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Most of our clients admit that a perfectly built website can boost their business. A simple and user-friendly interface can help them improve customer retention and close more deals. The website is one of the most powerful marketing channels for businesses. There is no doubt that you need a website, but what is the cost of developing a resource that meets your business needs?
The average cost to build a website is what everyone wants to know. But there is no average answer since websites differ greatly. Nevertheless, this request still remains the most frequent one, so we decided to explain how we estimate the cost of our services.
So in this article we are going to answer the most crucial questions – how to build a reliable website, why you should get a detailed estimation and how to avoid wasting your time and money. Let’s proceed to this topic right away
How much does it cost to create a Website?
The first thing you need to know is that nobody can tell you the precise cost of the project without understanding the idea and making a plan. If you send a request that is not very detailed to a development company and they give you the final price at once, you can be sure that it will never be the same in the end. Unfortunately, a lot of clients are vulnerable to a promise like that. And in the end thy get a great website that costs way more than they were promised in the beginning.
You might see advertising that promises you a website that will cost you $300-500. Yes, such prices exist, but such websites don’t provide the expected results because they are made by an amateur who read several articles about website development on builders and never heard about UI/UX design, SEO optimization, customization, etc. Also, if you choose a website created on builder, you’ll lack many features in the future. Let’s take the productivity of your business – as it will grow, you will need to start using CRM, ERP or other business management tools. To do it effectively, it will be needed to perform your website integration with those systems. And websites created on builders will not let you do so (or offer you some limited options).
So when choosing your website developers, you should pay attention whether they really dive into your project before presenting you with a commercial offer, and whether they understand your business niche. The offer should include a detailed plan of website development and rates for each operation. Let’s start with the basics. The rough budget of the project can only be determined if you have the answers to the following questions:
- What are the features of the website?
- What are the deadlines?
- How many team members will be involved?
Besides, it’s not a secret that the web development cost is also based on such factors as the geographical position of the development company. Hourly rates for web developers, designers, testers, and other team members vary in different countries. For instance, the highest rates are in the U.S. and the UK, which is almost $100-200 per hour. The medium prices can be found in Europe – $50-100 on average. And the lowest prices are in countries like India, Pakistan and can reach $5-50 per hour. Since the U.S.-based developers might be too expensive for some companies, they start to search for alternatives. But they shouldn’t be tempted by the low prices as they often involve poor quality.
Ukraine, alongside other Eastern European countries, is known to be the golden mine due to the price-quality ratio. We even have a dedicated blog post explaining the main advantages of Ukrainian developers. Briefly, the main benefits are suitable time-zone, strong skill set, affordable prices, and mentality.
Let’s proceed to the real numbers of website development. We will show you the yearly cost of some mandatory website expenses. The prices we provide are relatable for a basic website that is not overloaded with advanced features or integrations.
Cost of a Basic Website
| Website expenses | Price per year |
| Domain name | $2 to $15 |
| Hosting | $5 to $250 |
| Maintenance | $200 to $1,000 |
| SSL certificates | free to $50 |
As you can see from the table, the numbers are not so shocking and huge as many people think. However, we should mention that websites for different business niches will have different cost. And this depends on the desired feature set, website complexity and other factors. So before counting how much money you would approximately need, we’d recommend you to perform a discovery phase and discuss everything with your Business Analyst. At the end of the discovery phase you’ll have a clear understanding of you future solution, you’ll get Project Vision document, and a list of functional requirements and technology stack needed.
How we perform estimation
Our mission is to deliver projects with the goal of building long-term, trusting relationships with our clients. For that reason, we do our best to provide our clients with work done on time and within a set budget. To know for sure how much it would cost to make a website, each of our clients gets an individual estimate.
To estimate the future project, marketing research is necessary to cover promising avenues, the target audience, and competitors. Based on this information, the specifications stage of development will be started, which is obligatory for all our clients. But what are the specifications, you may ask?
Software specifications, or simply specs, are a document that describes the functions that a software must perform. It describes the interaction between the user and the software system, and has to be transparent so the client can understand who is going to be involved in the process, and how much it would cost. The specification process includes four key stages:
- The Business Analyst determines how the website should be developed according to the agreed-upon purposes and all business processes that could be implemented on the website.
