It takes 0.05 seconds for a potential customer to form an opinion about your website.
Yup. Your website is subject to snap judgments that instantly influence the perception of credibility.
And do you know what? Users don’t tolerate bad websites. In fact, 57 percent of users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile.
Quite simply, you’re losing money if your website doesn’t measure up. On the flip side, you create an impressive website that generates leads and sales. The secret sauce? Allocate enough money to your website’s design.
How much?
Well, according to stats, most small businesses cough $2,000 to 10,000 on average to build a website.
These figures aren’t cast in stone, though. The average cost of a website primarily depends on the site’s features. The more the features, the more money you’ll end up spending.
So, are you ready to know how much business owners pay to build their websites?
Good!
Let’s get cracking.
In this post, you’ll learn the following:
What determines the cost of designing a website?
Which is better — using a website builder or hiring a web design company like Growth Generators?
What are the ongoing costs to keep your website up and running?
If you want to get a direct quote based on your needs, you can also get in touch with one of our web-designer experts right now.
If you want to learn before hopping in, keep reading.
What’s the Average Cost for Building a Business Website?
As stated, business websites cost anywhere between $2,000 and $10,000.
This average cost covers the annual domain fee, hosting service, creating a custom design, and building the website.
The actual amount you’re likely to spend for your website depends on the site’s size, advanced features, and complexity.
Factors Affecting a Website’s Creation Cost
Indeed, you’re likely to spend $2,000 to 10,000 to build a business website. But, what exactly will you spend the money on?
Here’s a quick rundown:
Domain name — $0.95-$12 / domain
Website hosting — $24-$120 / year
SSL certificate — $0-$1500 / year
Design — $2000 to $15,000
Pages — $1000 to $5000
Functionality — $2000 to $25,000
Content management system (CMS) — $2000 to $25,000
Domain name ($0.95 – $12 / domain)
For starters, a domain name is your website’s name.
For example, GrowthGenerators’s domain name is growth-generators.com
When looking for a domain name, it would be best to go with one that matches your business’ name as much as possible.
You can also buy a domain name from a domain registrar like HostGator, GoDaddy, WPX, or Dreamhost.
What happens when the domain name identical to your business is taken? You can decide to buy the name, but it’ll cost you more.
Our advice is to look for an alternative to help you save some money. Of course, you can use the saved dime to hire a professional web designer. How about that!
Website hosting ($24 – $120 / year)
Hosting allows you to showcase your website to the world. A hosting service offers the infrastructure to create and maintain a website, making it accessible to your audience.
There are several types of hosting — shared, cloud, dedicated, and virtual private server (VPS). The type of hosting plan you go with depends on your budget and needs.
As a startup, you can opt for shared hosting, which costs $24 to $120 per year. As the name suggests, shared hosting involves sharing servers with other users.
Of course, you can upgrade to a dedicated hosting plan as your business grows. Hosting costs for a dedicated plan are relatively high, but on the flip side, you don’t share server resources with other websites.
SSL certificate ($0 – $1500 / year)
SSL is an acronym for Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It protects your site and user’s data. All sites, from small to cooperate websites, require an SSL.
First off, an SSL signals security. In essence, this means that a user can trust your website. Potential customers buy from websites they can trust.
Some web hosting providers also give SSL certificates irrespective of your type of hosting.
Still, you need to buy an SSL certificate, especially if you’re running large corporate websites with lots of traffic. The average cost of an SSL certificate is about $1,500 per year.
Design ($2000 – $15,000)
Design costs vary depending on several factors.
Some business owners prefer a no-frills, simple website, while others opt for a custom design with premium features. Customized websites cost more.
A site with additional features requires that you hire a professional web designer. You may also need a design template that allows the website to accommodate all the features you need.
A custom design may require investing in premium tools to help you create a homepage optimized to offer a stellar user experience or a product page that drives sales.
Hiring a freelance web designer can cost $2,000 to $15,000.
Additionally, it is vital to ask your web designer about their charges. An experienced professional designer will tell you if your website needs extra features from the get-go or whether you can include them later.
Number of pages ($1000 – $5000)
All websites aren’t the same.
Corporate websites or ecommerce sites may have many pages compared to a small, service-based startup.
Of course, it takes more time to build such websites, even when the pages have the same design templates.
While a premade template may make work easier, the designer needs to install a premium theme, get premium plugins, upload images and copy the pages.
Your designer will also take time, which takes time and, by extension, increases the average cost. The cost is even higher if your website requires advanced features like payment gateways.
Overall, a website with 1 to 50 pages can cost an average of $1,000 to 5,000. The cost is higher for a custom-built website with more pages.
Functionality ($2000 – $25,000)
A website’s functionality includes several essential features, like payment gateways.
A payment gateway allows your site to receive payments.
If you’re running an ecommerce website, for instance, you must provide a convenient way to allow customers to pay online.
A website that requires advanced functionalities or security features can cost you $2,000 to 25,000.
Also, if you’re running a small business, the functionality costs will fall on the lower end. Inversely, corporate websites that require robust payment systems cost more.
If you’d like us to give you an estimate of the creation cost for your site, contact our professional web designer for a quick chat.
CMS ($2000 – $25,000)
A good CMS allows you to create, manage and update your site with custom code. On top of that, you can edit your website easily with a platform like WordPress. Price ranges for a good CMS platform fall between $2,000 and $25,000.
Still, the amount of money you invest in a CMS depends on your preferred platform and the level of customization that you need.
If your web designer needs to spend plenty of time getting your custom-build website up and running, you’ll want a CMS that allows as much customization as possible.
Other factors that determine the cost of building a website include:
The number of premium plugins on your site
Whether you’re using a premium theme or a free one
If your web designer is charging hourly rates or by project
Maintenance costs — extra cost depends on whether your site requires regular maintenance
Ongoing costs — domain name, SSL certificate, eCommerce features, CMS
Also Read: MSPs Statement of Work - What to Know
DIY Web Design vs Hiring a Professional Web Designer
Development costs for a business depend mainly on whether you have an in-house team or a freelance web designer.
A DIY website by an in-house team can cost you up to $300. Professional developers charge $2,000 to $10,000.
Speaking of DIY sites, you can leverage business website builders with pre-made templates if you want to lower the creation cost.
Lastly, learning how to use business website builders can help you eliminate the developer cost – which is a good thing if you’re on a tight budget.