How much should a website cost?

How much should a website cost is perhaps the most common question we get.  Suspending my JDM bias for a moment, let’s see if I can break down how websites are priced and why.

The typical “who much is this gonna cost” conversation goes something like this:

OWNER: “My business needs a new website. How much?”

AGENCY: “Well that depends, but I’d estimate $4K to $8K.”

OWNER: “f**k! – that seems awfully expensive!”

In my experience, that’s how about 90% of these conversations start. Soon after, they try to negotiate on scope, price or start shopping around – and that’s ok.  It IS a lot of money to a small or narrow-margin business.   It’s also a lot more work than most people think.  Let me break down a basic web development project into basic phases.   If you have no idea what they mean, don’t worry.  Just look at the median number of hours associated with each.

1. Project Scope and Discovery Phase: ~10 hours
2. Creative Design and Revisions: ~15 hours
3. Technical Development and Revisions: ~25 hours
4. Content Editing, Integration and Flesh-out: ~20 hours
5. Compatibility and Bell-and-Whistle Functionality Testing: ~12 hours
6. Review, Quality Control, and Approval: ~8 hours
7. Migration and Go-Live: ~5 hours
8. Post-Live Testing and Tracking: ~5 hours

All-in, that’s a pretty typical 100 hours of professional website design & development.   Assuming the price came out to $6,000, that would mean you’re paying about $60 per hour. In other words, you’re getting a team of writers, designers and developers with a combined professional experience of 20+ years and numerous academic degrees, for the price of a few McDonald’s hourly employees.

What to do to keep from over-paying

So it’s a lot of work developing a website.  You get that.  We get that.  We’re on the same page there.  Next, what can you do to make sure you’re not OVER-paying?

Here are my “Top 5 Tips to NOT Over-Paying for Website Development.”

1. Separate what you NEED from what you WANT (bells and whistles are cool, but…$)
2. How important is truly “custom” really?  If a solution/plug-in already exists, must the wheel be re-invented?
3. Invest now. Save later. You can lease a website, but you’ll never own it and it costs more in the long run.
4. You get what you pay for.  “Free” websites exist, but so often “free” = “crap!”
5. Beware your friend’s cousin working out of his mother’s basement.  That can be an expensive learning curve.

A Final Thought…

If you’ve managed to read this far down through all the bad news about what a website costs, give yourself a pat on the back. We feel your pain. That’s why we’re developing new and more streamlined production processes to help limit the number of hours required to build really high-quality websites and passing a majority of the savings on to our clients.  Check out some of our work for examples.   Remember, complexity doesn’t necessarily equate to price.  Hours alone do.

Shameless self-promoting aside, you can find an automated website builder that will build you a website for free.   You could outsource your web design to a freelancer or a firm in India and save a thousand or two.   If you’re looking for real professionals to develop a website that will perform, grow with your business and exceed your expectations, you’re going to have to pony up.  If you need a starting place, just ask.  We’ll be happy to make a few honest recommendations.

As I like to tell prospects, shop around if you like. If you can find someone cheaper (and I’m sure you can), go for it.  You’ll be back when things go sideways. They always do when you scrape the bottom of the barrel.