What Price for a Website in 2022?
Welcome to post (tail?) of COVID-19.
According to siteefy.com, you You are now competing with 1.2 billion websites. Gone are the days where you could build a website and wait for the money to roll in. It pays to adopt things early.
In 2022, there’s no guarantee that a fresh website will get more than one organic (no paid for) visitor per day. Ten years ago there were half a billion websites. Without advertising or a focused SEO plan, a fresh new website (on a new domain) would get around 10 visitors per day.
All business is now done via the web.
A well-coded website with a good SEO profile (Check that here: SEO Site Checkup) and no advertising (e.g Google Ads, other PPC) might get visitors. If you’re lucky. In 2022 without running Google Ads or paying for regular SEO you simply won’t be able to compete. It would be better to open a physical shop.
But nobody knows this.
Website development prices and ongoing fees
The absolute minimum you need to pay for a website
Here is an overview of typical website prices and services. I’ve assumed a basic 10-15 page, non-Ecommerce, lead-generating website with contact and order forms. These are the cheapest options I could find (although in some cases even my services are cheaper).
If your competitor is paying $2,000 per month for SEO and you are paying your SEO guy $100 per month (20hrs SEO work vs. 1hr) your success will be limited.
Item | From (A$) | Freq. |
---|---|---|
Domain name | $15+ | annual |
Hosting | $150+ | annual |
Free Website | $0+ | |
WordPress Sites | $500+ | – |
Content updates | $200+ | monthly |
Hand-coded CSS/Js/HTML | $3,000+ | – |
Hosted E-commerce | $25+ | monthly |
WP Maintenance | $35+ | monthly |
SEO One-off | $400+ | – |
Monthly SEO | $250+ | monthly |
Facebook Ads | $30+ | daily |
Google Ads | $5+ | daily |
Ad Management | $150+ | weekly |
Is a website rebuild cheaper?
Short answer: No. It’s usually cheaper to get a new site.
Unfortunately nobody is going to give you a discount for a website makeover. That’s hourly rate territory.
New tech comes out almost every month, so a little bit of research and education is a part of any website cost. Those big images you uploaded back in 2018 are already too small for modern browsers, monitors and 2021 websites. Plus your old (2yrs is old) website was coded by… Who Knows working for Who Knows Pty. Ltd. in Who knows what country. Most web agencies are run by entrepreneurs who barely know what HTML or CSS is. Invariably they outsource to other entrepreneurs in cheap labour countries. Wo knows how good the technician was when he/she built your site? (Did your site ever work properly on mobile?)
It’s doubtful overseas devs were using best practice techniques (read about what can happen when you outsource your website here).
Wading through someone else’s code takes hours. If the coder was a muppet, double the hours. Your website cost is directly proportional to the time it takes. Time unravelling old code could be spent building a site with new, faster code. I’m sure you’ve heard about the car mechanic who had to re-machine the whole engine head because the previous mechanic used the wrong gasket (read my recent article about the difference between web design and website development here). That’s kind of what happens on every “website rebuild”.
If your site is older than two years, a rebuild will probably cost 1.5X the cost of a new website. In two years, any website will look dated anyway and the code behind it may not even work. I’m forever patching and securing old websites that came to me for website maintenance that were built in 2019.
It’s ALWAYS cheaper to build a new website.
The main issue is not website design or re-design. Designs, themes and layouts are two a penny. Wix.com and weebly.com websites are free (with new layouts/designs).
Websites are now like printers. You can buy a new printer for $20, but the replacement ink ribbon will set you back $60.
Your website isn’t an “ad”
Having a website shouldn’t be confused with advertising your business. Your website is your business. It’s an asset, not an expense. You need to advertise and promote it.
If you just leave a site – it will slowly get eaten in search by people regularly adding content or paying someone like me for SEO. (Part of SEO is about improving your code base). Sites with fresh content written for humans always rank better. Getting found should be your goal for 2021. My job is to get clients’ sites to appear higher on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) than their competitors. SEO, maintenance and online marketing are mandatory if you want to compete.
But let’s just talk about your potential site and who you might choose to hire…
Who will host my website?
Hosting is basically passive income for developers
I don’t charge for hosting – just for stuff I actually do. Hosting on my a2hosting.com server is free (for sites I maintain).
Ten years ago, I saw a 1,000% increase in traffic the week I moved this site from Hostgator.com to A2Hosting.com. The phone literally rang and I got about 5 new clients every day for a week. I still serve those clients today.
Investing in a fast host pays off. Sometimes you get amazing deals. GoDaddy and Hostgator keep prices low. Faster speeds, robust servers with 100% uptime and human support is hard to find, but $150pa is all you need to pay – even for a good server.
Hosting fees are bread and butter for most web developers. Whatever you pay goes right into the pocket of your hosting provider. Hosting 100+ sites can cost less than A$1000 per year. For A$500pa, you can run a shared server with 50 websites on it. The charge for “hosting” is up to the provider. Normal people rarely bother the hosting provider – and that’s what they’re counting on. When you need help, it’s usually an emergency. You developer will contact the host regularly. We depend on the smooth running and regular maintenance of a server. Iinet, for example, won’t update software on the server unless you ask for it.
Who will maintain my website?
If you think that’s you, think again.
Rather than hosting, think about how your site is maintained. Include maintenance in the total website cost.
