What Do Websites Cost?
Website Pricing
This table matches typical price ranges with features often found at that level. Increasing one aspect like heavier design or more advanced ecommerce, will reduce the budget for other areas at a given level.
For a more complete estimate, feel free to contact us.
| PRICE | FEATURES |
|---|---|
| under $1,000 | a template site where you fill-in the blanks and get very little customization |
| $1,000-3,000 | simple professional design, content from clients with editing from developer |
| $3,000-5,000 | professionally designed home page, 3-5 pages of collaborative content & meta information, small CMS |
| $5,000-10,000 | professionally designed home page and key interior pages, 5-20 pages of collaborative content, more sophisticated CMS, simple custom ecommerce, basic site-wide SEO, simple business system integration |
| $10,000-25,000 | professionally designed home page and key interior pages, custom CMS, solid ecommerce, basic site-wide SEO, upgraded business system integration |
| $25,000-50,000 | site-wide custom design, custom CMS, SEO/marketing strategy, specialized ecommerce, upgraded business system integration |
| $50,000-100,000 | medium to large custom site with sophisticated ecommerce, custom CMS, site-wide SEO, custom buiness systems |
| over $100,000 | large custom site with sophisticated ecommerce, sophisticated custom CMS, ongoing site-wide SEO/marketing, ongoing content development, large-scale business systems/custom integrations |
Websites come in all shapes and sizes and before you figure out how much to invest in yours, you should think about your marketing and business goals. Grab a pen and write down the answers to these questions:
- Who is my website for?
- What key messages should it deliver?
- What business systems should it integrate with (accounting, inventory, client lists?)
- Who is writing the content?
- Which content will change frequently and how often?
- Who will update it?
- How will people find it?
Also think about if your website is a place to find information, buy a product, or connect people. Will you need ecommerce to sell your products? Will you have an interactive blog? Do you need a content management system (CMS) to manage your site? Your written responses will help you and your web development team decide what type of site you'll need and what price range it will likely be in.
You'll also need to decide to go template, or custom. Template websites are great since they're less expensive, but you'll have to fit your business into a pre-made mold. Conversely, custom sites are molded to fit your unique business. If your budget is tight, you can always start with a more basic site and add those extra features as your business grows.
Website Construction Costs
Just like every car needs a body, an engine, and tires, all websites, no matter what their cost, must have these four components:
- web design - Professional graphics designers create the clean, eye-catching look for your site. The more concepts and revisions a designer does, the more exciting and unique the site will be, and the higher the cost. To keep costs down, designer attention can be limited to select areas of the site, usually starting with the homepage and then expanding to key elements on internal pages.
- web content - Good content is written for both visitors and search engines alike. Writing your own can certainly keep costs down, but hiring specialists has a number of benefits. Pro content writers craft strong marketing messages that engage and convert visitors. They also optimize the content for search and free-up your time so you can focus on your business.
- web development - Programmers specialized in web development take the design and the content to build the finished site. A number of factors affect the cost of build-out from design complexity to ecommerce and CMS sophistication.
- on-going maintenance - Once a site goes live, that's just the beginning. Your website is one of the best marketing and sales tools you have. It's always ready to answer client questions, can be taught to convert leads to sales, never sleeps, never takes breaks, and never goes on vacation. Make sure your sales and marketing budget includes room for continuously teaching your site new tricks.
Extra Features
Blogs, animation, videos, ecommerce, CMS...so many features, so little budget. How do you pick what makes it in? Research other sites, especially in your industry. Find sites you like and sites you don't. Notice if you linger or click back to find something else. Take notes and bookmark. This information will help you choose.
A well built site should pay for itself through both increased sales and decreased work. As marketing, it delivers your unique selling proposition and engages visitors with your brand. Through data capture, SEO, and ecommerce, your site can be one of your best sales people. Finally, with a good CMS and integration to your accounting, inventory, human resource, and client management systems, your site will save time and money on administration.
Wait, so what does a website cost...
Figuring out what your website will cost is a journey, not a question. This article is just a sign along the road. Do your homework, find a good web developer, and let the journey begin.
