how much customization is desired.
How much does it cost to run and maintain a website?
Combining your annual costs for Domain Name, Web Hosting and SSL Certificate will give you a base line, these are the minimum. However, there is a larger list of activities (some required/some optional) that make your website a business tool. We can take on your maintenance.
