The honest answer is that it depends on what the website has to do. Two sites that look similar can differ several times over in cost, because the work behind them is not the same. This article explains what makes the price go up or down, so that you can read a quotation and compare offers.
What makes up the cost
The size of the site
The number of page types matters more than the number of pages. A site with five different layouts (home, service, project, article, contact) takes more design and development than a site with fifty pages built on the same layout.
What the site has to do
A site that presents your company is the simplest case. Each function adds work: booking, customer accounts, search and filters, several languages, right-to-left layout for Arabic, online payment.
Design: template or made to measure
A site built on an existing template costs less and is delivered faster. A design made for your brand takes longer, but it is the difference between a site that looks like many others and one that carries your identity.
Content
Texts, photographs and videos are often forgotten in the budget. If you provide them, the cost is lower; if they have to be written, photographed or translated, plan for it from the start.
Connections with your tools
Linking the site to a CRM, a stock system, a booking tool or an accounting system avoids re-entering information by hand. It is also what makes a quotation rise the most, because each connection has to be built and tested.
The content management system
The system behind the site decides how easily your team can update it. WordPress suits most company websites; Shopify suits most online stores. A made-to-measure system only makes sense when an existing one cannot do the job. Ask what you will be able to change yourself, without a developer.
Three typical cases
- A company website: a few page types, a contact form or a booking link, your own content. The shortest and most predictable project.
- A larger corporate website: more page types, several languages, a blog or a project library, sometimes a connection to a CRM.
- An online store: catalogue, payment, delivery rules, customer emails, often a connection to stock and invoicing. The number of products and the integrations decide most of the cost.
Costs after the launch
A website is not paid for once. Plan for the domain name, hosting, maintenance and security updates, and for the changes you will want after a few months. Ask for these to be written in the quotation.
How to compare quotations
- Check that each quotation covers the same pages, functions and languages.
- Ask who writes the texts and provides the images.
- Ask what is included after the launch, and for how long.
- Check that the site, the domain name and the accounts will be in your company’s name.
Our approach
We do not publish a price list, because a figure without a scope means little. After a 15-minute call, we send a written scope and a price for it. Book a call, or see what we do for company websites and online stores.