- User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) creation that includes a custom design that will be user-friendly and comfortable for your customers. Template web design won’t respond exactly to your target audience and the specific character of your business.
- System Architect confirms the technology stack.
- System Architect also prepares the Roadmap.
The core purpose of the specification document is to describe how the system will work. It also allows the team to estimate the time and human resources required to develop the product. Depending on the project’s requirements and complexity, the development of a website can take 2 to 12 months. After you get the final estimate of the project, the website development itself can be started.
We strongly recommend you never skip the pre-development stage for the following reasons:
- Some important features can be missed without being pointed out by the expert.
- It’s impossible to estimate the exact cost of the project without knowing the scope of work.
- If you decide to add some features on the go, be prepared for the cost growth.
- It’s impossible to fit into the set deadlines without having a plan.
Without the discovery phase and all technical documentation describing the tech stack, development hours, and scope of work, you will not have a clear vision of your project, and no team will be able to give you any guarantees about time and cost. So, it is better to come prepared and know exactly what amount of money is needed to complete your website.
Our expertise in website development
For the past nine-plus years, we have developed and redesigned numerous websites for different companies. We have worked with various business owners and gained vast expertise in website development. So now, we invite you to take a look at the brightest examples of our work, which we are very proud of.
SOLJETS
Soljets is a powerful web platform for aircraft brokerage. The only thing you probably know about this niche is that it is a luxury one. So, this project demanded a special approach from our specialists. The client wanted to redesign his website to make it more selling and modern, and we successfully accomplished that task.
Our designers selected chick and luxury color palette for Soljets website, they added animation on the main page and did a great job on the UX. Every section on the website is understandable, you can intuitively navigate to Encyclopedia, the jets catalogue or the comparison tool. All those functionalities were added by our specialists as well. If you are interested in Soljets case, you can check it out in our Portfolio. So in general we paid special attention to the sitemap creation, navigation, logic and intuitivity of every function you can see on the website. Our client was so impressed, that he even considered entrusting us the development of an ERP system for his company.
HDR Print
HDR Print is a successful company that offers a range of custom printing services. It prints documents, posters, banners, and more. So, a reliable and profitable website is a must for them. While working on the HDR Print website, we gained expertise in designing it and making it highly user-friendly and intuitive.
We also created an advanced tool called a calculator widget. The main purpose of that tool was to help clients make custom orders by choosing the type of future printing, its custom size, and the price. At the moment, the website functions great, and it keeps bringing the company new clients thanks to its convenience and the presence of options to make an order fast and easy.
To Conclude
As you can see, the cost of creating a website depends on many factors. Generally, the more information you provide at the very beginning, the less time it will take to complete the final estimation of the project. The cost of a website is a combination of size, complexity, design, and flexibility. If you decide to have your website done by a professional team, you should rely on their expertise and work as a team to achieve a result that exceeds expectations.
Your website is the first place customers see you, so creating an awesome website should be your top priority. If you seriously want to build an engaging website that will boost your business, you need an experienced web development partner.
FAQ
No, they are different products. A website is basically produced to display information about a company, its goods, etc. It is like an advertising channel for your company. A web application has not only information but also functionality that your customers can use.
Website development includes several stages, including planning, sitemap creation, code writing, work with HTML and CSS, backend development, CMS, design, and testing.
Yes, custom websites are better because they offer more customization opportunities and can be easily connected to internal systems like CRM. However, with websites created with builders, you may have some difficulties with their improvement, design, and maintenance.
The cost of developing a website varies widely based on complexity, features, and who you hire. A basic website with standard pages can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, while a more complex site with custom features, e-commerce, or advanced functionality can range from $10,000 to $50,000 or more. If you’re working with a large agency, expect even higher costs.
A reasonable range for a simple, well-designed website is $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the designer’s experience and the project’s complexity. However, prices can go much higher for highly customized designs with animations, branding, and UX/UI work. Freelancers tend to be more affordable than agencies, but quality and experience also affect pricing.
