How Much Does a Website Cost?

29 Jan How Much Does a Website Cost?

Whenever a new client contacts our agency about a website, one of their first questions is always “how much will this cost?” While this is a common experience for every web design firm, it is one of the most complex questions we have to answer.

Asking how much a website costs is similar to asking “how fast does a ball roll?” [Tweet This!] Before answering, the person you ask will probably wonder: How hard was it thrown? How much does it weigh? Is it on a flat surface, going uphill, or downhill? What kind of terrain is it rolling on?… And so on. There are so many different factors involved that there is no black-and-white answer, and, if any web designer gives a black-and-white website cost immediately, chances are that they won’t do nearly as good of a job as you’d hope.

So how can you quickly plan a budget for your new website?

First, you should become familiar with your website needs so that you can easily communicate them with the designer. I recommend sitting down and making a list of the website features that are absolutely necessary for your business. Here are some important things to consider:

Will you need to sell items on the site?

 Do you need a contact form?

 Do visitors need to be able to log in? If so, what do they need to be able to do through that login?

 How many content pages will the website have?

 Will you write the content for those pages?

 Will you provide graphics and/or photography, or do you need them to be provided?

 How many social media channels will be linked on the site?

 Do you need a blog?

 Would you like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services?

 Who will maintain the website after it has been launched?

 Would you like a content management system (CMS) so you can edit the website yourself?

Knowing the answers to these questions will give you a massive head-start in the website planning process. Not only will you be able to get price quotes in half the time, but you will have much more confidence when it comes to the design, layout, and functionality of the site. Knowing what you need will also help you avoid any scenario in which a developer tries to upsell you on unnecessary features.

Since working with any web designer should be a team effort, the ability to communicate your needs will greatly increase chances that the final product exceeds every one of your expectations.

Now Let’s Talk About Cost:

Most web development firms base their prices on time, so your total cost will reflect how much your website needs to include. As a general guideline, overall time spent on website design can be broken down into these main categories:

 

20% Research & Planning

15% Design

55% Coding &Development

10% Project Management

 

When it comes to pricing, each of these categories may have varied hourly rates. The problem is that these rates can range from $20/hr to $300/hr depending on the firm, and each team will take very different amounts of time to complete a task. This means that, for the same website, you may receive quotes as varied as:

Firm A	Firm B	Firm C
Research & Planning – 6 hours ($150/hr)	Research & Planning – 10 hours ($120/hr)	Research & Planning – 5 hours ($80/hr)
Design – 4 hours ($150/hr)	Design – 8 hours ($120/hr)	Design – 3 hours ($95/hr)
Coding & Development – 15 hours ($150/hr)	Coding & Development – 20 hours ($175/hr)	Coding & Development – 10 hours ($95/hr)
Project Management – 3 hours ($150/hr)	Project Management – 6 hours ($120/hr)	Project Management – 3 hours ($80/hr)
Total: $4,200	Total: $6,380	Total: $1,875

 

Which Price is the Best Deal?

When it comes to websites, cost doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the product. A novice designer may need more coding time than an expert in some cases, but may also skip corners or miss important steps throughout the build. On the other hand, an expert might take longer by doing a more thorough job, but depending on the tasks, may take significantly less time because they ‘ve mastered the necessary skills. The same can be said for design, marketing, and research time, so how should you choose which estimate to accept?

The decision should come down to your budget, vision, and personality:

1. A website with the perfect design and functionality is a priceless asset to your company. But if you can’t possibly afford a website estimate, then there’s no use in stressing over the possibility of working with that firm. If they aren’t willing or able to negotiate the project scope to fit your budget, plenty of other designers will.

2. Your web designer should have a portfolio similar to what you envision for your own website. If their style or abilities don’t match up, it is unlikely that you will be happy with the work they produce for you. Do a little homework and don’t be afraid to ask questions; many designers have skills beyond what is present in their portfolio.

3. Lastly, it is important that you and your designer (or design firm) can work together comfortably. Website design is a partnership and, like other business relationships, it cannot be successful if personalities or work ethics cause too much friction between parties.

 

How Much Are Websites by Fawkes FX?

Here at Fawkes FX, we try to keep everything as simple as possible. Our website projects are separated into two categories- template and custom- in order to accommodate all budget sizes. For most businesses, a template website does the trick.

Template Websites

Template refers to websites that are built on a CMS (such as WordPress) and/or around a theme. The design is customized to fit your brand image and your company information, but development options such as page layout are limited.

For template sites, our team paid attention to the amount of time each common feature takes us to build, and have created package prices that act as a foundation for these projects. Our packages cover all the basics of a new website, ranging across various business needs and price ranges. Since these packages are designed to kickstart a website build, we have the ability to customize your project by adding features like internal pages, eCommerce, interactive maps, etc as needed.

 

These packages are meant to be a starting point for the full website build. Every business has a unique set of needs, and will require additional features based on them (listed below). 

Examples of additional features:

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Internal pages

eCommerce

CRM integration

Blog

SEO

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Newsletter signup

Interactive map

Content writing

Animations

Ad space

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Custom Websites

Of course, we are more than happy to create custom-developed websites for those businesses with specific, unique and/or extensive marketing needs. Since custom projects are impossible to price in a package format, we require that businesses meet with us to discuss the project in full-detail before a quote can be created.

 

A Final Note

In the modern digital age, websites are the most important part of any marketing strategy. Nearly 80% of consumers use the internet as their sole resource in making purchase decisions, so you should be prepared to budget accordingly. Just like choosing a store location or buying equipment, skimping on website price will negatively impact business performance. It’s an investment that’s well worth the time, effort, and cost you put into it!

 

At Fawkes FX, we work with businesses of all sizes to design the best websites for their budget & marketing needs. If you’d like more information about website pricing, or would like to talk with us about an upcoming project, you can reach out to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!