Website Maintenance (sometimes called “Managed Hosting”) means keeping the back end of your website healthy, secure and up to date. The website maintenance packages we offer include some SEO. If you are running WordPress, regular website maintenance is mandatory if you don’t want to lose your site to hackers.
Your site NEEDS to be managed by a professional. One hacked site on shared server will affect other websites on the same server.
Who will build my website?
How much you pay is largely determined by who you choose to build your website and how many bells and whistles you require. Each choice has its own particular advantages and disadvantages.
Your choice is, roughly between;
- DIY website ($free)
- Out-sourcing to India or Philippines (A$500-$1,500 for a basic site)
- Relative, friend or student (A$1,000-$3,000)
- Graphic, Design or Print Company (A$2,000-$6,000)
- Freelance Web Developer (From A$1,500)
- Web Firm, Web Developer, Collective or Company (A$1,500+)
- Communications Company or Advertising Agency (A$8,000+)
Obviously, if you want quote estimations or an online shopping cart or some other specific functionality, you’ll pay more. But those figures are roughly in the ballpark.
Want more detail and reasoning? Keep reading…
Let’s start at the very beginning…
1. Do-It-Yourself Website (FREE)
I’ll do it my way, thanks
I have several clients who originally built websites themselves (using a free service) and eventually turned to us to oversee, maintain, and tweak code as needed (we did Website Maintenance). We look after each of our sites on a tailor-made website maintenance plan).
If you are on a tight (or $zero) budget, you’re probably starting in the right place. Running your own website for a year gives you a clear sense of what’s involved and how your business translates online. Over a year, your company will change direction depending on the demand for certain goods or services. You will serve or sell to one particular product more than another and your business plan will transmogrify into what’s possible, rather than what you perceived to be possible. You’ll also have a clear idea of the overall website cost, including monthly fees and original build.
In two years you will give a web firm or someone like me a call, but for now – just do it. Get started.
My favourite clients are the ones who’ve done it themselves, but now need a little professional help. Use a free service such as Weebly or Wix and build your own website for free.
If you enjoy getting your hands dirty with HTML and CSS and fancy yourself as a bit of a code tinkerer, Wix and Weebly are great. Things get fiddly when you need to point your domain name to the server or set up a new form. I’ve updated Weebly sites for clients (there’s a code window and a WYSIWYG window).
Attention coders: Check out these light CSS frameworks. One is unbelievably fast at less than 1KB! Great for site-speed & SEO.
Knowing HTML with a smattering of CSS (you can learn this stuff for free at www.w3schools.com) will help you understand the web design concept of separation between content and style (HTML & CSS). If you’re not keen on mark-up, you can build websites easily on free platforms without learning a single HTML tag. You won’t be on a fast server and you will probably have to put up with a few ads at the bottom of your website, but at least you’ll have a web address for your business card.
Professional code-tweaking will set you back hundreds of dollars (independents charge around A$120/hr and in 2019 it’s not unusual for Australian companies to charge upwards of A$200 per hour.
If you have time, the DIY free website solution is a great idea. Get an independent web developer like me to tweak it and save yourself $ by doing the grunt work yourself.
NB: If you’re a person who likes to delegate and hates fiddling with code, DO NOT get a free website. A poorly maintained or designed website will do more damage to your reputation than not having a website at all.
Successful FREE Websites
About 15 years ago, I found an awful-looking website run by a lady selling (what looked to me like) pieces of paper. It was an online scrap-booking company, and it was a shocking looking website. She approached me to redesign the site, but when I delved deeper, it turned out she was making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. I decided not to go ahead with a re-design. I didn’t want the responsibility of chasing away customers who equated poor design with value for money. Who knows what part design, sluggish speed or clunky navigation played in her website’s success?
In my experience, anyone who has gone through the trouble of setting up their own website understands what it is I do. My favourite clients are always the ones who have run a website and (usually by osmosis) know a bit of code. They understand just a smatter of my complex world.
FREE website creation online
Below is a list of places where you can set up websites for free. I’d try the Google My Business option first because I know it will instantly help with SEO, Google Maps and Search. You will need a Google Account (a Gmail address means you already have one) to get started.
As long as you keep content up to date regularly, there’s no reason a Google, Weebly or Wix website can’t successfully compete with a more expensive, custom-built site in terms of search engine ranking, sales leads and trust factors.
Content is King
Google rewards websites which are “a going concern,” and that means having great content.
Content is King in 2019. It’s a simple matter of putting in the effort. Updating your site with a blog post, a new product or even a (relevant) funny video you found on YouTube helps Google index your site. Writing a blog post is an idea that stops people in their tracks. Remember what your English teacher used to say about your writing? She was wrong. Most people are good writers – they just don’t have the confidence.
Examples of Content
- Building Homes with SIPs
- Keeping Your Boat Engine Cool
- This one hardly has any written content, but it’s a joy to hear.
Piano Recital at Marble Bar (Poet Down Uder)
Transcribing mini interviews like this (I use rev.com) is an easy way to generate text content.
I wrote (and recorded) the above as part of a Content Marketing Plan. If you add enough text to your website, it’s more likely to get found. We grew one company grew from $300k per annum to $10 million per annum over 18 months using this technique.
People buy from people. People trust people. Your website has to look and feel as if there are busy, friendly people behind it – ready to attend your every whim.
With a DIY site, you are limited to the skills you possess and the time you have at your disposal.
