One of the most common questions we hear from our clients are: “How much does it cost to build a website?”

It’s just like asking someone…. how much does a flight cost?

You couldn’t get a price of a flight without some basic info such as;

• Where do you need to go?
• When do you want to get there by?
• How quick do you want to get there?
• Is there any flexibility on these dates/times?
• What do you want included with the flight (i.e baggage, meals or extra leg room)
• What is the reason you need this flight? (see family, work, pleasure)

The same applies to pricing a website…

By understanding what you need in your website and also the goals you need to achieve then we can ensure your website is optimised for the best possible performance from the very start. The cost of your website will depend on the type of site you need, and the number of features you require, the complexity of the website as well as the type of on going maintenance required.

My pricing model for website design, no matter what services you require can either be paid upfront or the more popular option is on a pay monthly service we call WaaS - Website as a Service where you can spread the cost over a managable monthly subscription via a direct debit. Under the subscriptions, I can offer a variety of different plans depending on different factors and can literally range from anything between £25 per month right up to £1500 per month!

So have a read below where i go into further detail on the type of questions i would be asking so you can start thinking about your project.

What informaton do we need to quote a website?

Below are some of the main questions I would initially ask when trying to quote a new project, whether its updating an existing website or designing a brand new website most of the questions will still apply. When there is an old website already in place, by going through the same process as i would with a new website it will enable me to do a cost analysis to estimate whether building a brand new website would be more cost effective or not.

• Do you already have a website?
• What do you need a website for?
• When do you need to have it up and running by and why?
• Do you already have an established brand? i.e Logo, business colours style etc.
• What do you want included on the website? i.e About section, service catalogue, online store, gallery, videos, blog, contact forms etc
• What is the objective of the website i.e make online sales, customer engagement, business catalogue, portfolio, blog or just for fun etc
• What goals do you want to achieve from the website? I.e increase brand awareness, generate income, page views etc.?
• What type of audience is your website going to be for? i.e consumers, B2B clients, food lovers etc
• What type of device is your audience typically going to be using? i.e mobile, desktop or both
• What type engagement are you expecting from your audience when they visit your website? i.e sharing, commenting, booking appointments, taking payments, contacting you, completing forms or questionnaires, leaving reviews etc.
• How much content will need to be included to start with? i.e to get an idea of the size of the website, no. of pages etc
• Is this content available right away? If not who will be writing it?
  

Have you thought about what your available budget is, whether thats upfront or on monthly basis? Think about how much you really wantto spend and more important what you can afford.

No point if you tell me eveyrthing you would love to have and i then end up quoting something that is completely out of reach. Don't worry too much if your budget is tight, this could be for a number of reasons, but by knowingy ur budget in advance as well as what you need, we can try and work out a plan that’s affordable and gets you what you need whether that means we stagger some of the services over the year.

This is the biggest thing in my experience that people forget to think about… so when i ask "what else you need with your website?" the most common response I get is… “oh I just need a website, that’s all." Now thats fine if the rest is already taken care of or managed with other agencies but in most situations this is not the case.

Additionally the number of clients i have spoken to over the years who have come to me to say they had a website built years ago and they get no traffic.... its always the same where the web designer completed the website, got paid and that was last they saw them.

The issue is, having a website on its own is pretty much useless…

it’s about as useful as a restaurant with no signs, windows or doors and right in the middle of a field which has no road leading to it. No one would even know its there, and anyone who hears about it, will never find it!

So have a think about what you need once the website is built… such as;

• How are people expected to find your website? Google, social media, marketing etc.
• Will the website need updating regularly? and if so how often and by who?
• How do you want to be contacted by your customers?
• Will you need to collect any data from clients and if so what do want to do with it.
• How are people expected to find your website? Google, social media, marketing etc.

To help you think about what else you may need, here are some of the additional services that usually go with a website…

Most of the services I offer, I can do so in a few different ways, such as;

• Complete project or as a fully managed service included as part of your subscription.
• Some services I could offer partial service such as setup only and/or just as an integration into the website.
• Provide training for you to then continue or complete on your own.
• Or simply if you would just like me to provide my advice, guidance or recommendations.

Additionally, if you dont have budget or just starting out, you can build your website for FREE using our CMS Platform SiteCMS which is a DIY Website Design platform and you can get started very quickly by using one of the pre-made template themes. This is 100% free website design software which you only need to provide your name and email to get started. No payment details required and no trial period. 100% full access and only when you are ready to go live is when you need to start paying and the pricing couldnt be simplier...

• Website Hosting Plan - £15 p/m
• Standard Online Store (up to 100 products) - £25 p/m
• Advanced Online Store (up to 2500 products) - £35 p/m

We have also partnered up with SiteCMS and can proivde training, technical support, custom widget design and development for websites on the platform.

Additional services we can provide are;

• Business branding or logo design services
• Google business services
• SEO – do you need to rank on Google?
• Social media page creation (sadly we dont offer management)
• Type of marketing services like paid advertising on facebook
• Business communication services such as - business domain, business email like 'info@yourbrand.com' or a virtual number to avoid using your personal number.
• Print Services – like business cards, leaflets signage etc
• Vinyl Services – putting your brand on t shirts, promotional stuff like bags hats etc, or sign written vehicle as I am able to provide a fully in house vinyl cutting service with a complete range of vinyl’s from heat transfer to permanent to weather proof or frosted!

So appreciate there is quite a lot to think about but once you have a better idea of what you need and what to acheive then lets arrange a call and discuss your project.