How Much Does a Website Cost?

This is a really broad question and by itself it means nothing. It’s like asking how much does a cake cost. You can get a fairy cake at a school PTFA event for 40p or you can spend hundreds (and probably more) for a special event cake. Context is everything. Web designers and developers have different methods for their pricing model. Let’s take a look at these

Price per number of pages

A fixed cost for a certain number of pages is the easiest and most up front way to know from the start what a website will cost. It is by far the easiest way initially to get a ballpark figure. For example, I charge £220 for a 4 page website. Knowing this is a great starting point to determine if what a web designer charges is within your budget or not. I don’t know about you, but if a price isn’t on a website, then I assume it’s more than I can afford and I leave the website. So if you don’t see any prices (or even just a price range) on a website than you can pretty much assume that the starting price is over £2k.

So, now you know what the price is for a specified number of pages. The next point is to work out how many pages you need. Lots of start up businesses just need 4 pages – Home, About, Services, Contact. However you might need a lot more pages. If you’re not sure how many pages you’ll need, then jot down on a piece of paper what you imagine the content if your website is going to be. Then look at other websites in your niche and see how many pages they have. Bear in mind when doing this, that the more page you have, the longer it takes to build and therefore the more expensive it will be. If you’re on a budget, you might have to settle for less pages initially and then as your business grows you can pay for more pages. Or some designers, like myself allow you to edit your own site and add as many pages yourself as you want, if you feel quite tech savvy.

The price per page strategy is very common within web design and is usually a good deal for both the client and the web designer. The client knows exactly how much they’ll be paying and can easily calculate the cost of extra pages. The web designer knows how long it will take to build and the they base their pricing on the income level they are happy with.

One thing to bear in mind with pricing per number of pages is that the price will be for a standard, brochure style website. If you want extra functionality you will need to pay extra for that, as it will take your web designer long to build the site. Examples include if you want a booking system added, ecommerce or any other kind of extended functionality.

price per hour

Some web designers will work out from the brief or content you sent them how long it will take, then multiply it by their hourly rate to get the price. If they are offering a fixed price then they will usually add an extra 20% on to cover any extra time they work on the website build.

There is nothing wrong with this pricing and for smaller sites can work out very reasonable. The only downside is that you don’t know what the cost will be until you have submitted everything to the designer.

This type of pricing usually includes a limited number of revisions and then further revisions are paid at the hourly rate.

price range

It’s not uncommon for web designers to have a price range or a “from” price on their website. This is useful in the first instance for deciding whether or not it is in your budget.

results based pricing

This is very common at the higher end of the web design market. It works something along the lines of, if the website is going to give you an annual return of £20k, then the price will be £20k (or more) because you’ll see a return within one (one more) year(s).  It’s an approach I have never really understood. Because results rely on more than a website. A website might generate lots of leads but it is still up to somebody else to convert those leads into sales. Perhaps I don’t understand it because I’m not in the league who charges £20k for a website!

because i’m worth it pricing

I was recently talking to client. She networks with a web designer and loves this designer’s style. The designer charges £2k+ for a website. I charge £220. Or £600+ for a bespoke site. I could build a bespoke website for £600 in exactly the same style as the designer that my client loves. For a fraction of the price. Is the other designer charging too much? Personally I don’t think so. If she is getting clients at £2k+ and they are happy, then I don’t see a problem with that (as long as the back end SEO done correctly and the site loads well etc).

A designer who is charging £2k or £5k is fine. If you go in with your eyes open, they do a good job and you’re happy to pay that, then fair play to that designer. It’s what a free market is all about. Just be aware that higher price doesn’t always equate to better quality. The “you get what you pay for” absolutely does not apply when it comes to web design. I know of companies who charge £5k for websites that are built on £50 templates, load slowly and have zero SEO.

Other things that affect the cost of a website

All the above relate to pricing for what is called a brochure style website. Most small business websites fall into this category. An example would be a website with Home, About, Services (with a list of services), Blog and Contact. Basic functionality. Once you start getting into more complex builds then expect to pay more. Things that can add to your website budget:

ecommerce

Setting up ecommerce requires extra steps, configuration and testing. When someone buys something from you, you don’t want the money ending up in the wrong account! Your designer/developer needs to test the buying process thoroughly, connect your website to the payment providers API, set up shipping (perhaps more than one shipping type, such as different countries, next day delivery, same day delivery etc.). And that’s before even thinking about design and the number of products. Plus, products can have variations. An example of this is T-shirts. T-shirts come in various colours and sizes and all these need to be input into the website. The more products and the more variants, the more there is for designer to do and therefore the more it will cost.

I charge from £500 for an ecommerce website. I charge based on the number of products, shipping and variations. A great way to keep the costs down is to add some products yourself. I provide full training on how to do this.

directory website

Directory websites such as Yell and Foursquare aren’t classified as brochure websites. They are dynamic websites where businesses or people can add or search for listings. This requires some complex backend customisations. Mix with that a great design, a good search function, maps and more and it becomes more complex again.

You can expect to pay anything from £2k to get a directory website built for you. My own starting price is £1800.

booking functionality

Adding bookings to a website is becoming more and more common. Whilst once upon a time it was only hotels who needed a booking function, it is now common on  hairdressers, barbers, spas, nail salons, therapists, hypnotherapists and so many more industries, including of course holiday cottage rentals and B & B’s. What your business needs from a booking system will depend. Let’s look at the different systems.

book without deposit

Your clients can make a simple booking without having to pay anything. The disadvantage of this is that they can easily cancel at the last minute, leaving you out of pocket.

book with a deposit

This is a great way to ensure that your clients turn up to their appointment, or if they don’t you don’t end up completely out of pocket.

book with full payment

This can be off putting to some people. Life happens and sometimes we can’t make an appointment. In some industries though full payment on booking is the norm.

select a time and day

This is something that you’ll be familiar with and have probably used. It may look simple on the frontend, but the booking system still needs to know what time you’ll be available, on what days, how long appointments last and how long you need between appointments. It can become even more complex if for example you offer 30 minute, 45 minute and hour long appointments.

select a person

This is similar to the above but even more complex. A good example is a salon where you can choose the stylist you want.

accommodation booking

Accommodation booking systems are very different salon style booking systems. Elements that need to be configured include how many rooms, availability, high, low and mid season prices, long stay pricing, extra (champagne in the room, late check out etc), upgrades and so much more.

How much does a website cost summary

As you can see, the price of a website varies hugely. What you get included for the price probably doesn’t. Do your research, make sure that you’re happy with what you’re getting for the price and most importantly ask the right questions before you get started. If you’re looking for an affordable website then I might be your gal!