Wix website tutorial
(for those that want to do it their way)
How to Set up a (free) Wix website
The Professional Option
Going with a professional web developer is a better option in terms of getting a site up that looks the part, is built on a future-proof theme or CSS framework (for speed), is built in a timely manner (I typically take between 3 and 4 weeks depending on complexity and other time commitments) with an online strategy behind it. Naturally, I’m biased. But I still believe that some experience running a DIY website will set you apart from the pack when you eventually go pro.
2. Bedroom Designers ($1,000-$2,500)
Your website designing nephew or friend
Your nephew or neice is studying web design at school or university. He has offered to build you a website (and broaden his portfolio/start one). Maybe for $1,000. Or even a few hundred. Perhaps you could give money or a solid Birthday present.
I’ve rebuilt MANY nephew sites. The nephew moves on, loses interest, changes career or bails.
My clients fall into one of two groups.
- Those who were paying too much and getting no service or
- Those who built their own sites, understood the effort involved, gave up and thought, “I need a professional to worry about all this.”
The only drawback with a relative or friend, is reliability.
- Will that person finish the job?
- Are they trustworthy?
- Is this person good with deadlines?
Some people are naturally reliable. But not most.
If your site was/is built for free, watch for these sticking points;
- Your designer gets paying clients and your site is demoted to backburner status (or worse – “albatross” status).
- Your website may not be maintained properly (opening the door to hackers and crashes)
- Your web site lacks security (again, leading to hacks and crashes. We rescue such sites every month.)
- Your website may get forgotten
- Your wannabe designer changes career (web design was too boring, time to be a pilot)
Having said all this – if you factor in the usual Murphy-like catastrophes, it may not be a bad experiment. See how it goes. If you expect to pick up some of the pieces down the track, do it. Contact us when it goes belly up.
The Passive Income Brigade
Some people still think that getting a website (or building an app) is the key to passive income. You can pay thousands to marketing gurus and in return get a step by step PDF on what to do.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Those opportunities are looooong gone.
It never was the case if you read about how quadrillion dollar websites get started in the first place.
On this note, you might find these links interesting:
Having any old website up there isn’t a bad idea. In the short term as long as you keep your website up to date and maintain the software behind it most of what you need to do is done.
3. Freelance Web Developer ($1,500-$12,000 max)
Independent web developers and coders
All Geoffrey Multimedia sites are updated and maintained regularly. I spent many years building beautiful sites for small audiences. I’d tell people to keep their sites up to date and even gave them instructions on how to maintain their websites but only about 5% of people did.
I now offer three professional website plans. All sites can be upgraded as new technologies come available.
- No Frills ($1,495+)
- Small Business Site ($4,495+)
- E-commerce Site ($7,495+)
Clients can pay outright or monthly.
The plus additional functionality you may require beyond the basic design/what is listed on this page.
Website Security
Websites with a CMS need to be maintained or they will crash, get hacked or eventually cripple a server with unchecked security issues.
Security is big these days. As part of what I do, I add, maintain and tweak security behind all client websites on a monthly basis. Sometimes more often. For this, clients pay a yearly fee from between $349 and $749 (including hosting). Site security and SEO issues make up around 80% of my workload.
I allow people to pay on a monthly basis until the full amount is paid. I add 10% to the overall cost.
Naturally, you might go with another freelancer or web development company, but check the fine print first, or read the reviews. It’s agood idea to get in touch with someone on their testimonials list. I know you’ll find Geoffrey Multimedia best value for money.
All websites these days need to be maintained, so make sure your host includes this somewhere. I can’t tell you how many sites I’ve rescued from oblivion because they weren’t maintained or secured correctly.
Hosting is not maintenance
Hosting is 95% profit and it’s how most web companies stay afloat. There’s, literally, nothing to do except sell server space and (in the best cases) keep the server up to date.
Sites I run are no more than 1 month out of date at any time because I’ve seen what happens to poorly maintained sites and sites completely invisible to search engines.
Onward…
4. Graphic or Print Company ($2,500-$7,000)
Logos, Print & Signage
Graphic and print design firms have moved into web design. But be wary. Print Design and Graphic Design look the same, but they are worlds apart.
There’s a LOT more to a website than pretty pictures. Yes, you can build a website using Photoshop. I wouldn’t. I consider actual design about 10% of what I actually do when I build your website. Moreso with expensive sites.
Security work is closer to 10% and (ethical) SEO can take up nearly half the time on a search-engine-focussed eCommerce site. What’s under your website bonnet counts for a lot. Just getting found is a big deal. You are competing with over 1.5 billion websites (half that in 2012). Search Engine Optimisation is huge. Optimising your site so that search engines can find it is an entire industry. Get that wrong and nobody sees your site at all.
Ask your graphic design agency the following;
- What is the plan for Search Engine Optimisation (beyond basic metatags)?
- What Content Management Systems (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento etc.) will be used and who will maintain it?
- What kind of server will I be on? A fast one sing PHP, MySQL?
- What will my site look like on tablets, phones, other devices?
- Will my site be affected by “The Google Dance.”*
- Do you work with a qualified web developer?
*The Google Dance refers to Google’s ever-changing search engine algorithm. Google releases updates every few months. The updates determine where you appear on a search result pages (SERPs). Will you be at the top of Page 1, or will you be at the bottom of Page 3?
If your web designer doesn’t know what these things are you can end up spending a lot of money on a beautiful, but entirely invisible website.
