Your business’ website is the most crucial sales and marketing tool you can have. It is the first thing your potential customers go to when they want more information before deciding to make a purchase or even before talking to any of your salespeople.
Your website is where you can build meaningful and lasting relationships with your customers and prospects through inbound marketing.
Your website needs to be user-friendly, relevant, sleek, and appealing to visitors.
Website design constantly evolves. To keep up with the times and with your customers, a website redesign is inevitable.
How Much Will a Website Cost Me?
Website redesign costs vary, depending on how advanced and customized it is. If you were to redesign the website yourself, which is the most cost-effective option, you would spend around $100 to $3,000, sometimes even more.
If you were to ask a web design company to create a simple website for you, it would cost you around $15,000 to $30,000.
For larger websites or more advanced features, it can cost you about $40,000 to $75,000, and at times even more than this.
Why Is It So Expensive to Build a Website?
It is more important to establish your online presence for your business than when the Internet first started. So with increased importance and demand for this asset, the cost of having one increases as well.
Websites also have more advanced features now. While there are tools available to help create a website in just a few minutes, at the same time, if you want a professional, modern, and user-friendly website, more advanced techniques are needed.
Ease of use is also an essential quality of websites. Many customers stop viewing sites when they take too long to load, if navigation is too complicated, and the overall user experience doesn’t live up to what they expect.
Aside from website features and website optimization affecting the cost of a website’s design, who builds your website is another factor that can influence the price.
Building Your Own Website
Creating or redesigning your website from a template is the least costly choice, with the cost ranging from a few hundred dollars to $3,000 or more.
However, this may be the most time-consuming option, and unless you know how to code, your website may not be exactly how you envisioned it to be.
If you decide to DIY, several sites online offer themes you can use at an affordable price. Before purchasing one, check on the following and gauge it against your needs:
- Included templates
- How easy it is to update
- Level of customization
Check on the reviews that the theme has received and that it has a good track record. Ensure that the theme is easy to make changes to, even if you’re not very techie.
Have a Freelancer Build Your Website
With a freelancer, you can pretty much expect that your website will be aesthetically pleasing and function well.
The cost of hiring a freelancer depends on how experienced they are and how complicated your website is to build. A simple website can cost you anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000, while a bigger, more complicated one will cost you $10,000 to $20,000 or more.
You can discuss with your freelance designer the look and functions you’re looking for in a website, and they may also suggest other features that can enhance the user experience.
The downside to working with a freelancer, however, is that they are a hit or miss. If not thoroughly vetted, their skills might not be up to par with what you’re looking for.
Also, your website might take longer to complete compared to if you hired an agency, if your freelance designer is working on other projects or if they’re working solo.
But overall, working with a freelancer may be the cheapest option if you can’t create the website yourself.
Hiring an Agency to Build Your Website
If you have the budget, hiring an agency to build or redesign your website is your best bet.
Working with an agency gives you a team of professionals who provide you with an excellent design for your site and strategizes to optimize its conversion and provide seamless user experience and meaningful content.
However, working with an agency comes with a hefty price tag. A simple website will range from $15,000 to $30,000 and a more extensive website with custom features between $40,000 to $75,000 or more.
Another service an agency could provide for you, for a fee, is to continuously upgrade your website monthly, depending on user data to improve user experience.
This type of service can cost between $5,000 to $10,000 each month.
The Importance of Content in Your Website
A fabulous website design will catch people’s eyes, but the quality of your content will make them stay and engage. The content on your website is a book about your business.
Your content connects and convinces visitors to buy your products, builds you up as an expert in your field, provides a call to action for your customers, and helps your site rank in search engines.
It is the essential part of your website, so we recommend you build your website around your content and not the other way around.
Most businesses, however, are in a hurry to start their online presence, and if you’re one of them, focus on the 20% of your website that provides 80% of value to your customers and update the rest after you’ve gone live.
Creating Your Content When Building the Website Yourself
If you’re building your website on your own, start creating your content by mapping out the pages of your website.
Then for each page, write the content. Laying out your content will help you pick out your theme for your website later on.
Creating Content When Freelancers or an Agency Are Building Your Website
A copywriter will create your content if you don’t want to do it yourself. An agency can provide you with an in-house copywriter or outsource it, or you can hire a freelance copywriter.
The cost will depend on the level of expertise you need, how much content you need, and how big your website is.
Your website is usually the initial point of contact for your prospective customers.
Keep it engaging, eye-catching, and use it to build a relationship with your customers, and your website will be the best salesperson on your team.
