One of the most popular questions I am asked as a web designer is:
“How much does a website cost to build?”
The simplest response is…
“It depends. There is no one size fits all price to web design.”
The good news is I can help guide you through what factors are considered in the overall cost for your website project. Don’t worry, it’s not as painful as you think. My goal is to help you understand more about the process and what a web designer takes into consideration when analyzing their time and costs.
Trust me, you don’t need to have been saving your pennies since you were a child to afford a website. There are options that work with every budget.
Questions Website Designers May Ask
In order to better design for my clients, I need to determine what your website needs are. This will help determine a pricing structure, which could be hourly or a package rate depending on your answers. Some of the questions my free quote form asks include:
- Do you have a logo?
- Do you know how many informational pages you may need?
- Do you plan to sell products on your website?
- Do you need special functionality such as an event calendar, real estate listings contact forms or other functionality?
- Do you need content written or images edited?
All of these questions help inform me, as your website designer, what your initial needs are. This will lead to more discussion and questions to be asked/answered. A good web designer will investigate all the specifics before producing a quote for your project. Hmmmm, I sense another blog about good web designers coming up next.
Sidebar
Yes. You absolutely need a quote for a website project so you can understand all of the specifics and details of what you are paying for to have a website built. Whether hourly or packaged, make sure the quote details all of the specifics of the job. If you don’t understand something technical, ask questions of the designer so you know what you are paying for.
Additional Website Cost Considerations
Website cost also includes the following must haves:
- Domain name registration (annual cost)
- Website hosting (monthly, quarterly or annual) – cheapest doesn’t always mean best
In terms of associated e-commerce costs…
- Payment options – credit cards, PayPal, etc. and associated fees
- Shipping – USPS, FedEx/UPS or other carrier for real time shipping rates
- Sales Tax – who do you have to collect from and when?
There may be other costs that need to be considered as well if you want a mailing list/newsletter or other special features that require an outside service or license.
Cost Factor: A Web Designer’s Experience
Finally… a web designer’s experience will factor into design costs. The more experience a designer has, theoretically the higher the cost. This does not mean expect sticker shock when you get a website quote, but be aware that their skillset has been honed over a number of years and the old adage “you get what you pay for” really does come into play. Most importantly, check their portfolio, reviews and ask for references.
Back to the Question at Hand
So your question is…
“How much does a website cost cost to build?”
My longer answer:
“I don’t know yet, but I would be happy to discuss it with you to help you determine the option that will work with your budget. Let’s talk about what you need for your website and discuss all the options available.”
Quotes are free at Flying Orange so let’s get started and talk about your project today!
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