Make sure someone is coding up the design properly and not just outputting images from Photoshop using “Save as HTML” (on this note I just did a site for a guy who’d hit “Save As HTML” on a series of Word documents – the code was unbelievable clean).
Photoshop skills cover between 2% and 5% of what web design and development really is in 2021.
Nice pictures and nice code are very different beasties.
You will need a Content Management System
Gone are the days of getting your web developer to update your website. You should be able to do that yourself.
Flash websites
No. Just . . . no. For the most part, Flash websites are 100% invisible to search engines. I avoid Flash entirely because it’s no longer supported. It simply doesn’t work at all on Apple devices – a huge part of the web viewing platform.
Too many tablets and phones don’t use Flash and Google has too many issues reading the content of a Flash site. They try, God Bless ’em, but it’s not worth the risk. I did a site in Flash and got phone calls. “Why isn’t my site showing?” The browser needed a plugin.
These days I tend to shy away from the animated pizazz that Flash once espoused. I use CSS or Javascript for navigation and slider animation and will wrap all on-site movies with HTML5 (responsive movie) wrappers so they play nice on iOS and mobile devices.
If your print company has a professional web developer, these differences may not be an issue. A background in advertising and graphics could even be an advantage with a real developer at the helm. Ask the questions above. Too many pretty websites never get found and it’s a shame.
5. Website Company or Firm (about $7,000+)
These guys pay staff and overheads
This option might be a good one for large companies with 20 or more employees (although I’ve done plenty of those myself).
If you are into Risk Management, you will be dealing with a Pty. Ltd. Company. If you want a lot of very specific (custom) functionality, $7,000 will be your website cost. If you want to present a unique experience you have never ever seen on another website, you will pay more again.
I’ve worked behind the scenes as Project Manager for these companies and working with a team of 5 people on a $200,000 website was routine. I need not tell you that companies are in the business of making a profit (and retaining good staff). This will interfere with their ethics charter as it often means taking on work they’d rather not do. They can’t afford to be picky.
As a freelancer, my personal aim is to make a comfortable living doing what I love and serve my clients loyally. It’s my way of making the world a better place and a very different volition. For those $200,000+ websites, I would have costed them at around $20K max. Including hiring external staff for the job.
I left the company because I was underpaid and their clients weren’t happy with the work.
Nearly half of all my clients have come to me after having bad or below-par experiences with larger web companies. It’s generally because they are spending too much on their website.
The Biggest Problem
Big clients get the most attention.
Big clients pay staff wages. Small sites might mean the difference between profit and loss during a thin work month, but weathering long periods of inactivity is difficult for larger firms. And often that means doing horrible things like cold-calling or taking on jobs which might have been better left to little businesses like mine.
Just on that. My site may not look so, ;) but I’m a cottage industry web developer who prides himself on solid, personal service. If I need help, I call a specialist friend (because thy are friends I do not take a cut and just add their bit to the bill). But in most cases, I can handle large jobs myself and so, perhaps sadly, I find myself working aone *sniff*.
But YOU benefit… *Yay!*
6. Communication Company or Ad Agency ($15k+)
The big end of town
What do we get for the big money? In many cases… less.
These companies hire people like me. I work behind the scenes for a few marketing agencies (mainly WordPress security and maintenance).
Communications companies don’t build websites, they outsource them and front the whole process with well dressed young people. I’ve had heaps of work from large companies in the past, but choose not to work with them too closely because… everyone gets hurt by the final bill.
I prefer to be transparent about costs.
Tale of Woe…
A friend of a friend (let’s call her Maria) runs a big (local) Perth Web Design company. One communications company approached Maria and asked her for something quite specific. Something that her Web Company never does. So Maria put out the feelers and found a programmer (let’s call him John) who wrote the kind of functionally specific code that the client wanted. Maria ball-parked the job at around $30,000 – but when the programmer did it for under $10,000, Maria couldn’t go back on her word.
She did very well out of the deal but felt really guilty as she’d simply outsourced the work and hadn’t added any value herself. John happily did the job and was very happy with his $10K.Maria later discovered that the Communications Company had charged the client $150,000. Had the client known John in the first place, the company could have saved literally $140,000. Maria and the Communications Company added nothing to the project. As the project also needed maintaining, John did all the modifications without letting the client know he even existed.
I’m like John.
I have certainly had this very experience working on websites for various Government Departments.
These days I prefer to deal with the client directly. It’s way more interesting and I get to meet other people.
This story isn’t unique to web design as I’m sure you know, loyal reader. :)
In short, Communications Companies are more expensive. They outsource everything because a good web developer costs $100K+ to employ. If you are visited by a well-dressed man or a leggy blonde firing off questions about your website – move your wallet to your front pocket. Chances are that this person will know nothing at all about web design and the sheet of notes will, most likely, be passed on to a me-like person.
To be fair, Communications Companies do also look after the marketing and brand awareness of your business including; logo, colours, tv advertising, company, style-guide and other marketing aspects of your transmitted image. This holistic approach may be what your company needs.
Larger Companies sometimes work closely with external web development teams (like me and my friends) to create a uniform look and feel of the brand or product throughout all associated marketing materials including the website.
“Brand Message” is what they are about.
My rule of thumb is this: when your T-shirts start to walk out the door, I’m doing my job.
Beware of Paying Too Much
>Does the CEO have a Masters in Marketing
The person building your website should have a computer science background.
