What is the cost of a new website? Glimpse at any website on the internet and compare it to another one. You may think you know what a professionally designed website looks like just by judging appearances, but that isn’t always the truth. A fancy-looking website with appealing images, content, and various services for e-commerce and such can be made for free. You know the websites like Wix.com and WordPress.com that offer no cost plans and excellent interfaces.
However, website design takes a lot of time, resources, and technical skills to truly get it running the way you want. Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it is going to work the way you want it to.
Also, you could go to a service like Fiverr or Kijiji and get someone to build a website for about $500, but you need to ask yourself what you will end up with. Think about it. Will that designer or developer disappear once you put down the deposit? Will they construct a faulty website using black hat methods? Can and will they support your website once it has launched? Or are you going to be on your own during glitches, hosting issues, and potential hacking?
Looking Under the Hood
Think of your website like a fancy sports car. You can pay a lot for something that simply looks good but is a nightmare under the hood. In the same manner you search for a new car or home, you should utilize the same investigative ways of thinking when designing your website.
When you build from the ground up, you know everything that goes into the website. Or, you can hire a trustworthy web designer or developer to do it for you. Keep in mind that with the introduction of WordPress and similar platforms, not many sites are completely built from scratch anymore.
Other options include “assembly required” methods (WordPress) and “WYSIWYG” or “drag and drop” websites like Squarespace and Weebly. In other words, if you have specific needs, a pre-built template might not be enough. You might not be able to figure out how to do exactly what you need on your own.
What is the Cost Breakdown of a New Website?
If you want truly budget friendly, you can start by building the website yourself. You can then hire a web designer or developer to assist you in finishing it the way you want. For example, at New Dimension Design we offer a service that allows you to use Jimdo, Squarespace, Wix or any other program and we will lend a hand with customization for $85 per hour.
A landing page design or one-page website is within the $1500 range.
More economical routes include using an existing WordPress theme and then having a developer customize it with your existing company logo and brand colours. This falls into the $2500 – 5000 range.
A custom theme that is totally unique can cost anywhere between $5000-15,000 depending on what you want and need.
Lastly, an e-commerce website with 100 or more products for sale ranges from $7000-20,000, with the emphasis in price difference being in whether you want a customized website or not.
All costs include attention to redirecting the website from the old address to the new one without losing Google ranking. We also add all essential plugins to ensure backup and security for you and consumers. Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, Sitemaps, and all other essential pieces are also added. Finally, we provide you with training to update and maintain your website.
Final Thoughts
Many web designers and developers nowadays are quick to take your money and leave you with a subpar website that doesn’t operate optimally. Moreover, if you don’t know anything about constructing a website, you may have trouble down the line keeping it up to standards. For this reason, New Dimension Design believes in “new technology, old-fashioned service”, where we take into consideration the customer’s needs and work with you from start to finish. There is great value in finding a website developer that will be there for years to come.
Though the outright cost for a new website might seem high to some, the investment is one of the best you can make for your brand, company, and future success.
