How much does a website cost?
This is the most difficult question we are asked. This is the equivalent of asking “How much does a house cost?” or “How much does a holiday abroad cost? The only answer is “it depends.
If you are looking to buy a house, a 2 bedroom link villa is going to be considerably different price to a 5 bedroom detached. The same applies to websites. It all depends on what you want your website to be able do, the message you want to send, and the desired functionality for your users. Every web design project is so different that it is nearly impossible to quantify exactly how much it’s going to cost without knowing very specific details of your project.
Stop thinking of a website as a product, it’s a living breathing service
Websites should not be sold as a product rather than a service. A good website is more than something you can just whip up and hand off to a client all neatly wrapped. Web Design is a real process that requires time and communication between client, designer and/or marketer if it is to be done right. Viewing a website as a continuing service helps to better understand why a one-off price isn’t a simple thing to give. This is why we choose to charge an hourly or weekly rate for a website design, because it puts the client in control of their costs and their final product.
No Two Websites are the same
I’m sure if you ask any reputable design company to quote, they will tell you that prices can range anywhere from £500 to £100,000+.
The low end of this spectrum might include an out-of-the-box template using stock images with very little customization; the high end might be a large custom-built website, content creation, blog management, professional photography and video production elements. It can really vary based on the client’s vision of the end goals of the website.
Given the endless possibilities when it comes to deciding how to build a website, here are a few questions we ask before entering into deciding on the best action for our clients:
- Why do you want a website – what do you want it to do?
- Would you like to be able to update the content yourself?
- Do you have any idea of your budget – this is really important, it tells me how serious the company is about their website or do they really just what one cause everyone else has
- Do they have a domain already?
- A discussion about social media, are they using at the moment, how successful is it? How do they feel about the integration on their website?
- Do they have any thoughts on how they would like the site to look
- Who is their target market
- Their thoughts on photography and video usage on the website – bespoke graphics, photography etc.
- Do they do any other form of marketing – direct mailers, blogs etc. integration of news subscription etc.
There’s probably a few others I have missed but like the websites, each new client call varies considerably too depending on what their business does.
Each answer given is going to contribute to the total cost of the site as well as the total time it will take to build the site.
Buy cheap – Pay twice and You get what you pay for, all the old clichés are so true
On my daily travels and many many conversations with business owners I am increasing alarmed at how many companies feel they have been ripped off and left with websites they can do nothing with and never hear from the companies ever again once the site is live. All I can say is that three main types of website providers.
My apologies for generalizing but in the main this is what I come across
The man in the bedroom – may have done a course or recently graduated. Might be in between jobs and once he gets full time employment you won’t see him for dust.
The Newly formed Digital Agency – Young Entrepreneurs who can do the design and development, little or no business experience, bit wet around the ears and have no experience of customer service, ongoing customer care and deadlines. Very passionate about the projects they work on but loose site of what they are actually supposed to be doing.
The Established and Experienced Digital Design and Development Agency. They have been in business long enough to understand the importance of getting to know your business objectives, think about your end users/target audiences and have the resource to be able to designate a member of staff for each important element of your website, A creative, A web designer and then the programmers. We also have an seo specialist to ensure the site is constructed in the best possible manner to achieve first page organic search results. Not to mention your very own Account Director who will be there to steer the project making sure it reaches your expectations and continues to deliver on your goals way after your website goes live.
There are a lot of considerations that go into a successful site, and you need to find someone who is going to be able to help you create something that will help grow your business and establish your online presence. There are plenty of free services out there, as well as low-cost designers that will throw up a template for you on the cheap, but if you want a custom website with unique content, photos and/or videos, and the security of ongoing maintenance, you’re going to have to pay a fair price.
Ultimately, a website design costs what you want it to cost, but if you pay enough to establish a trusting designer/client relationship with a member of a reputable design firm, you’re more likely to be satisfied with the end result. We are the Established and Experienced Digital Design and Development Agency. Take a look at all the client feedback across our website plus we are always willing to put you directly in touch with our clients before committing to do a web project with us.