While I reject “Communication Company” work (I always feel that everyone is getting ripped-off and feeling angry) this is actually how the web world often is. Suffice it to say, if all you need is a stock-standard website with a bit of added functionality and creative pizazz avoid Communications Companies.
Their aim is to find out how much you have and then take it while off-siting a small percentage to actual coders like me.
In my humble opinion, communications companies are a left over idea from the heady 80s and 90s, where clients were charged $100 to hot-link text to another web page (A hot-link is an expensive way to say “link” but they are exactly the same thing. A straight “hot-link” takes less than 1 second to code).
If you want “hot links” go to a Communication Company.
7. Online Web Development ($250+)
Off-shore web development
Oh my. Where do I start?
You can approach an overseas company or an online website template service to have your site built if you want. Better still – why not just trawl through your spam folder and answer one of the thousand emails criticizing your existing website? You’d be doing the 3rd world a big favour and it will be like you have a whole company dedicated to just your one website. Can you se where I’m going with this?
The code is awful and the distance is great.
A few clients have come to me after experiencing Philippines-based or Indian web design company services. While their prices may initially look attractive, there are many hidden charges and additional extras not clearly outlined in the pitch. They get away with advertising for things that are not covered by law here in Australia and you are often left holding the baby when it comes to website support and maintenance.
I know of one person who fully paid for an off-shore website which, when it was delivered, was just the first page. All the links to other pages didn’t work. “I’m afraid that will cost extra, kind Sir.”
I was doing routine updates on another guy’s site when I realised he’d had it totally re-built. “Sorry Ed, you were a bit expensive so I got these other guys to do it.”
Okay. All’s fair in business.
One week later he’d fallen off Google Search. His site was penalised for spamming Google. We’d spent years getting him to number one on Google. When I looked at the code, all I could see was backlinks to cigarette companies and sex sites. Nice. Needless to say, fixing his site would cost me more than doing a completely new site from scratch.
In short – DON’T DO IT.
Getting what you pay for
I advise anyone who has a website to make sure it’s comes with some kind of maintenance plan. If it doesn’t, your site will get hacked or used as a spam farm and then you will need expensive support.
I use open-source software which allows anybody to expand or update their website over time without having to pay me a dollar.
I charge between $349pa and $749pa maintenance to clients which allows me to keep all software up-to-the-minute up to date, functioning correctly, healthy and secure from attack. If a site is attacked, I resurrect or rebuild the site from a recent backup. But most of all. I keep sites up to date.
Read more about my maintenance and support plans here.
You can pay what you like for a website. Some companies will take what they can get.
There are too many middle men in this industry and it pays to be aware of that. No many people actually know what they are talking about so you should ask them questions directly.
This industry has almost no rules. The internet is borderless, which means that every man and his dog can set themselves up as a web designer for very little cost or outlay.
From where I sit, I see the web as a kind of Wild West. Everybody has a gun and there is no Sheriff.
The websites I build are usually for small businesses with some staff. I find building really massive websites painfully boring and tend to shy away from bigger jobs which take me away from smaller, challenging, fun projects. The boss on those bigger jobs is invariably a confused board of people clinging to old ideas, each board member with a different favourite colour and naturally, because we’re “living the democratic dream” everyone gets a say. Which means your website will look as if it were designed by committee.
While the money is great, working on big projects feels like I’ve sold my soul and invariably I return to smaller clients and small businesses.
Take your online web presence, production and design seriously. If you are investing other people’ money, don’t spend $2,000 on your website. Wear a suit that will give any groom a run for his money. Most potential clients will see your website once. Three seconds is a typical page browse time. You need people to stay longer than that and then come back again later. And you need to have something there for them to come back to.
Final Website Developer Thoughts
Another thing worth noting is that the success of your website solely depends on YOU, not the person building your site. How much time you are able to allocate to the upkeep of your site (adding articles, news, new images and timely content)? Who will write your content?
I’m going out on a limb here, but it’s a good idea to treat your website as if it’s even more important than your actual business. More people can visit your site in one day than you can actually fit in your shop.
Your website essentially IS your business and the website cost needs to be added to your bottom line – not in your advertising budget. You need to get your head around that. Most businesses have it the other way around. Entrepreneurs put the business first and think of the website as an advert.
Your website can do a lot more than your physical business, but it must generate trust and you need to do that quickly. You have less than one minute to make an impression.
Your time starts NOW
NB: This article was originally written in March 2012, Rewritten in May 2013, December 2013, April 2014, October 2014, January 2015, some time in 2017 & Aug 2019 and now this version June 15th 2021.
If you liked it, please leave a comment.
Article ©Copyright Geoffrey Multimedia 2012-2021. All rights reserved.
Tony Wong March 20, 2012 at 9:16 am
Hey Ed, great article mate… it’s funny, we’ve been hovering in the middle middle area of ‘independent’ operators (like you – and what I was in the UK for 10 years), and the mid-size companies who have the larger overheads… I agree that people getting ripped off by expensive firms are damaging our business and making all potential clients suspicious and anxious, but eventually, like with everything, people will understand that you get what you pay for… and it’s up to them to make sure they find someone who has their best interest in mind… see you this Friday hopefully! Tony
Edwin Lynch March 20, 2012 at 11:09 am
Thanks Tony. Yeah, over $15K for a WordPress install. What the . . . ? It’s true that people eventually find out. Even if it means through tears. It really makes me angry. One lady spent her life’s savings ($15K) on a basic 10 page site with no functionality – and then when she wanted to update, it was thousands. They held her site to ransom.
