Every day, globally, around half a million new websites launch. How will you make yours stand out from the crowd with all those other ambitious new online entrepreneurs making waves?
Building an excellent website is one way to get ahead of your competitors. You need a website that wows your audience and converts browsers into buyers.
But what budget do you need to set aside to do that?
Read on for the answer to that question. Here, we will explain the costs of using a website design agency for your new online business.
What Type of Website Designer Should You Choose?
Web design is a broad market, so plenty of options are open to you. Here, we’ll split this into three main categories to give you an idea of the choices available and how that will impact the cost of the work.
DIY/Template
Perhaps you use a platform like WordPress or Shopify. If so, you’ve probably already noticed that you can buy design templates.
That is the DIY option and the lowest cost. However, you will have a design that could look identical to your competitors and one that is hard to customize.
Freelance
The second option is to pay for a freelancer specializing in website design. Freelancer rates vary though you’ll often pay by the hour.
It’s worth noting that hiring a freelancer means working with a sole designer. Your website design will reflect their individualistic artistic style, which may or may not be the right fit for your brand.
Agency
Perhaps you believe an agency is a pricey option. But that’s not always the case because you get more than a simple design for that money.
A professional agency provides a team of designers and developers, all overseen by a coherent website strategy for your business. So it’s the best way to get a high-quality website that’s the right fit for your business brand.
Website Design Cost
Now you know about the options available, let’s look at some costs. We’ll start with templates.
Template Costs
Major content management systems always offer some basic templates for free. Nevertheless, you’ll need to figure out how to customize them in your own time. But you can buy premium templates for $50 to $300.
Freelancer Costs
You can hire an amateur design freelancer for as little as $20 an hour. Though, as with most things, the low hourly fee reflects the quality of design you’ll get for your business brand.
More experienced freelancers charge anyway between $50 and $200 an hour. Your final figure will depend on the complexity of your design and how many changes you request.
A design project can easily take 10-20 hours to put together. So a ballpark figure for your website could be from $500 to $4000 but could go higher than this for challenging projects (such as a customized e-commerce site).
Don’t forget that the design of your site is only one part of the equation to getting it up and running.
Once you have that design, you’ll need to develop it. You’ll have to hire a developer freelancer with the proper coding skill set to make your design a reality.
Developers tend to charge a higher rate than designers, so you could have to budget for anywhere between $75 and $300 an hour. A project could take 10 hours for a simple setup and 100 hours for a complex website.
Website Design Agency Costs
Finally, you have website design agencies.
Many people opt for an agency because they handle your web project from start to finish. That means you don’t have to coordinate between multiple freelancers. An agency works as one team to give you a fully finished solution.
You’ll often pay a flat fee for the service with an agency rather than by the hour.
That’s useful because then you don’t run the risk of a project becoming more complex and expensive later on down the line. None of us want unexpected charges at the 11th hour!
Agencies often allow you to add other services into the package if you need a more comprehensive one-stop option.
That could include content creation, domain management, hosting, and security. It might even include marketing for your website.
At the lower end of the scale, an agency-built website might cost you $2000-$5000. That’s for a basic brochure website without any complex functionality.
You will need to budget for a higher figure if you add more advanced features like eCommerce.
That could be in the region of $5000 to $20,000, with the latter reflecting a more sophisticated e-commerce site with an advanced search and other modern features like abandoned shopping cart rules.
Website Design Guide and Tips
The best way to get a realistic cost for your website project is to start with a clear list of requirements.
That will help any professional design agency develop a more accurate quote for you to evaluate. On top of functionality, think about the sort of design and branding you want for your business.
Sometimes it’s helpful to collect samples of website designs you like, as this will help any design team get a feel for what look or style you need. A professional design team will also be able to provide multiple design ideas before you pick one that’s right for you.
You might feel tempted to do some of the work yourself to save money, but consider whether there is a time cost to doing that.
If it takes two months to populate your website with content, but an agency can do it in weeks, what’s best for your business? Isn’t it better to launch your website quickly to start seeing revenue from it?
A Website Build That’s Right for You
Getting great value for your website project is essential. But as you can see from this guide, a good deal isn’t necessarily the lowest price.
A high-quality website delivered efficiently that attracts the right customers will ultimately bring you the best return for your money.
Why not take that initial step by booking a free consultation with our expert team at our website design agency? Take your dream vision and turn it into a successful reality.
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