How much does a website cost?

As a website builder, a common question I get is asked: so how much does a website cost? I answer "how long is a piece of string? ...and how many knots, loops and bows are in it? ...does it connect to other strings?", or put more plainly, it depends what you are looking for.

You may not even know what you are looking for. There are many factors which can contribute to the overall cost of a site. This article aims to help you understand what you want (your requirements), which can then be used to produce an estimate of what to budget for.

Here are some factors to consider:

• How much content will the site contain? Who will write it? Who will maintain it?
• Who will do the ongoing management and maintenance of the site? Maintenance is usually required for any site to fix problems, make small changes, and keep it running smoothly. More complex website will require more maintenance.
• Will the site be search-engine optimised? Getting found on search engines is an art in itself, and requires time and effort to be done right.
• How will the site be promoted externally?
• Will the site link into any extra services such as Twitter, or Facebook? Do these accounts need to be set up?
• Will the site have a professional visual design that fits your existing branding?
• Do you require email accounts?
• Do you wish to sell products online? Generally you'll find that ecommerce websites cost significantly more due to the added complexity of design, features, and content.
• Will you have videos made and incorporated into the site?

Cutting Costs

If you are looking to keep costs down, here are some compromises you could make:

• Use a pre-made template. There are thousands of good looking pre-made website templates around the world. If you don't mind using a design that could be already used elsewhere, this might be a good option to help you save on costs.
• Write and load content yourself. This is very easy to do with our content management system (CMS).
• Work in stages. Your budget may not allow you to get all the features you desire initially. You can however have the website incrementally improved over time, as finances become available.

 

If you are looking for a free cost estimate for your next website project, or just want to know more, please don't hesitate to contact us.