One of the questions we receive most often as a full-service digital agency is, “How much does a website cost?” Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to give a reliable answer, or even a ballpark budget, without knowing more details. With little to no information, our response would be “Anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000.” Since this answer is not helpful at all, the purpose of this article is to break down website components into smaller pieces to get a better idea of what goes into designing and implementing a website.
The Website Itself and Questions That Influence Your Web Design Budget.
Sometimes clients have a hard time differentiating between our website development services, and the services associated with website design: branding, illustration, SEO, social media, etc. Some components are decided as part of the website design while some of them are optional and are considered additional services.
How much Functionality, Design, and or Content do you need?
A good starting point for determining how much your website will cost is the number of pages you want it to be. Before we begin any project here at Matmon, we help you fill out a client questionnaire that helps us determine how many pages, calls-to-action, and how much functionality your website needs.
Price: The fewer pages you want and less amount of creativity needed, the less expensive your project will be. For a 3-5 page website, budget around $1,000-3,000. Sites that require branding will fall between $5,000-10,000.
A WordPress CMS for Dynamic Content, or a Simple Static HTML Site?
Do you want the ability to update your website on your own, or do you want a website that simply serves as an online presence and very seldom needs to be updated? If you’re interested in the former, we advise you to go with a website built on the WordPress platform. The back-end of WordPress is simple and easy to access – all you need is a computer, web browser, and Internet access.
If you need a small website to serve as a simple online brochure, using a traditional HTML coded site and accessing it via FTP may be the solution for you. We have more options available, but a robust WordPress CMS or a simple HTML site are the most common solutions for Matmon customers.
Budget more for a WordPress site development and ongoing system updates, as it usually takes longer to customize properly and support than a traditional site. However, you can do most of your updates on your own with a WordPress site, whereas you will more than likely need our support to update a traditional HTML site.
Which Features?
A feature is something in addition to pages, pictures, text, maps or videos, such as a blog, forms, custom web applications, or eCommerce. This topic is also covered in our questionnaire so that you get the features that are just right for you and your users.
The more features, the higher the price. It takes a pretty firm grasp of your eCommerce needs to establish a budget.
How Customized Will Your Website Be?
At Matmon, we don’t do template websites. You can rest assured that your site will be unique. Some require more customization than others. Drop-down menus, information that pops up when mousing over an item, text effects, showing alternate images, etc. are all features that look effortless but may require extra time, and should be planned before you sign your website proposal.
The more customization, the more expensive the site will become. For every price range given, expect the highest price within the range if you want your website to do more “tricks.”
Services External to The Website
Search Engine Optimization
Getting your website optimized for search engines happens during and after the website’s development, but is not a mandatory component. For this reason, this is considered an additional service and not part of the website design.
It varies according to your site, but count around $500-$1500 for one-time SEO project.
Hosting Your Site
Where your website is hosted is important. If you spend a lot of money on a website, you want to make sure it will be up at all times and secure. Matmon hosts its websites in our secure data center facility.
Prices can range drastically for web hosting as well: $25 for a simple HTML site, $75-250 for most WordPress sites and $1000-2000 monthly for sites that need their specialized servers
Branding
If you’re a new business, we can create logos, business cards, brochures and more. Branding should be complete before the website design process begins.
Price: depends on your particular needs.
Measuring Your Site’s Efficiency
Once you have your new website, a good thing to do is to monitor its performance. Matmon can track visits, clicks, who comes to your site, how many times, how long they stay, what keyword(s) they used to search and much more. This information is especially important if you are trying to recruit new customers through your website.
Price: In the $75 range for a monthly report.
How Often Will You Post Updates?
Once your website is complete, you can choose to update and maintain it on your own, or we can do that for you. We offer hourly fees or monthly packages so that you can choose what is best for you.
Please keep in mind that these estimates vary, and your site could be below or above these numbers. Additionally, giving an estimate for print media, advertising, social media and other services varies considerably according to your specific request.
For a complete estimate of your web design project, please complete this survey and one of our representatives will contact you to provide a quote.
