How much does a website really cost?

How much does a website really cost?

We thought this topic deserved its own blog post, as it’s one of the things clients are most interested in when having a new website developed.

You may have noticed that most web designers/developers don’t disclose pricing on their own websites. You normally have to send them a message and provide some information before they will provide an approximate quote. In fact, this isn’t limited to web design, it’s the same for many professional services. The most obvious reason for this is that not all websites are the same, and the price will be dependent on what you actually require.

You may ask yourself, well why can’t a few packages or options be provided with a rough guide to price. For example, a package for a website of up to 10 pages with a blog, contact form, services page and image gallery. That’s a fairly common set of requirements so why can’t a guide price be provided for that? Well, many web designers do just that, but you will find the majority of more established web developers don’t do this. At Problue Solutions we are in the latter group, and there is a reason why we don’t do this (and it’s not to just annoy you!).

The reason we don’t provide pricing for website packages like this is because even if another web designer gives you a price for a package which is identical in wording to what we offer, there is a very good chance that you are not comparing apples with apples. We have seen quotes that describe a website development using a similar specification to something we offer being a quarter of the price we charge, and we have also seen quotes being 10 times more than what we charge!

There are varying levels of expertise and different skillsets among web developers. Someone starting out with little experience will naturally charge a lot less, and it’s inevitable that what you get in the end will not be of the same quality of what you might get from a more experienced web developer charging more. Things aren’t always as straightforward as that though. There is also the flip side of this where a large web agency with lots of employees and a lot of overheads can charge significantly more, and in a lot of cases this is purely because of said overheads and not because they are spending more time or effort on your website, or indeed providing a service that is any better than one costing less.

The bottom line is that quotes from different web developers can rarely be compared fairly, as you are simply not comparing apples with apples in many cases. It is important to have a transparent discussion with your web developer about what your requirements are, and to allow them the opportunity to explain their pricing and how it specifically relates to what you are getting for your money.

If you would like a quote for web design, get in touch.

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