Having a website seems like it should be a default for business in the computer age. Even so, as noted in a recent survey, nearly half of small businesses surveyed didn’t have a website. On top of that, a quarter of them said they had no plans whatsoever for a website in the near future. Of the businesses without a website, three in every ten cited cost as a reason.
The thing is, these days a website is practically a necessity for any business. Regardless of the industry, a website lends benefits – credibility, flexibility, relatability, and much more.
The Cost of a Website
There are numerous factors that go into costing out a website. Almost all digital agencies out there will charge on a per-page basis, with discounts usually offered at certain milestones, such as 10 or 20 pages. This costing changes based on:
- What type of website are you looking for? Some businesses are happy with a one page/landing page site that has a simple goal of putting a product out there. These websites will be the cheapest to set up. That being said, they are also the least-effective websites, and don’t provide much in the way of information to your target website. One page websites are best used for B2C businesses…think nail salons, dog-walkers and breakfast cafes.
Most businesses will opt for a small or mid-size informational website, which can involve anywhere from 10 or so pages up to hundreds of pages. Small-business sites tend to be wide, with only one or two levels below the landing page. You’ve seen plenty of these pages – they will have pages with names like About, Blog, News, Contact, and more, with each page being mostly text and some visual. These pages feature the essentials, and are often the type of website requested by business making their first steps onto the internet.
Large websites will have more levels down, and will incorporate more in terms of content pages, special functions & mega-menus. They may have members-only areas or logins, store or dealer locators, downloadable content, and subpages. While a small-business websites may just have a Staff page, a mid-size website might have separate management bio pages on the step beneath the Staff page. These pages are often used by companies with a well-developed story, a long history, and multiple locations. They are sometimes the evolution of a small-business site, as natural growth can make the site larger and more complex.
- What level of complexity do you desire? The more complex your desires, the more resources are needed. A simple written page with stock photographs is easy to produce. Stock photography is cheap, with many digital agencies or content producers having memberships that allow for the use of many images for a low monthly fee. Basic written pages can be done in a few hours by a team of writers and editors.
You need writers, videographers, and other specialists to bring everything together. If your website requires custom coding outside of typical templates, that can raise the price as well. The typical website management programs are easy to handle, but if it needs coding in languages such as Javascript, Python, and more, the coders are expensive per hourly, thus the website costs more.
When working with an agency, they will ask plenty of questions to figure out the level of complexity they will be dealing with. Will you need integration of databases? Will you need e-commerce functionality that requires a payment gateway, security, cookies, and more? How much SEO will need to be done to ensure that your website achieves the proper amount of hits, and appears near the top of the rankings? All of these can increase complexity when needed.
- Who has ownership of what assets? Most legitimate web design agencies will provide a CMS system so that you as the customer can make minor changes when need be. You shouldn’t need to run up a chain of e-mails to change the name of a manager or change business hours on the page. This will help avoid the cost of using the agencies when these changes need to be made.
Many “churn & burn” website agencies will charge a low monthly fee for a website versus an upfront payment…in turn they maintain ownership of the website. Make sure to ask your future web-developer who owns the site once it is produced and live. If you’re paying a monthly fee for anything other than hosting, it’s probably not you.
- How much are you willing to pay for experience? You know how important experience is in your field – why would it be any different in the world of creating websites? You can certainly find people or agencies to build websites on the cheap, but you’ll get what you pay for. Poorly mapped sites, content that is spoiled by missed ideas or poorly constructed prose. Bad CMS systems. Lack of testing before implementation. Short cuts.
Just like in running and growing a business, these can all lead to a final product that isn’t up to standard. A poorly-done website by inexperienced freelancers or agencies can be a costly mistake to fix in the future. You could be looking at full-on replacement down the road, instead of upgrades or tweaks. An experienced team will plan for the future, instead of just getting something up for now.
Other factors may be taken on board by each different agency, but these four factors are pretty much universal. Your website builder or digital agency will be up front with you when you ask what specific factors they are looking at when costing out your website for you – it is always a good idea to ask, in case you are looking for comparative pricing between different agencies or thinking that some aspects may be worth skipping to hit your desired budget.
Separating Effective from Ineffective
This strategy should be put in place before creating a website, and preferably developed in discussion with your digital agency. They will help decide if online channels and activities such as email campaigns or social media marketing will be worthwhile.
A digital agency will also help show the effectiveness of your website in real time, so you can track and analyze what is most effective for you. Websites aren’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Different strategies will work for different businesses, even ones that share the same industry. The cost of your website should always include testing, tracking, and analyzing what is effective and what is not.
The Cost of Not Having a Website
It can also make it difficult to maintain relationships with current customers. In today’s world, it also makes a business look like it is not well-established.
That being said, having no website at all is better than having a bad one. Not having a website means you still have the chance to make a first impression. A bad website makes your business look unprofessional, sloppy, and disorganized. It can drive customers away, or simply relegate you to the back end of searches, never to be viewed.
So what does a website cost in 2017? In general, a good website can run from $6,000 up to $50,000 and more, if you are looking for full service, highly-intricate sites. As mentioned before, costing is done on a per-page basis by most agencies. For instance, here at Brantley, we generally charge between $700 – $900 per page for sites between 10 – 20 pages and $500 – $700 per page for sites over 20 pages.
Start-Up: 10 Pages
$6,000-$8,000
Small Business: 25 Pages
$13,000-$15,000
Growing Business: 50 Pages
$25,000 – $27,000
Established Business: 75 Pages+
$35,000+
At Brantley, we believe in providing a great value in the websites we produce for our customers. We believe in providing an original, authentic solution for your online presence needs. Connect with us to discuss your desires for a website, and we can help you put together a plan and pricing to fit your business model.