When you get a quote for a web design project, what’s included in the cost of website design and what do you need?

Well, there can be any number of things. I suppose the first thing to think about here is your goals and aims for the project. Are you just getting a website built for the sake of having a website? Of course, having a website is super important to help your business grow. In fact I would argue it’s probably the most powerful thing you can have in place for your business. But, it’s so important to consider what you want your website to do.

How do you want your website to work for you and your business?

For example; let’s say you are looking for a basic website to start you off with a minimal number of pages to begin with. It’s still important at this stage to think about what your goals are for the site. Do you want website visitors to contact you, sign up to your email list or get on the waitlist for something exciting you have coming soon? WHile these goals can and should change over time, it’s important to first consider what they are. 

All these considerations will then affect the cost of your website. It’s never usually as simple as building five website pages and it’s all done.

Let’s consider all the things included in the cost of a website design and build, some of which you may not have even thought about…

Time

Of course when getting any kind of work done for you whether it be design or administrative, time is the biggest factor involved in the cost of a website. Good design takes time and if you’re a business owner who has previously spent time building your own website, then you’ll be only too familiar with how time consuming designing and developing a website can be. If course, when left up to an expert that time can be dramatically reduced, but when a web designer gets on board with your project they take on the research, planning and creating that are needed to complete your project. That’s not to mention the ongoing support you’ll need with your website.

There will be many things that go into your website than meet the eye. Most websites aren’t simply built but are prototyped before the build is started to show you how a site will look as well as how it will work. Navigation is also extremely important and a site map for your website will be created by your website to work out how the customer journey navigating between pages should work. All the best websites are created strategically so research and testing will go into each stage of creating your website. As well as the design, it is of course extremely important that your website works well. Your designer will also consider the user experience in the complexity of the design of your site. 

Type of project

Of course, not all websites are created equally. And if you get a designer on board to create your website, they will do a lot of research into your industry to see what works, what doesn’t and what you can do differently. And they’ll need you to help them by communicating what the goals are for the site so they can build it around them.

Your website might be more basic and be fine built around an existing template. It might be highly bespoke and need extra coding and details. You might be looking for the addition of an online membership portal, a shop or checkout option or perhaps you might be looking for someone who can help with getting really deep into the nitty gritty on how to get your website found on Google.

Types of website projects vary widely and so no one size fits all cost applies here. I feature the cost of my packages on my website to give my potential clients a guide, but it’s important to consider that these are from prices rather than set ones.

The size of a website is about a lot more than just the number of pages. It’s about the actual scope of the project and what complexities those pages might have with any necessary integrations  or add ons and any coding that might also be needed. 

Training

A great web designer will never leave you high and dry once your project is completed. The reason I build my websites in the way I do is because I want to give my clients the freedom to make changes to their site if they want to and to enable them to post to their blog regularly without my assistance. 

When I complete a web design project I create any number of handover tutorials to my clients to assist them in doing what they need to do to their website. This will include navigating the back end of the website, how to post and optimise blog posts for SEO and how to add new items to their online shop to name but a few.

Tech

Another aspect involved in the cost of setting up a website can be the cost of any add ons or integrations. You might be looking to get visitors to sign up to your email list, in which case you’ll need to sign up for any email marketing software that’s necessary like active campaign or flodesk. To create a sales funnel other add-ons might be needed and some of these might have added monthly or annual costs involved. There is also the cost of an online shop which will involve additional add ons and checkout options. The tech needed in order for your site to fulfill the functions you need it to can all have extra costs.

Maintenance

As a wordpress website designer, I consider it really important to offer my clients ongoing maintenance. This is so that your site is kept secure, up to date and you as the client can be safe in the knowledge that someone is taking care of the site for you so you don’t need to learn all the techy behind the scenes stuff in order to maintain your own website.

I offer a few different levels of maintenance to my clients from the very basics all the way up to extra monthly support and offer my time to help with any changes that need to be made to the site if my clients get a little stuck.

If you’re considering opting for a wordpress site, then this is something you should consider as part of the cost of getting a website created for you.

So, as you can see there is never a formula for the cost of websites across the board. Every brand and business owner is unique, therefore so is every website. A website should be unique in its goals and in its style. There is probably a lot more involved in a creating a website than you may have thought about.

What’s included in the cost of website design? Well, it ultimately depends on the size, scope and complexity of what it is you want to achieve with your site and what your goals are.

So, how much will it cost to design and build a website that’s created specifically to acheive your business goals? Get in touch and we can chat about options.