This is the first question almost every client asks when beginning a website project. It is a fair question though, considering price is generally the underlying factor that helps us when deciding upon investment decisions.
There isn’t, however, one definitive answer to this question. Imagine asking this question similarly to asking how much a car costs. If you were to ask someone this question, they would want to know all sorts of information like what size engine you require, how many seats you need and what sort of interior you want.
The story is much the same when asking how much a websites costs. There are so many differing types of websites that it is impossible to even give an estimate without receiving a little more information. Compare a site like eBay with a micro-blog and you get an idea of how different a websites cost can be.
Just a few of the many things that affect a websites pricing are:
- Structure – How many pages does the website have? This can vary from a one page website to one with hundreds of pages of content.
- Content – How is the content to be displayed? Do we have a simple text based website on our hands or are we going to be dealing with hundreds of photo and videos?
- Design – A very big subject on its own. This includes choosing colors and graphics that tie in with your logo and brand. Are we dealing with a fairly standard design or does the client require a ground-breaking, uniquely new concept?
- Content Management – Does the client require the ability to be able edit and update the website on a regular basis or will the website remain the same for the foreseeable future? Or does the client require for regular updates to be included as part of the package?
- Functionality – Does the website contain a contact form and a image slideshow, or is it a fully optimized e-commerce shopping system?
- Optimization – Including speed, quality of coding and search engine optimization (SEO). All are factors that can affect costing.
- Mobile – Is the website to be mobile friendly? Does the client require a separate version designed for mobiles and tablets or is it ignored completely?
These are only a few of the many factors to be considered when providing a website solution. You can see that the answers to the above questions will have a huge impact on the costing of a website and so you see how hard it is to give an accurate estimate when asked how much a website will cost without having at least a little information.
Just like a website should be unique to your brand or identity, it is extremely likely that the price you pay for that website will be unique to you as well.
