What Impacts Website Design Cost?
Things to understand when budgeting website design cost
Starting a new business is an exciting venture and the Internet has made it easy to reach the world. You can be up and running with a website design cost that doesn’t break the bank. Including a domain name, hosting, and a free or inexpensive template you can be up and running quickly for as little as $160-$200. Sign up for our newsletter and learn how.
However, just having a website doesn’t mean much these days and certainly doesn’t differentiate your business from any other business. As technology advances and your business grows so should your website.
In order to maximize your online presence you are going to need traffic and an engaging site that interacts with your audience. A website that is alive is a full-fledged business asset that gains value over time. Like any asset, your website needs to be optimized for performance, managed for maximum returns, and focused to achieve your goals.
What will I need to consider in determining website design cost?
In order to determine your website design cost and estimate a budget you’ll need to first decide what the goals are for your site.
- Do you want to generate more traffic?
- Do you plan to have a company blog?
- Do you want the ability to update and manage the site and blog yourself?
- Are you selling products online?
- Do you have existing materials, graphics and content or do you need those items created for you?
- Is a mobile site vs. a responsive website design something your company needs?
- Do you have a social media presence?
- Does your site need custom website development for custom functionality?
Website Design Costs
Any good business tool starts with good design and a website is no exception. Finding a good designer or design firm is a great first step in defining your online presence. Skills to look for include identity, branding, graphic design, web design, front-end development, and User Interface / User Experience (UI/UX). This particular set of skills is what is required to build a functional and appropriate site that uses best practices while capturing and advancing your company’s brand.
A small company looking for something more than just a flat on-line brochure-type website would do well finding a firm that can leverage WordPress’s built-in capabilities and professional community for a cost-effective solution.
A larger company would do well finding a firm that can extend WordPress’s built-in capabilities and professional community or that can create a custom website and develop custom website functionality.
Website Design Cost
Basic Costs: $1,500 – $5,000
Advanced Costs: $5,000+
Advanced Website Design Costs
Functionality that falls into the category of advanced website design costs would include Ecommerce capabilities, membership and registration services, list management, custom content management systems (CMS), search engine optimization (SEO), metrics, forums and chat rooms, news feeds to and from your site, surveys, landing pages, social media integration, newsletters, and advertising integration. These services are usually quoted on a per-project basis for custom website design costs and custom website development. Freelance designers usually cost less than design or development firms but some business owners prefer to deal with companies that have an office.
Advanced Website Design Cost
Freelance Fees: $50-$150 per hour
Firm Fees: $100-$250 per hour
Extra Items That Influence Website Design Cost
Mobile or Responsive Website Design
It is not hard to obtain either a responsive WordPress theme or design with a responsive CSS grid. There is no reason for a website not to be responsive. The percentage of users browsing on their smart phones increases every day. The biggest question to answer is ‘do I have a need for a separate mobile site?’ Keep in mind that having a separate mobile site usually involves maintaining a separate site and can increase maintenance costs.
Website Maintenance
If you have a CMS (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) then you have the ability to manage your site yourself. Most businesses prefer to outsource their website management to professionals that can efficiently and quickly make changes and updates.
Number of Pages
A website with 1,000 pages will take a longer amount of time to create than a site with 10. Keep in mind how many pages your site has or will have when requesting pricing.
Multimedia
Adding and creating multimedia such as Flash, Video, and Podcasts will add to the cost of the website. The price completely depends on the level of skill you want and the content of the file you want to create. For example, a one-minute video will cost much less than a five-minute video. A single fixed camera video will cost less than a three camera video.
Content Creation
A website designer or a website design firm certainly can write the site for you. However, pricing general does not include content creation or editing. Be clear about what services you want them to do and what services you want to handle yourself. Creating your own content and having it professionally edited with search engine optimization in mind is a great way to not only save a little money but also get the most response from your content.
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