I get asked this question allot. (So much so I decided to write a blog post about it.)
A website costs as much as you are willing to pay.
The answer is always YES, it can be done, the only real question is one of time and budget limitation.
Its really that simple.
- For as low as $250: We can get a very basic placeholder page up and running in about 1 hour on the phone right now. (no validation, no advanced SEO, no schema tags)
- For about $2,500: I can customize together a very basic CMS template in a few days (no validation, no advanced SEO, no schema tags).
- Average Site $8-12K: The average cost of a good clean custom business website including full validation, schema and SEO compliance.
- For about $25-60K: I will lovingly hand craft a great e-commerce experience or full custom CMS theme in about 60-90 days.
- For around $150K+: I put whole teams together and lead them to build a robust apps and ground up systems in about 6-12 months.
- (Payment plans and monthly retainers for $100-1000 per month allow you to have a great website and developer on call 24×7)
Asking “how much” is really the wrong question, (I totally understand it because I ask it too when I buy something).
A website is an online vehicle for a brand.
Consider this transportation analogy: A bus ticket is a few dollars, a bike is a little more, how about a cab, plane, boat or car?
No one in their right mind would sell a private Jet for the cost of a Mountain Bike, yet this is what many clients ask for.
There are “shady used car salesmen” in the web development industry, avoid them by bringing your own code mechanic to the lot. Call me, I identify scams and bad deals for free.
- A luxury website, like a sports car, will be in the $55,000 to $155,000 range.
- A compliant website, like a new car, will be in the $15,500 to $35,000 range.
- A template website, like a used car, will be in the $1,500 to $20,000 range.
Do you need ‘the reliable new 15k 4-cylinder car’ or the ’50k BMW with leather seat’ equivalent of a website? Lets get your brand into a nice safe vehicle for affordable monthly payments.
How much is hosting?
Hosting and 3rd party costs influence the cost of a website, much like a vehicle needs gas, oil changes, new tires and insurance; a website needs similar things…
Read about Website Maintenance- A low traffic website, like public transportation or walking, will be in the $0 to $50 per month range.
- A content management system, like a a bike or car, will be in the $10 to $100 per month range.
- A resource heavy system, like a plane or a boat, will be in the $175 to $2,000 per month range.
- A mega giant high traffic site, like a city needing power, maybe in the tens of thousands to millions.
Looking for a more in depth answer?
In order to have a conversation that will result in an effective answer I need to ask questions, lots of technical things, things related to your business process, your demographic, how familiar you are with certain laws about conducting business on the internet and more importantly what your expectations are!
I offer services in the following 2 modes: Hourly -vs- Per Project. I can set a low monthly retainer for you that will open the door to your own personal ‘on call’ web guru, or, we can plan out an entire project specification phase together and make the next ‘big thing’ happen.
Read about ratesI work very simply, 1 flat hourly rate.
- First meeting- an estimate of labor and deal memo is prepared. If no research is requested/required then I send it within 24 hours, usually, right after the meeting.
- During Development- clients are given a spreadsheet to track hours and can request changes, new features, revisions and upgrades during build.
- On Completion- If nothing extra was requested then your estimate will be spot on, however, if the whole project changed (and that’s OK, you are allowed to change it) then the bill likely has as well.
(You will never get a surprise bill, the work log is updated constantly and clients must explicitly request going over the budget in writing.)