One of the most common questions people ask us when we get enquiries online or a quick phone call is “how much is a website?”. While this may seem like a straight-forward question to some people, the cost of a website depends entirely on your individual goals and budget.
What do you need to build a website?
In the interest to transparency, in this article we will discuss the general process of building a website and give a guideline of how much it costs at each stage.
Do you actually need to hire a web designer or developer to build a website? No. There are tools online that allow you to do it yourself and if you are on a low budget, this might genuinely be the way you have to go.
You might think we have just shot ourselves in the foot with that last statement, if you continue reading you will find out why this is not the case. We have given this advice to several potential clients with a low budget. It is always better to be honest in business, eventually you will get found out otherwise.
All that being said, if you don’t know what tools you need to launch a website, chances are you will overspend, under-achieve and be unhappy with the final product. No matter what type of website you want to build, it is always best to know the essentials:
A domain name - eg. example.com
Web hosting - Dependant on the size and features of your site
A building method - Either hiring a web developer or use a website builder eg. WordPress, Wix
Domain name
Your domain name is the address your website is located at. It is important to find a good domain name that represents your business well.
Once you register a domain name you will have legal ownership over that location for the period of time you buy the domain for, this can be anything from 1 year to 10 years. To register a domain name costs upwards of £20.00 usually, however this can differ greatly depending on the desirability of the domain.
You will also want to buy ‘domain protection’ with your domain name. When you register a domain, your contact details are linked to it in an online database. This is a legal requirement, however it is possible to stop telemarketers and spam artists from accessing your details by buying domain protection.
If you don’t do this, expect to receive a huge influx of annoying phone calls after registering your domain.
Web hosting
Your website is a collection of text, image and video files, they have to be stored and accessible from somewhere. Depending on the size of your files and how much storage space you are likely to need, the price of web hosting can increase.
Another factor to consider when choosing a web hosting company is their reputation. Good web hosts will offer high levels of encryption, backups of your website and database at regular intervals and 24/7 support incase something goes wrong.
You will also want to make sure the host is located somewhere close to where you expect your customers to come from. This has a reasonable impact on the speed your website loads, which is a major factor in retaining visitors.
With all the recent hype about GDPR and data security, you will want to make sure your host is offering something called an SSL certificate. This means the data going to and from your site is encrypted and much harder to intercept. Sites with SSL certificates start with https:// instead of http:// and have a little padlock to indicate their secure status in the address bar.
A building method
This is where it gets interesting, you can build a website for free or pay anywhere up to tens of thousands of pounds. Why would you pay tens of thousands of pounds you ask? As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
If you go the free route (which may be the only feasible way to launch a site spending on your budget), you are inevitably going to end up with something that isn’t very impressive. Online website builders like Wix or SquareSpace offer this kind of service, but your website will be covered in their logos, will likely be slow and could be hosted in a server in America somewhere.
Having said that, something is usually better than nothing. If you have little to no web presence, it might be worth doing this if it is all you can afford.
Hiring a web developer is the other option. If you are talking your business seriously and investing wisely, this is probably the way to go. There is a huge amount of skill and knowledge required to build a really successful website nowadays. Long gone are the days of “I know HTML and CSS and I’ll build you a website for 100 quid”.
Google has changed the game when it comes to web standards. If your website has a poor user experience, doesn’t load quickly and has low quality content, Google will slam you to the back of the queue when it comes to search engine ranking. This means very few people will ever visit your website.
A good web developer will constantly be developing their own skills to keep on top of what search engines expect from quality websites. Always look for a developer that uses the latest technologies and techniques.
As a general rule of thumb, it is difficult for one person to stay on top of all the different design and development aspects of building a website. If you are considering wether to go with a freelancer or an agency, 9 times out of 10 the agency will be able to deliver a better product.
This is because having multiple members of staff with ever growing skill levels will undoubtedly result in a higher level of understanding in the delivery of a quality product.
What does an entry level website cost?
Considering the above, depending on features, a basic website with a considered user experience & good design, that loads fast and uses the latest technology should be affordable. If you want additional features like a blog, online shop, booking systems or anything else that requires additional building work, expect to pay more.
Having conducted a lot of market research we can tell you honestly, if you aren’t being quoted this price or higher, the website is probably not going to be great.
Our entry level websites usually include:
A custom design based on your existing branding
A bespoke build using modern technologies like Laravel, React, Angular & Vue
User experience design, considering how the user will interact with the website
Contact forms with visual feedback and spam filters
Considered calls to action at the correct trigger points
Google Analytics showing website traffic, where your users are coming from and what device they are using
Common features that our clients add onto this basic package would include:
Content Management allowing you to update the website content yourself
A blog or news feature
Gallery or image library
Product listings
Booking systems
Job listing and application systems
Online shop with multiple payment options
All the above will take more time to build and therefore cost more, however they will add a lot of value to your website. People love to interact with those sorts of features, they massively increase the likelihood of an online enquiry or sale. This is evidenced by the data shown in Google analytics when clients add these features to their website.
Our websites are built with the future in mind, you may not have the budget to have all the fancy features you want at the start. If you want to add something on at a later date, we make sure to build your website in such a way to make this possible without rebuilding the whole thing.
Summary
In general we advise a lot of our clients to start small. Get your feet wet with a good foundation website that is driving traffic and getting your customers. There may be features that are essential to your business at the point of launch, go for those and add more later.
A lot of our clients see the bigger picture and are invested in the long term goals for their website. Due to the nature of the internet, a website should be an ever-evolving system that adapts to give your customers the experience they desire. This involves a good strategy for SEO, complimentary social media strategy driving traffic to your site, user experience updates and regular content creation.
If you invest in these sorts of things you will always see the return on investment. These are tried and tested methods of improving sales and enquiries. Our monthly maintenance packages include all of these services. Even paying for one hour a month to be spent tweaking and improving your site based on user trends will result in better search engine ranking and a move impressive website for your potential customers.
If you want to discuss any of the topics discussed in this article, or even want some free no-obligation advice, we are always here to help. Simply send us a message or give us a call and we will be happy to help.
