Are you kickstarting a brand-new business? Or perhaps you’ve been in business for a while, but you’re ready to advance to the next level? In both cases, it’s vital to recognize that you need a well-designed and user-friendly website to make business happen in today’s marketplace.
Have you ever visited a web page that was difficult to navigate, did not explain the product or business well, did not answer the questions you had, or looked outdated? Unfortunately, this can happen to any company that does not take its website seriously and does not use it wisely. You do not want to fall into this category.
Your website is the most important tool you have as a business owner. In many cases, it is the only face of the company your clients will see. It is also the best marketer you can “hire” to work around-the-clock hours, even while you sleep. Therefore, you do not want to skimp on your website with a subpar design, buggy features, or outdated landing pages. The value of a quality website is far worth the investment you put in.
But how much should you invest? And what is the best method of achieving a well-built website? You have many options. And the best choice for you depends on what you are willing to invest and what you would like to achieve. So here’s a brief breakdown of what web design entails to help you better understand the average web design cost.
Ways to Build a Website
Thanks to technological advancements, you have several ways to build your website. Each method has its own benefits, drawbacks, and cost. Some options are cost-saving, while others are better at getting your brand and business in front of the right customers. The route you choose depends on your goals, vision, and budget. There is not a one-size-fits-all way to build a website. It is up to you to decide what fits your needs the best.
That being said, the first and arguably most crucial decision you must tackle is whether you will build the website yourself or hire a professional. The cost of selecting either of these options can vary significantly as there are many ways to accomplish your web design within each choice. Here’s a quick peek at the difference between the two and why the average price of both options differ.
DIY
For startup businesses on a budget with very little cash on hand, a do-it-yourself approach can be a cost-saving decision. There are now many websites whose entire existence is based on helping you become your own website builder. Taking advantage of these hosting sites can be an easy way to get a free domain name and website up quickly.
These websites include templates, drag-and-drop features, shared hosting, free plugins, app integration, and more. They are typically very user-friendly and can help build a professional-looking site for a low cost. Using these web hosting sites is the cheapest route to building a website, costing anywhere from $30 to a few hundred dollars.
But where you may save money in the budget, you will not save time in your schedule. Deciding to take on the building and management of a website by yourself can be very time-consuming if you do not have the technological expertise and training. Even though these sites are helpful and user-friendly, they still take a lot of time to build out and work through complications that arise.
Unfortunately, your website can appear very “cookie cutter” if you select this route. Meaning there is very little room for specific customizations, and many other websites may appear very similar to yours. The likelihood of your website standing out among the competition if you build it yourself is not very high. To avoid this, you may choose to pay for higher-priced hosting plans and premium themes to access custom features. Understanding these packages and features, though, will take more of your time and resources.
In summary, building your own website is less expensive but may not give you the result you need to help your business grow.
Hiring a Professional
For business owners who understand that web development is an essential segment of business but prefer not to build their own websites, there are several options for hiring a professional. When going this route, it may take a more significant budget, but the product is often worth the investment and the saved time and effort.
Professional web designers work in many different styles and specialties, but the common theme is that they will have expertise and knowledge. Working with a professional designer ensures that you get a quality product and allows for more specific customizations such as SEO architecture, SSL certificates, and unique design features.
When hiring a professional, there are several decisions to make at varying costs. You must choose between hiring a freelancer or hiring an agency. You must also decide whether you would like a custom website built from the ground up or if you would like the professionals to build out a WordPress website. Either of these options requires research on your part to ensure that you hire a professional that can produce quality work with your product, goals, and vision in mind.
It is impossible to list a generalized figure for hiring a professional for web design because costs can vary significantly. Professionals may charge by the hour, per project, or a monthly fee if you would like to keep them on retainer. The average cost of working with a web design professional can vary between a single payment of a couple of hundred dollars or several hundred dollars per month for maintenance costs. These prices will be specific to the professional you choose.
In summary, hiring a professional is a more costly endeavor for web design, but the investment should drive more traffic to your site and pay for itself if it is done well. The costs and options can vary significantly, therefore, you can find a professional web designer for every budget.
To Pay or Not to Pay
Can you design and host your website with a free template plan? Technically, you can. But should you? We don’t recommend it. If you do not have experience with web design, figuring it out can take your precious resources of time and effort that can be better spent elsewhere.
Further, web development is not a one-and-done event. You will need to spend countless hours ensuring that your site is running smoothly, making adjustments, adding new features and products, and more. When you work with a professional, you can outsource these efforts and receive a polished product every time.
Professional web designers will know better how to optimize your content, capture leads, and increase conversions.
Web Design with Sting
So what does the average website cost? As you can see, that answer varies greatly and depends on a large number of factors. All in all, you should expect to pay between $100- $75,000. We know that is a considerable cost range. But just as good website design is not easy, generalizing website design costs isn’t easy either without knowing your needs and specifications.
At Sting, we have an expert team of professionals that are ready to hear from you. When you set up a meeting with us, our first step in web design is to discover what your brand is all about. We listen to your business goals, visions, successes, pain points, and everything in between to target how we can help you and jumpstart your journey to more revenue. In this meeting, we can give you a better figure of what it costs to build your website.
Contact us today to begin a conversation.