Tony runs a website called Knucklehead TV if you need to get a quote from an actual web developer as opposed to a freelancer.
Brendan June 12, 2012 at 9:04 am
I overquote on jobs when I realise that the potential client is going to be more interested in how much they can skim off the top rather than how successful their site can be in developing and engaging new business.
I do this for two reasons; first it’s to ensure that if I get the “drop the price by 25% and i’ll give you the job” line then I’m not working at a loss and secondly it is to scare away the tyre kickers in our industry that shop solely on price and then wonder why their site fails to live up to expectations!
Edwin Lynch June 12, 2012 at 9:15 am
Good one, Brendan. I make sure the client actually is running a real business. Middlemen suck. They do nothing. People who buy websites on price have totally got the wrong idea about what a website is. Would you ask your doctor for a 25% discount on a heart transplant? I really wouldn’t want to be that patient.
I once did a $2,500 website for a “friend.” It was a massive job with about 100 hand-coded pages. My friend gleefully told me he got $8,000 for the site I built (an early Port Bouvard Realty site). I couldn’t believe the audacity. “How is that a good thing? You’re just telling me you’ve ripped two people off. Me and the PB developers.” (the site was probably worth about $4,00 at the time). Why not take 10% as a content management fee and on-charge at a reasonable rate for my coding work.
I’m no longer starting out so don’t ever need to work for $5/hr on websites ever again, but I believe your instincts are right, Brendan. Although even 25% is a lot in my book. I only give that sort of discount to existing clients who want a 2nd site (Many do. I have one client with 4 websites). The middleman (who knows nothing about code) needs to be OUT of the website cost equation as their work is often worth nothing. Unfortunately, this industry is full of entrepreneurs who buy staff at $17-30/hr and set up “Web Development” companies. Then they on-sell staff at $240/hr without adding one mote of value to the deal. Unless you count the leggy marketing girl (or guy).
If someone is so focussed on price, it usually means they’ll have you working on an “Albatross” site (you know that website – the one you’ll get to once you’ve finished the paid-for sites and the website is NEVER updated by the client).
I try not to have those people on my books these days as they waste a lot of time asking for ridiculous prices. I do keep in touch with past potential clients to see how the “cheaper option” went. they’re usually only too happy to pass on the information about your competing company and you learn so much that way.
I’m like you. For anyone who wants me to build a site for $5/hr, I tend to suddenly be a bit busier than usual and my base price goes up. Saying No opens the door to better clients. Don’t let your clients choose you. ;)
Only the wise will read this so low on a page, so our secret is safe Brendan. Good luck with finding really good clients. They make the whole web development business sunnier.
Ben June 26, 2012 at 8:27 am
Another great article mate.
This makes me question my own quotes on jobs an whether I am loosing them solely on being too CHEAP. I would averagely be quoting $2, 500…
objectman June 26, 2012 at 8:44 am
I can’t afford to do cheap sites these days, but I’m certainly giving the expensive guys a run for their money. I offer a lifetime guarantee and work my guts out for clients once a site is built. The site is only the beginning as you well know. What’s the point in a website that is never updated and has only 5 people visiting each week? It’s what the client does with the site afterwards that really makes a site successful. But what you say is true. I used to quote very low. Often if you are the lowest quote,you are locked out of the bid because you seem too “cheap.” If you can still survive at $2,500 for a website, go for it. Just so you know, that’s what larger web companies charge for website upgrades (once you are on their books). It’s also about the same time (after about 2 years) that clients bail from larger companies and come over to freelancers like us where they get much better service. Big companies are desperate to keep clients away from freelancers so they spend thousands on Google Adword campaigns, effectively locking the small guys out. I get 90% of my work through word of mouth. Just be careful not to take on too many clients is my advice. Otherwise you’ll end up NOT servicing properly – or, and this is what happens – you expand and have to take on more staff.
Greg October 22, 2014 at 9:32 am
Hi Ed, Good to see you rewrite this article as I use it as an example to position my own company. What you say about marketing companies is true. We were outbid by one Perth company (who shall remain nameless) who finally built a website with only half the specs we had in our proposal. But – get this – for at least five times the figure we quoted. We’ve upped our prices a little but it goes to show, eh?
Edwin James Lynch October 22, 2014 at 9:36 am
Yes. My bet is that they outsource development to people like us anyway. I’ve been contacted by middlemen who I’m sure are working for marketing companies. I know because they come in with a fixed price and expect you to fit their quote. You win some you lose some when it comes to doing quotes and site proposals, but I hear you. Good luck with the next one :)
Marta Musser November 11, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Are you comfortable with individuals who have a new business idea? And do you offer a warranty or guarantee?
Edwin James Lynch November 12, 2014 at 7:51 am
Hi Marta, I’m happy to talk with anyone who is wanting to make the leap online with a business idea. All the sites we build are fully serviced. The warranty is covered by the yearly maintenance fee (which used to be called a hosting fee). This means that you are 100% guaranteed. Say if the site goes down, for any reason, even mistakes on your part, we will get it back up and running for you. Hope that answers your question.
nate January 1, 2015 at 11:57 pm
Seriously – Who pays 10k for a website these days – I need to know! …Most clients and businesses if you simply do a local search in any industry will have a weebly or free site up and for the most part these are vastly better than the ones who have some overnight web agency or an agency that has been around for 10+ years ( old and dated ) and to be honest for most businesses this weebly or wix site is exactly what they need. Especially start-ups!!!! As for security – When is the last time i worried about security – never!!! – I have automated 90% of my updates and security process with a few simple steps and a few awesome plugins… As for design and functionality – Most businesses don’t need custom or use anything other than a lead form , some call to actions and way to update pics , text, video and testimonials… Am I wrong in saying the needs of most clients are generically common and 80% of all websites are vastly similar and can be duplicated ( design and message tweaks only needed ) Most can be automated and the other 20% is the customization aspect. With all due respect I can reproduce this site in a couple hours ( pixel perfect ) and no one will know the difference… Can you enlighten me as to how we move forward – the market has changed!
