How Much Does a Website Cost?
Another question that is common for a website designer pertains to the cost. This of course is a reasonable request as people don’t have an endless supply of money for their business website. However, the question attempts to simplify countless variables. First, what kind of website is it? A one webpage business listing obviously won’t cost as much as an ecommerce website. What kind of graphics would display on this website? Can you provide those images or does the website developer need to put on a graphic designer cap and create all of these for you?
How much does it cost to build a website is an annoying yet practical request that really doesn’t have an answer. Go ahead, Google it. You will find many website designers and businesses promising to build a business website under $250 or well more than $10,000. My first tip would be to avoid all of those that promise cheap websites. Much like a house, the cheaper business website isn’t better and the most expensive website doesn’t mean the best. Like other contractors, a quality website designer should be able to provide a cost per hour and an estimated amount of hours spent on building your website.
Unfortunately, the only way to answer this question is to ask a local website designer as they have the real answer. Why should you pick a local website designer over a big business with a team of web designers and developers? It seems obvious to me, but paying more for a local developer who knows the community builds a better website for your business because they actually care about the community. A local homebuilder isn’t going to build a junky house next to their house. Additionally, since local is the best way to go, a website in California will cost more than a website in Mississippi due to the cost of living in those places.
Finally, I would like to mention that do it yourself website designers also exist. If you have little to no budget for a business website, you should consider this as having a websites beats not having a website. However, if you can afford to hire a local website designer, your website will be significantly better than the website you can build in WordPress or other website builders. To give another building analogy, we have custom building designs because we all want homes customized to our needs and wants. While these website builders do offer some customization, they can’t offer as much as a website created from scratch, nor can they offer the same results in terms of craftsmanship and search engine optimization.
So again, I implore you to speak with a local website designer. It definitely doesn’t have to be me, but I fully believe that your best interest lies with a fellow community member that understands the area and probably is willing to learn about your business. I can assure you that corporations don’t care and just want another client to bill as I’ve seen time and time again. Those businesses make their clients pay hundreds or thousands of dollars a year just so they can create you a website (from a template) that no one can find unless they have the link. They just waste your money and time.