How Much Should Your Website Cost?

How much does a small business website cost? It’s a good question, but it’s also the wrong question. Like most products, there’s a significant range of solutions available, from the very cheap to the hugely expensive. Depending on your situation either one of these might be the right solution, or, (more likely) the right solution will be somewhere in the middle.

So, what’s the right question? We’re glad you asked.

Your small business website is a lot more than just an expense on your accounts; it’s a solution to a problem. The mistake most businesses make is to assume that that problem is “I don’t have a website and I need one” or “I have a website, but it’s not very good.”

That’s not your problem.

For most businesses, the problem is “I want more customers”. That’s it. That’s why you’re in business – to expand and grow and to provide for your family and yourself.

Website Builder Costs

A website built using a web builder is much cheaper than hiring an agency. Web builders use drag-and-drop software to enable users to build good-looking websites without any coding knowledge. This also drastically reduces the time to market; in some cases, a business can get a basic but functional website up in just a few hours.

How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost When Using a Web Builder?

As a general guide, businesses will need to spend the following:

• Web Builder: Between $0 and $75 per month (depending on the chosen builder and plan).
• Hosting: Normally free with the web builder plan.
• Domain name: Sometimes free, otherwise $10-$12 per year.
• Emails ($5 per month, per email with Google Apps)

Even assuming a relatively expensive business plan at $50 per month, businesses are unlikely to spend more than $700 on the website during the year. Additional costs they may incur include time or money spent on creating content and appropriate images. Some web builders do have premium apps that can add as much as $30 a month, but these won’t be necessary for most businesses.

Some website builders like Pedestal will even build the site for your for a small fee ($500) if you don’t have the time to build it yourself.

Don’t know which website builder to choose? Here’s our definitive article on How To Choose The Right Website Builder For Your Business.

How Much Does A Website Cost When Using An Agency?

When you get a website built using an agency you’ll be paying significantly more in exchange for the time and expertise of professional website builders. For businesses with a large budget, this can be a good choice; the agency should be able to deliver a high-quality final product.

However, there are also some downsides to the agency approach:

• An agency-built website requires significant investment up-front which may not be possible or sensible with a small business’s cash flow.
• When you buy an agency, you pay a premium to cover their high expenditures on advertising and marketing themselves (you’re paying them to sell to you).
• Once you’ve had a website built by an agency you’ll need to continue to pay a high hourly rate for any changes you need.
• Although an agency website saves your time, that doesn’t make it a quick solution. It could still take weeks for the agency to build the website.

For these reasons, most small businesses steer clear of an agency website and choose to either go with a web builder.

How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost When Using an Agency?

It’s a lot harder to estimate the cost of using an agency because each will charge a different amount. However, it is highly unlikely even a small agency would quote below $3,000. A more realistic estimate is $500.00 to $20,000. More ambitious websites will obviously result in a higher fee.

Businesses must also account for ongoing maintenance and changes. These are likely to be paid at an hourly rate of $75-$100 per hour.

• Hosting: Normally $30 to $100 per month
• Domain name: $10-$100 per year.
• Emails ($5 per month, per email with Google Apps) or more, depending if they use another provider.

Other Cost Considerations – Online Marketing

It is also important to remember a website is nothing without targeted traffic that generates enquiries. Typically targeted traffic comes in the following forms.

Google Adwords, SEO, Remarketing or Social Media Marketing. It’s important to consider these when constructing your plan.

We hope this article outlines the costs of using each particular option for you :-).

If you would like an agency to help build your business or help you construct a digital marketing strategy to help you beat your competition. You can contact us here. www.kaladigital.com.au

"Trust me this book is full of great advice, but you need to take the steps to make
it happen!"