There are no hard and fast rules for what a thing on the web should cost. For instance, you can get a logo from 19dollarlogos.com starting at $19.00, yet Pepsi recently paid hundreds of millions for their new logo design (read the full 27 page brief explaining how Pepsi is at the center of the universe).
Assuming that your budget falls somewhere in between $19 and $100,000,000, here’s an idea of what you should expect to spend.
Color me custom
Gentle readers, there’s no easy way to say this, but a custom design/build for your website will cost at least $1500. Minimum. Period. And that’s a bare bones website. No frills, no bells OR whistles. Basic website, home and inside page. Designed, probably not sliced.
In my mind, if you want a custom website, you should be prepared to spend up to $10,000. It may not cost that much, but you should be prepared to spend that much.
OK, well, maybe I don’t need a custom website.
The odds of somebody seeing a website that looks just like yours is slim and, even if it does, honestly? Nobody will care. Using pre-built applications, services, frameworks and designs can save you a fortune and give you something that looks really slick. There are a lot of possible choices for a semi-custom website including Joomla, WordPress and many others. Templates are available in multitudes, either free or paid and come pre-sliced. If you’re not committed to a creating a unique user experience with a striking, modern custom website, you can cut your expenses down to less than a thousand dollars including your hosting and domain.
Oh, goody, so what you’re saying is that if I do it myself, I could get the same results for much cheaper?
Screech. All stop. I’m not saying that at all. In fact, I’m fairly certain that unless you’re already a web designer, you won’t be able to create an awesome customer experience on your first go. What I am saying is that once you commit to working with a design agency, armed with the knowledge that there are affordable solutions available, you can keep your costs to a minimum.
But I really think I can do this, I saw one company that offers FREE websites and it looks really simple.
I’ve seen those sites as well. Make sure you read the fine print with these folks. Most of them charge between $4.99 and $6.99/month for a 5 page basic, no frills website. In many cases, you don’t own the domain or the design, so it’s best to check with the company first. It’s true that they’ll have you up and running quickly and they offer thousands of “professionally designed” templates, but you’re giving up source control, SEO and a variety of other features you get with standard shared hosting accounts.
Seriously though, it doesn’t seem that difficult to me.
I hear this all the time. The answer is that it’s as tough as you want it to be. Hamburger Helper and Filet Mignon are both beef dishes. I make the Hamburger Helper and it’s still only going to be as good as its ingredients. Would you make Hamburger Helper for the main course of a dinner party? Even if you happen to think it’s the best Hamburger Helper ever? Even if you made it with your own two hands? Even if you’ve never made Filet Mignon before, and it seems scary and intimidating?
Intermission
Check out this short video on the vendor client relationship produced by Scofield Editorial, Inc.
OK, I get it. I wouldn’t serve the Hamburger Helper, I would serve Filet Mignon because I want my guests to remember their experience fondly. What’s next?
Next? Stay tuned, in our next post we’ll talk about what the best options available are for a range of budgets, technical know-how levels and objectives. If you’re done looking, and want to discuss some solutions, contact us for more information on solutions for getting on the web starting under $100.