Edwin James Lynch January 5, 2015 at 8:44 am
It’s great that you’ve developed a security system Nate, and that you have automated your updates. There really are some excellent plugins out there – some, like WooCommerce, much bigger than WordPress itself. If you can build sites overnight, then great. The issue becomes this: What happens when your theme becomes outdated and WordPress headers have to be re-written? What happens when you are hacked? I’ve actually been doing this since 1997 and most clients (95%) I get are the ones who have been poorly serviced or taken for a ride by SEO companies. Or they have run their own Weebly site and want to move on with a more experienced developer. In the past I’ve built $250K sites with teams of HTML / CSS people, PHP programmers and specialist JavaScript programmers. But what you say is essentially true. Because of jQuery libraries, off the shelf sliders and plugins, even a small operator can build websites that rival the likes of Coca-Cola or BMW. So I’m with you. Yes, the market has changed. Moving forward? Probably transparency, reliability and experience would be my top 3 recommendations. Turning a skill into a really good business model is the challenge. A lot of people pay $10K for a website. But usually it’s one with customisation beyond just a few plugins and it might have eCommerce, forms feeding into existing client CRM databases. Usually the ones up around $10K+ are sites requiring special needs for the client. But you’re right. WordPress out of the box is a good fit for most people wanting a basic website.
nate January 2, 2015 at 12:04 am
What do you say to designers and agencies who purchase themes for $48 and turn around and charge a client 100x the price to only set up the site – edit content ( not create ) and swap logos? Where does this business model fit inside the above examples and who and how should clients protect themselves from this type of treatment.
Edwin James Lynch January 5, 2015 at 8:56 am
It all depends on the time it takes to set up a site, and the skill-set of the designer / agency. Many out-of-the-box themes rely heavily on CSS / HTML knowledge and would be impossible for a designer (not well-versed in these areas) to get a handle on. Not every WordPress theme developer comments their code (indeed doing so can crash a site on IE) or even failing that, provides good documentation with their theme. There are plenty of people out there building websites without qualifications or the right skills (JavaScript, HTML, CSS). It’s up to the client to ask what qualifications or abilities the agency has and if the site will still be there in 1 year’s time (or will the author / theme user bail). Some kind of guarantee might cover this. Asking the right questions is the best way forward IMHO. I’ve taught basic and advanced web design, programming and online marketing at Curtin University here in WA and still get into a pickle with out-of-the-box requests. From a developer’s perspective, you can estimate the time it would take to build the site (with provided content – say at $50/hr) and add about 30% to the overall cost for setting up / server specifics etc.
Joost January 7, 2015 at 4:05 pm
Hi,
My uncle asked me if i can build a website for him he wants like 20 pages. I am a student learning web-design. How much should i ask?
-Joost
Edwin James Lynch January 10, 2015 at 6:54 pm
For my first website, I charged $50. But in your case, if you are still a student, maybe $10-$15 per page? What do you think?
Joost January 17, 2015 at 3:16 pm
I actually have no idea. Ill ask him how much he was thinking about. Thanks though.
Edwin James Lynch January 18, 2015 at 5:20 pm
No worries
Dale April 2, 2015 at 11:37 am
Hi,
I like the information provided. I have done freelance websites previously in the past and have always under quoted myself much to my detriment to get the business.
I have been asked to create and host a website for a new legal company and not sure what I should quote. I do not have a scope of the work yet but imagine it will be comparable to: Inner Melbourne Community Legal. How much should I consider quoting for this work?
Thanks,
Dale.
Edwin James Lynch April 7, 2015 at 10:49 am
Hi Dale. I’d do a site like that for around $3-4K, but I’d give it a real jooshing up. Having said that I did a really nice legal site for Elliott & Co. Barristers & Solicitors for just a little more than that. But it kinda really depends on a few things. Are you going to build the site and not service it? If I’m also servicing a site I will build them for a bit cheaper. Or do you want to build this site – then move on to another. Are you building the site in WordPress or are you starting from scratch using HTML and CSS (or using a framework such as Twitter Bootstrap)? How many sites have you built before this one or is this your first? As a general rule, I go by “years out of uni / TAFE”. One year out, small sites like this 1500 – 2500. 5 years out, 2500+ Why? Because if you have been building website solidly for 5 years or more, you’ll probably find that you are adding a lot more value / functionality and process know-how than someone who is straight out of TAFE / Uni. Studying formally (Uni or TAFE) also means that you are more committed and it gives your client more confidence in your work.
Alan May 5, 2015 at 1:10 pm
really love the solarfreedomaustralia new website. Very interested in your skills. How much is a site like that with your content?
