Website development costs can vary widely from vendor to vendor, and if you are a small business looking for a website developer, it’s hard to know what a fair range is for development costs. In this post we will cover 3 common questions that arise around website development costs:
- How much does the average website cost to develop?
- How do I know if I am getting a good deal?
- What questions should I ask my web developer?
How much does the average website cost to develop?
Anyone who has researched website development costs knows that the price can be all over the place. There are firms that promise the world for $500 or less, and there are firms that won’t touch a project for any less than tens of thousands of dollars. Somewhere in the middle are professional website development firms that cater to small businesses. These firms will typically charge anywhere from $2500 to $10,000 for a professionally developed small business website. If you are a small business, you should expect to pay somewhere in this range to have a quality, stand-alone website that is built and managed by a reputable company.
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How do I know if I am getting a good deal?
Speaking of professional quality, what makes a website high quality? Your website should be built within a Content Management System (CMS) so that you can update it yourself. Your website should be a stand-alone product and not a cookie-cutter template site from a DIY website vendor. Your website should have an adequate amount of content about your business and your products or services, so that Google and the other search engines have something to index. When you take these into consideration – you are VERY unlikely to get everything you really need in a $500 – $1000 website. Often the ones selling websites at these prices are either students or freelancers. When these you have to consider that they are not an established business and may not be around to help you with issues, even a year from now.
What questions should I ask my web developer?
To close this article out, we want to arm you with a few questions you should ask your web developer to make sure you are not only getting the best deal, but also avoid common pitfalls businesses fall into when hiring a website designer.
- What is a common range of costs for an average small business website?
They should be able to tell you a range – 2-5k, 5-10k, etc. Get this out of the way so you can decide if they fit within your budget or not. - What Content Management System (CMS) do you use to manage your websites?
Ideally, they will use an industry standard CMS such as WordPress or something similar - Can I choose where my website is hosted?
Even if you let them host your website, you should ask this because if you can’t choose – then they are likely using a 3rd party website builder with proprietary tools that cannot be moved. Avoid this when possible (wix, weebly, website tonight, etc.) - Do you offer training and/or support after the website has been launched?
Nobody wants to be left stranded with a site they can’t use. Make the company offers reasonable support rates after launch, and MAKE SURE they offer to train you to use your CMS as part of the launch process. This should NOT cost extra.
As you can see, website development costs are all over the map. While it is difficult for us to say what a website should cost, as it depends on a lot of factors, we wanted to give you a reasonable range. Armed with this range and the right questions to ask, you should be able to identify a website design firm that is right for YOUR business.
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If you are looking for a website for your small business and want to make sure the site doesn’t take months to develop, you should learn about the One-Week Website from ITD Interactive. We have created a process that allows us to build a website that meets all of the advice we offer above for a price well within the range of most small businesses and in a one-week development time! We are excited about this service and would love to have the opportunity to talk with you about your website needs.