How much does a website cost?

One of the most frequently asked questions any web designer gets is how much a website is going to cost. This is a completely reasonable question to ask, but before you ask you need to know there are a number of factors which can have an effect on the quote.

Old or new?

The first thing we need to know is whether you need a completely new website or if you just need adjustments to an existing site. Unless you want a complete redesign, working with something which already exists is usually a lot less work as long as your previous developer did a decent job. Of course if you hired someone really cheap who barely knew what they were doing, chances are your site was hacked together and is going to cost you more now to fix.

Content and functionality

The next thing to consider is the purpose and complexity of the website you need. If you just want a place for a gallery and some contact information it’ll take much less time to design and build than an e-commerce website with multiple layouts for products, FAQs, account areas and a checkout for instance.

The more individual layouts you would like, the more time the site will take to design a website. Also the more functions you would like the website to have, the more building and testing time your website developer will need. If you need to be able to edit your content yourself then the website will need to be built on a content management system such as WordPress, or an e-commerce system such as Shopify.

Cheap novices or skilled professionals

All of the factors I’ve mentioned come into play when calculating the hours it will take to design and build your website, and the final price will depend on the person you choose to hire.

Hiring a freelancer is usually a lot cheaper than hiring a studio, but the rates for each individual will vary depending on their skill level and experience. When you hire someone with very little experience you’ll usually get a lower price, but it’s very unlikely the website will do everything you need it to. Experienced web designers understand what to expect from users and have the knowledge to create a website which has the right elements to generate enquiries or sales.

If you’d like to get a quote for a website, whether it’s small changes or a whole new site, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss what you need and how much it’ll cost. I have the experience and skill to design something which will get you enquiries, but my rates are also very reasonable and we’ll most likely find something to suit your budget.