The Cost of a Website
How much should my website cost me?
The prices for websites today range from as little as a couple of hundred pounds to tens of thousands and it can be really daunting for small businesses to know what they are getting for their money.
When a potential client asks how much will a new website cost them sometimes I never know how the best way to answer them is, as it really does beg the question 'how long is piece of string?'. However I have some very standard package costs which I am able to run through with clients to give them a feel for ball park figures.
If someone wants a site for next to nothing I assume that they don't value the importance of an experienced designer - especially one with years of branding experience. For 'cheap websites' I often suggest they use an 'off the shelf' product which we have probably all seen advertised. These are not the sort of sites which I neither want to be competitive with or be associated with! The reason goes back to branding. I believe that each and every one of my clients is unique so why should their site follow the design or layout of another?
So that said, prices will always include a unique design and this is a set price. Once the design is established the next step will be to build the site. The way the site is built - either as a an HTML site (requiring web software or programming knowledge to update it) or as a content managed site (CMS) which allows anyone with a web connection and browser to be able to update, edit and grow their site and its content. With the CMS comes a vast range of modules which can be added in at the start or added to at a later date. The number of modules and pages thus affects the price. Once trained on a CMS site my clients can then add as many pages, images and data as they want at no expense except their own time.
So if you have an idea of how much content you need built and you know what you want the site to do e.g. sell online, fill out a form etc. you should be able to get some fairly accurate quotes.
On average my clients will pay anything from £500+VAT to £5500+VAT depending on the type of site and its complexity. Our bespoke designed content managed sites start from £1500+VAT upwards and include free logo design to add branding value to the investment! We also provide a range of templates that Holly Small Design have designed in-house, specifically for our clients to choose from. This gives our clients the option of a content managed site at a cost of around £700+VAT upwards which includes us changing the colours, fonts, graphics, logo and content. For start-ups or those on a tight fixed budget this is the ideal package!