The cost of a decent website design for local businesses, ecommerce, and online businesses usually ranges between $500 and $4,500, depending on the level of customization it requires. The strategy you choose will have a significant impact on the cost of your website.
There are three ways you can build a website.
1 – Website Builder (The cheapest DIY option, usually requires tiny monthly payment)
Website builders like Wix and Squarespace are basic tools for amateurs. Anyone who doesn’t want to spend on a website design can build a nice-looking website. It is, however, difficult to customize, improve its SEO profile and build a medium level of marketing campaign with basic websites built with website builders.
2 – WordPress-hosted semi-custom websites: Between $500-5,000 (The most affordable option for a decent website compatible for marketing and further development)
It is free to use WordPress as a Content Management System. Compulsory costs will include themes (around $50-60), some plugins ($5-10), hosting ($20-35). The biggest expense will go to a website designer with WordPress experience (Starting from $500 for a single-page website to over $5,000 for multi-page websites).
3 – Hire a developer for fully custom website (It will start from $10,000 and can end up in hundreds of thousands. Not good for local businesses).
Unless you are a multi-million dollar growing business that needs custom solutions, there is no need to splurge so much money to build and maintain fully custom websites. Not only is it very expensive to build and maintain, but it will also take a long time to finish designing it. It goes without saying that developers have to develop responsive websites for desktop, tablets, and mobile phones. It is quite a challenging venture.
To start and operate a website, you need to have these:
♦ Domain name
♦ Hosting/Server
♦ SSL Certificate
♦ Website Design
♦ Logo
♦ Website Content
♦ Contact Details (email, phone number, contact forms)
♦ Visual Content
Each of these items will also have an additional cost, and the cost will depend on the level of customization.
We at Nickel Design actually give out an instant quote for any type of website design. You can use this calculator to add other items such as content or logo to get more accurate pricing.
It is not easy to put a price tag on artwork since it can vary depending on the quality and experience of a designer. The question is to what extent you are willing to invest in your website. When it comes to art, there is no end to how good it can get.
Cost of Local Business Websites
Something basic, no need for marketing
- One-pager, semi-custom websites – $250
Some businesses just need a decent-looking, simple website for “introduction” purposes and don’t really need to do a whole lot of marketing. $250+ pricing will get you that one-page, semi-custom website.
If you are planning to do marketing in the future, but can’t afford to have a decent custom design and only need a basic website to get it started, WordPress-hosted one-page websites will do the trick for now. You can always add to the current design new pages and/or change the design entirely.
Decent website for a local business, will do a medium level of marketing
- WordPress-managed semi-custom website – $2,500+
If you’re launching a full-fledged local business, contract a freelance designer or a website design agency, and the price should cost at least $2,500. If you want the agency to prepare content, provide visual content, design a logo and take care of other required steps such as website hosting, the price will increase slightly.
Cost of Ecommerce Website
- Shopify – $3,000+
Shopify offers a limited number of themes and designs, while you can customize your homepage, and other pages as well as your product pages. While Shopify’s CMS is very well suited for Search Engine Optimization, it allows limited options to optimize and rank for organic results.
- WordPress/WooCommerce – $5,000+
WordPress isn’t an ecommerce Content Management System (CMS) but its WooCommerce plugin is a state-of-the-art and ever-developing tool that can manage your ecommerce shop from A to Z. If you want a lot more customization, WordPress is the way to go. It will cost a little bit more, and the maintenance will require more expert attention.
Building Websites on WordPress
You have a lot more control over your website – and your budget – when you use WordPress. It’s ideal for:
- Those with a bit of technological know-how
- Anyone who desires complete personalization
- Blogs, commercial websites, and very large websites are all examples of enormous websites.
- The price of a WordPress website is difficult to estimate. Because there are so many various variables to consider when setting up a WordPress site, it depends on a variety of factors.
On the one hand, WordPress is a completely free platform. There are also free themes and plugins, so keeping costs down should be simple. However, you may find that you require a paid theme, and there is also the issue of hosting to consider (and pay for). Your total website price can soon climb into the thousands if you employ a WordPress developer.
There are a number of variables that might influence the overall cost of creating a WordPress website, but hosting is always a paid platform. You may get away with using free themes and plugins, but hosting is a necessary expenditure for getting your WordPress website up and running.
So, how much does a website cost when you host it on WordPress? Calculate here.
The most cost-effective approach to create a website is to use a website builder. While WordPress is a free, open-source platform, you will need to invest in hosting, templates, plugins, and professional aid from a programmer, which will add to your overall cost.
Cost of Website Builder
A website builder is the most cost-effective way to create a website, and it’s ideal for:
- Novices in the field of technology
- Anyone that needs a website up and running as soon as possible
- Portfolios and personal web pages
Prices for website builders range from free to roughly $500 per month. On the other hand, most new sites will be priced between $6 and $50 a month.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the no-cost plan. The reality is that if you’re trying to create a website that someone else will view, you’ll need a premium plan rather than a free plan. This is because free plans have a variety of restrictions, the most frequent of which are:
- Advertisements that appear on your website
- A free, non-custom site
- Low storage and bandwidth allowances are among the limited characteristics.
- There are no e-commerce features; therefore you can’t sell anything online.
- Customer service basics
The free plan is only good for trying out the website builder to see if it’s perfect for you and developing test sites to sharpen your skills and try out new ideas without having to spend any money.
