Three major areas determine how much it’ll cost for someone to build a website for your business. Let’s break them down together!
So, you’re ready to start on your website. Exciting, right?!
You know a website is important for your business and you want it to be excellent, but you also don’t want to walk into it completely blind about how much it’s going to cost.
That’s why, as a responsible business owner trying to make the most of every dollar you spend, the question at the top of your mind is naturally, “How much will a simple website cost me?”
Well, as you might expect, the answer to that question will be, “It depends.”
Helpful, I know! Just bear with me.
Asking how much a website costs is like asking how much a car costs. It depends! Do you want used or new? Electric or gas? Basic package or fully loaded? You see what I mean.
Just as with buying a vehicle, many variables impact the price you’re going to pay for a website.
Now I’m assuming at this point that you’re ready to hire someone that can help you out with your website.
You’re busy running a business and you know at this point that you don’t have the time or manpower (or womanpower) to do it yourself, especially to do it at the level of quality that reflects your business well.
So, let’s break it down a little bit on a super-basic, easy-to-understand-level.
There are three major areas that determine how much it’ll cost for someone to build a website for your business.
Number of Pages
The number of pages on your website matter because it’s directly related to the hours of work required when building your site. Naturally, a website with five pages is going to cost less than one with 30 pages or one with 30 products to sell with each product having its own page.
How do you know how many pages you’ll need? Before you reach out to a developer, you should have a general idea of what you want on your website.
Start by putting together a basic navigation plan. It’s just a map of how you want visitors to navigate the website. Get started with the homepage and move out from there. Answer questions like, what will you call the links in the navigation menu? Where will they lead? What items or ideas do you want them to see and read on each page?
You don’t have to know 100% at this point how it will look, but giving yourself a headstart this way will help your developer give you a more accurate quote for your website.
Content Plan
Now that you know about how many pages, you need to think about the content. Simply put, content refers to all the words and graphics (pictures or video) on your website.
The big variable here that impacts cost is if you are putting together the content or someone else is doing it for you.
Most developers will want you to come to them with all of the content prepared. They want to be able to copy what you send them in a document and paste it directly to the website. Sure, they’ll make it look nice but they’re relying on you for the actual words and pictures or video.
If you’re working with a copywriter (that’s me!) or a website project manager (also me!), then you don’t have to figure this part out on your own—that’s the whole point of working with one!
They’ll talk to you to learn about your business, your customers, your audience, etc. so they can help you achieve what you want for your website. A copywriter is the one who writes the words for your website while a website project manager will be hands-on for the entire website process.
For example, in my case, I write the words for your site, advise on the best ways to accomplish your goals, and manage all of the moving parts of getting your website published so you don’t have to be in the weeds of it all.
So, if you don’t have the time or the expertise to write the words for all the pages of your website, then plan on working with someone to do it for you.
Customization
The cost of your website will also depend on if you’re aiming to have a website with the standard features, or if you’re someone who has a lot of specific ideas and requires a little more customizing.
Integrations are another part of customizing to consider. Are there other systems your business uses that need to connect to your website? Maybe you need to connect the site to your email service provider or CRM. Or you want more than a simple e-commerce set-up.
The point is, the more custom work you want for your website, the more you can expect to pay. But that’s to be expected in most things in life, right?
Of course, these three variables are all part of your front-end cost, meaning that it’s the cost of getting your website built and then up and running. The other thing you want to keep in mind is the cost to maintain your website such as monthly hosting and purchasing the domain.
Depending on your needs, most businesses can expect to pay as little as $5 to $10 per month or up to $30 to $50 per month for your website hosting. Your website developer or project manager can walk you through the options so you can make the best choice for your business set-up.
Okay, now that you have a more full understanding of what’s going to impact the cost of your new website, you’re ready to get started!
Your website has the potential to make a big difference in the growth of your company. My tips for you are to not underestimate that—and have fun with it!