How Much Should It Cost To Build a Website?
How much should it cost to build a website? The answer to this question depends on many factors that I’ll get into in this article. Generally, basic websites can be built for as low as $500 or less, but more complex sites could cost up to $10,000 or more.
How many pages do you want your website to have?
The number of pages and features will determine how much time it takes to build your website. For example, an eCommerce website will take considerably longer than a simple landing page because there's usually much more setup involved. A typical eCommerce website setup involves loading products (pricing, quantity, variants), shipping, taxes, payment processors, etc.
At the time of writing this, the most affordable website package that I offer goes for $1,500, which includes up to three pages, and is perfect for small businesses with a limited budget that just wants a quick, simple website up and running with no bells and whistles required. The most premium website package that I offer starts at $4,400, and it includes up to ten pages. The price may vary depending on whether you need more complex features such as eCommerce, membership, a blog, etc.
How experienced is the designer?
Unsurprisingly, a seasoned web designer will be able to create a website faster than someone new to it. When I first started building Squarespace websites (about 4 years ago), it took me about 3x longer to build a site than it does now, but my prices reflected that.
If you’re on a limited budget and aren’t itching to meet a deadline, you should consider hiring a web designer that’s newer to the industry. Just make sure that you ask for past work to make sure that they’re capable of producing the quality of work that you’re looking for.
How many revisions do you want?
Ask yourself, are you a decisive or indecisive person? After you receive the first draft of your website, you’re going to be expected to send revisions. If you’re a decisive person who generally is good at giving direction, it’s probably going to take you less time (and therefore less money) to push the draft towards completion. If you’d consider yourself a pretty indecisive person who likes to see changes on your website before you decide on them, it might take you several rounds of revisions. If these revisions fall outside the scope of the website package you purchased, it might cost you more money.
If you’d consider yourself an indecisive person - I understand! Your website is a reflection of your business, so you want it to be exactly what you imagined. It’s helpful to provide inspiration sites to give as much guidance as possible if you're going for a specific look and feel. Sometimes it’s hard to convey exactly what you feel like the website is lacking, and inspiration sites do a great job at helping you get the message across to your designer.
Do you want a website built from scratch or on a CMS such as Squarespace, WordPress or Wix?
Building a website from scratch will take a web developer much longer to build than if they were to use a CMS. A CMS (Content Management System) is a pre-built platform that makes it easy for people to create a website without the use of code. The most popular CMS platforms today are Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify, and Wix.
A CMS-built website will suffice for most small businesses. However, if your website needs complex features such as a multi-step checkout process or a very uniquely custom design (think elaborate animations), you'll want to hire a developer who can code it from scratch. Beware - this is the much more costly path to take.
I design all my websites on Squarespace. I personally think it’s the most user-friendly CMS to use, which still allows for simple custom coding tweaks to make the site look original, while still maintaining its editability.