Edwin James Lynch May 10, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Yes, I put my everything into the Solar Freedom site, Alan. Glad you like it. I’m getting a lot of work just because of how tight and well-maintained this site is, and my client is doing very well out of it. If you are interested in having a site built, why not fill in this form for a free website mockup. Or you can see my general website price list right here. Content falls under social media as I start all social media campaigns with a blog post and then share through FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn mainly. Solar Freedom is on the weekly plan.
Samul Jones April 22, 2016 at 5:35 pm
Quite great explanation, finally we’ll know the real cost breakdown behind it.
I was here few days ago, and now my website is under build by Virgo Empire
they charged me free build, free domain and I don’t know the other details but I only have to pay the £25 a month nothing more. I guess they have sale or something.
Edwin James Lynch April 27, 2016 at 5:10 pm
That’s not a terrible price but their website is shocking. Tell us why you chose them in particular. Or do you work there?
Sue April 27, 2016 at 4:45 am
We were approached by a web designer to redo our current website. He charged us $2500 and when we finally got the link to look at it (3 months after paying) it was a wix site. He said he used the template but built it himself. Do I believe him?
Edwin James Lynch April 27, 2016 at 5:06 pm
The amount he charged probably has to do with the time he spent on Wix (and you can spend forever on it) but I wouldn’t fully recommend Wix as you’re sitting on a proprietary server. Plus you have to pay for every single little added extra that would normally cost nothing. It’s good to check out your potential web designer / SEO guy on LinkedIN or another professional network first. They must at least be familiar with HTML and CSS (even, if like me they aren’t JavaScript experts). I encourage new clients to get in touch with my older clients and to check my qualifications. Anybody can build a website without having to learn a line of code these days, but few understand how to build a site, how to modify it and how to get it found. Websites are a lot more complex than just getting one built. You need to think about SEO, traffic and how to convert surfers into buyers. My entire LIFE is spent 1. Getting people’s existing websites found using SEO and online advertising and 2. Fixing clients who defected (because I was a bit too expensive) and went the cheap offshore option. I get all of those clients back because this industry attracts cowboys who have no experience (I can feel a blog post coming on). You should be able to get at least a basic WordPress website for that price – otherwise why not do it yourself using Wix’s easy interface?
Shush Arya May 3, 2016 at 10:02 pm
Thank’s you a lot!:)
I want to start my own business, and looking for effective ways of marketing!:)
Lot’s inspiration for you!:)
Ray Richards May 18, 2016 at 7:44 pm
Wix and Weebly have a very good free option, but I prefer the second since Wix has those awkward looking ads on their free version. Now, some people aren’t put off by the ads but I am. Weebly is my weapon of choice because of their extremely easy to use drag-and-drop feature and their many, many features available. And they are getting better with each passing year.
Edwin James Lynch May 20, 2016 at 2:48 pm
I agree. They are. Some web developers see Wix, Weebly and now Shopify as threats to the web design industry. But nothing could be further from the truth. We work with several clients who ran Wix websites for a year or so and then came to us. The best clients, I find, are the ones who have had experience setting up and running their own website for a while. When the website gets a bit too big and unweildy, we get a phone call and we work with the semi-experienced client to build a better, faster site on their own server where they have a lot more control over the code and other custom mods particular to their industry. We like nothing better than working with a trained web manager who would like to go a bit further by having more control over their content and intellectual property. :)
Gina July 8, 2016 at 11:39 pm
Interesting read, however for the DIY sites, make sure you read the fine print of contracts. You will not own the rights to your domain. Having a professional web designer is the best way to go. A great web designer will take your vision and bring it to life, and won’t overcharge you in the process.
Edwin James Lynch July 9, 2016 at 4:44 pm
Here here Gina. Usually you get what you pay for. Free often looks free.
Ira Patel September 19, 2017 at 5:57 pm
Hey Edwin, This article found me very helpful to understand details about the website designing today’s cost, so the idea for sharing zero budget is helpful for all who are planning to build website without any investing money into it. thank you for sharing..
Edwin James Lynch September 20, 2017 at 9:27 am
No worries Ira. A lot of clients come to me after running their own website for a year or so. If you want to take your web journey further, check us out.
survey October 2, 2017 at 1:48 pm
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SPEC INDIA January 31, 2018 at 5:35 pm
Good read. Subject is very well covered and provide true picture of the website development costing. Can you please do a review for the 2018 too?
Edwin James Lynch February 2, 2018 at 11:00 am
I certainly will Spec India. Tx for your interest. Working on it now…
Merion Rebeca October 6, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Hey Edwin,
I found this article very useful and it helped me to understand about website design and the factor behind the costing. You can develop a website by yourself or hand over to an agency or developer. As per the requirement of a website the costs may vary.
Edwin James Lynch October 7, 2019 at 3:10 pm
Yes! I’m glad it helped and you understood. Your nutshell respoonse is perfect.
Merion Rebeca October 9, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Thank you, Edwin.
Aaron Starc December 31, 2019 at 7:31 pm
Hi, I just found that article and then went onto your main blog page and found this one. I am skimming through two other articles on your site…website cost is such a necessity for people. I had published an inforgraphic about it, if you feel you can use it here then let me know I will be happy to share. :)
Edwin James Lynch January 1, 2020 at 9:07 am
Yeah, I’d be into that. Good excuse to refresh this post for 2020. Send it to info at geoffrey.com.au and I’ll add it and link back to your site (assuming it’s on-topic). I’m in Australia here if that’s any issue with relevance. :)