Let’s talk about the question, “
How much does a website cost?”
Back when I was first getting started learning about online business I had no idea how much a website would cost to build and I had no money, so I just decided I was going to dig in and
learn how to do it myself.
It’s frustrating not knowing what’s involved, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a small business trying to take your brick and mortar business online.
The question “how much does a website cost” comes up when people are starting to look at the realities of doing business online.
It’s a fair question. I run into it all the time, whether it’s an inquiry via email or a consultation meeting with a prospective client.
Every new website has its own challenges. But there are three major factors that come in to play on web development project and how much it costs, so I’m going to cover them real quick below.
1. Complexity – The deeper the functionality, the higher the cost
When I talk about complexity what I mean is it’s really a matter of the different things you need to be able to do with your website. These are features like membership portals, e-commerce functions, online stores, etc.
The more features you need in a website the more complex the design and development needs will be.
Makes sense, right?
2. Size – The number of pages and page templates needed will affect costs
The number of pages that you need for your site will affect the cost. In many instances, the number of pages needed is mitigated by the content management system that you use for the site. But even then, if you need to design and develop a variety of different page layout templates that can change things.
Think about it this way:
If you need page templates for
blog posts, regular content pages, blog posts, product pages, calendar displays, etc. all of those will need to be designed and created.
The good thing is that depending on your design approach, this doesn’t have to break the bank because of the ability to use displays created by plugins.
3. Design requirements affect website design costs whether using a pre-built theme or custom design
The government builds lots of really big websites that are often very complex and have deeply customized features. However, I can’t remember any time when someone pointed out to me how impressed they were by the design of a government website.
Great design for your website is a baseline requirement.
How you get that great design in place is the key, and the good news is that you have options.
Download the Ultimate WordPress Start-Up Guide here to get everything you need to know about starting your own self-hosted WordPress site
Have you priced out a custom web project recently? Leave a comment below and tell me what you learned!
