One of the most common questions we get asked as a web design & development agency is ‘how much does a website cost?‘.
Now, there are many factors that contribute to the overall cost of a website. And, because each project is different, it can be difficult to give an exact answer without knowing the project brief.
However, in this article we’ll be looking at the key factors at play and how & why they effect the overall price.
To make things easier we’ll be ‘grouping’ websites together by their functionality and looking at the following three main categories of sites:
- Info/ brochure sites,
- E-commerce (online shops),
- Web apps.
Side note: before we begin, we have built an online quote builder that accurately gives you an estimation of your website project within just a few minutes or, we do have some guide prices laid out in a user friendly table.
Info/ brochure websites #
Of the three categories listed above, info/ brochure sites tend to have the least amount of functionality.
The majority of the time, the primary objectives are to:
- Inform customers about services or products,
- Build credibility,
- Generate leads.
Nothing too out of the ordinary here.
The three main factors at play that contribute to the cost of an info/ brochure site are the design & set up, the number of static pages (home, contact, about etc.) and if any specific features or widgets are required. We’ll look at these in a bit more detail.
Design & set up #
Most web agencies will have a ‘base’ cost which takes into account the set up of the website. This can be anything from installing and configuring software to structuring the layout of the site.
Unless you’re using a DIY website builder with a pre-made template, this cost is unavoidable. You can think of it as building the foundations of which your content will be placed.
Number of pages #
The number of pages has a direct correlation to the cost of a site.
As the number of web pages required goes up, so does the amount of time needed to build them.
For example
Very loosely assuming one page takes one hour to create (and putting aside the design & set up), a one page website will cost you one hour of development time, whereas a 50 page site will in theory cost 50 hours of development time.
Features/ widgets #
Most web development agencies (and even DIY website builders) include common features such as contact forms and google maps as standard.
However, custom or specific features, such as an interactive quote builder, will require time to create and configure, thus increasing the amount of development time required on the project.
E-commerce websites (online shops) #
Often more complex than an info/ brochure site, e-commerce sites (online shops) allow businesses and organisations to sell products online.
Just like an info site, the design & set up, the number of pages and specific features required play a role in the overall price of the project.
Building on that, the other consideration is the number of products to sell. We don’t mean the stock quantity, we’re talking about the actual number of different products and their variations, which we’ll look at in a bit more detail.
Number of products #
This works in a similar way to how as the number of pages increases, the amount of development time needed increases.
The number of products (and their variations) you are hoping to sell will directly impact the number of hours required to either upload or import.
In short, usually, the more products, the more time required.
Web apps #
This type of website (or I should say web app) is probably the trickiest to price as web apps can differ so vastly.
In general, web apps can be thought of as programmes (applications) that work in a web browser rather than being downloaded directly to your device or machine.
They often do specific and sometimes complex functions. Some examples of web apps are:
- Members portals and forums (Reddit),
- Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter),
- Job sites (Reed, Indeed),
- Marketplaces (eBay, Amazon).
The list could go on.
Yes, web apps may have a certain volume of static pages needed, and will need styling/ designing, but the main factor that contributes to the cost is the functionality required.
Functionality #
Essentially, what do you want your web app to do?
As the functionality could be, in theory, anything, it’s very difficult to discuss different prices.
It all comes down to the number of hours required to build the web programme.
As the web app’s complexity grows, it’s likely the development time will increase and therefor the project cost will grow as well.
The extras #
Often web design agencies will offer services akin to web design. These can be items such as:
- SEO (search engine optimisation),
- Analytics,
- Web hosting,
- Support,
- Site maintenance & more.
Keep an eye out as these extra’s can play a part in either the direct website build cost or as part of an on going fee.
To sum up #
Web design & development is largely a service based industry. Therefore, the range in price really comes down to amount of development time required.
As a rule of thumb, the bigger or more complex a project is, the more it will cost.
Accurately find out how much your website project will cost… #
Recently we’ve launched an interactive, online tool that allows you to accurately estimate the cost of your website project in under three minutes!
Alternatively, we have created a pricing table that allows you to roughly figure out how much your website will cost.