These days, web design pricing tends to be all over the map. You can find a lot of web designers who claim to be willing to design a website for $200, a lot who wouldn’t touch a project for less than $10,000 and even more who fall somewhere in between. So what’s the right price? You’re going to hate this answer, but there isn’t one right price. It’s sort of like buying a home; it depends on a lot of different variables.
Price is what you pay, value is what you get.
You could save tons of money by going with a dirt-cheap web designer, but if your website does a poor job of converting your visitors into customers, what did you really save? On the other hand, if you blow your entire marketing budget on the perfect website and then can’t afford to market it, did you really make a wise investment?
You need a website that presents a professional image and gives your visitors that warm fuzzy feeling deep in their gut that lets them know they can trust you. But more importantly, you need a website that converts your visitors into customers. It’s all about results.
To determine whether the price/value ratio is on the mark, you’ll have to know what your website needs to be capable of. Functionality impacts price. For example, our website design prices currently start at $1,225. That’s for a completely custom designed, multi-page website website, coded with valid HTML and CSS that works properly in all major browsers. Specialized functionality, like a content management system, which gives you the ability to easily change your own website content, moves your investment up into the $2,200 range. The more bells and whistles you add, the more your website will cost.
Some people may be thinking that’s a lot of money, which is both right and wrong at the same time. If you just want to set up a blog as a hobby, a couple thousand dollars is probably a lot of money to spend, but if you want to set up a custom website for your company, investing a couple thousand dollars is virtually nothing. Think about it like this. You’re selling a product or service, and if you’re website allows you to increase your sales by even just 5%, how quickly will your investment pay for itself? More importantly, what will it mean to your bottom line after that?
What is the scope of your project
In addition to the functionality of your website, the scope of your project can have a significant impact on the price. More work obviously means more fees, so you’ll need to factor in certain details ahead of time, such as:
- How many pages will be included?
- Will you be providing content or will they write it for you?
- Who will input your content (copy and/or products)
- Is web hosting included?
- Is a domain name included?
- Will you be providing images/photos?
When do you need it?
You might be surprised at how many people wait until the last minute to start their web design project. If you want to save some money, don’t be that guy! When a firm has to rearrange their existing projects, work extended hours, through weekends or holidays to meet your deadline, there will be additional fees.
Experience counts
OJ Simpson can tell you how important it is to hire the right lawyer, and the same principal applies to web designers. An experienced web design firm will almost always charge more, but will produce much better results. We’re not just talking about appearance though. In this case, we’re talking about your bottom line. An experienced firm knows what it takes to get your new website up and running quickly, how to drive traffic to it and how to convert your visitors into customers.
Experienced web design firms will often utilize standardized processes, like our web design process, and checklists, like our web design checklist to make sure each client receives consistent quality, their specific needs are met and that no details are missed. If you’re considering several firms, look at the systems they’ve put in place, some of the websites they’ve designed, read their testimonials and even contact some of their clients. If they seem to have solid systems, you like the style of their work, and their clients are successful and happy with their service, it may be worth the additional cost to hire a more experienced firm.
The bottom line?
Price should never be your sole determining factor, in fact, it should be the last and least significant factor in your decision. You should choose a web design firm with sufficient experience to execute your project, but you also need to make sure you can afford to market your new website once it’s up and running. The “build it and they will come” days are far behind us.
I like your article. This is a big issue for freelancers/agencies. You pointed out some very good information on pricing.
You hit the nail on the head!