How much does it cost to make a website?

How much does it cost to build a website?

Yeeply created this tool for users to calculate the cost of a website. By using it, you can quickly get a price estimate for the development of your web.

However, the exact cost of a website depends on several aspects. If you wish to create one from scratch, it will cost more than redesigning an existing one, for example. Moreover, if your website contains a lot of functions and integrations, the required budget will certainly be higher. Not to forget about the complexity of it, the design, technologies, deadlines etc.

In some cases, it's better to create a website with a custom design, while for other projects it's recommended to opt for existing templates. The last option can save the developer a lot of time and effort, but it also has its disadvantages. Keep reading to find out the benefits of both options.

Cost of a website: custom design vs templates

It's fundamental to determine your needs and objectives when requesting a quote for developing a website. For every type of web project, this should be truly clear before starting to consider the development options.

Like mentioned before, using a customized approach is different from using existing templates. The main difference is the price of the website, but it's not the only factor you should consider. Let's see the pros and cons of both approaches:

• Using website templates is faster than creating them from zero.
• Despite, existing templates often have a slower loading speed.
• If you choose a customized approach, your website will have a unique look.
• However, a website developed from scratch is relatively more expensive.

Nonetheless, if your objective is to build a top-notch website, with the fast loading speed and a great design, you must opt for custom development.

How much does a website cost based on its type?

Our clients often ask: "How much does it cost to build a website?". Well, a big part of the cost derives from the website's foundation. Therefore, the following price ranges are based on the type of website:

• WordPress blog/website. If you want to use existing models, with already designed functionalities, this is probably the best option. If it's based on a simple WordPress design, the average cost of a website can vary from $1,500 to $4,500. If you need something more complex with more functionalities, you would need even more than $5,000.
• Ecommerce. This kind of website is more difficult to build and manage, therefore you will need other popular tools to set one up. Some of these are Prestashop, Woocommerce and Magento. In this case, the price can vary from $2,000 to $8,500.
• Fully customized. The cost of a customized website can range from around $2,500 to much higher prices. It's very difficult to give a precise estimation, since every website is different, especially if it's created from scratch. However, we had clients that spent up to $16,000.

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You should take into account some additional costs

Some elements are often overlooked, but they are crucial in determining the final website cost. Here are some examples:

• Hosting and domain. According to what you need and expect, the price will vary considerably.
• Copywriting. You need to produce all the texts, and if it's an international website, in multiple languages.
• Media. You need to produce or purchase all the multimedia materials, such as images, videos, icons, logos etc.
• Marketing. Your website needs to be promoted in order to be known by as many people as possible, therefore all the costs related to your chosen marketing channels and strategies.
• Consultancy. If it's your first web development project, maybe you'll need some experts to help you start through it.
• Maintenance. After the launch, you should always correct bugs, optimise the speed, improve and update the contents, etc.

How to calculate the price of your website

There are specific profiles required if you want to create a great website. For instance, you'll need the help of developers (front- and back-end), designers (UX and UI) and copywriters.

Keep in mind that the quantity of profiles is less important, pay more attention to the knowledge and experience of these people. For example, check out if they've already worked on projects similar to yours. That would be perfect.

Remember that they should all work together and have the same objective in mind. However, try to consider the following:

• Design. In order to make it more simple for the designers to create the final version, prepare sketches, wireframes and mood boards of the project. Try to be as detailed as possible, so that you can make your vision and expectations clear to your team.
• Functionalities. What can your visitors do once they arrived on your website? Different functionalities mean different procedures and costs. Some functions could be, for example, having several login options, online payment methods, and booking/reservation systems. These are all information you will have to pass to the developers.
• Structure. This element is often underestimated and depends on the type of web. A bad structure of your web could influence its speed, usability and SEO. It's crucial to let experts help you in these fields.
• Content. Copywriters are fundamental to encourage conversion and boost your online rankings in search engines. Using an adequate tone of voice is very important to transmit the right messages to the right audience. Both aspects need to be aligned with your goals and KPIs.

Popular programming languages for web development

First of all, it's typical to use more than one programming language to develop a website. Choosing from them is not easy but we'll try to explain it as follows.

The front-end is the visual part of the website, the elements that the user interacts with when (s)he visits your web. This part of the website is created with CSS and HTML, which are not programming languages, but necessary to design the structure of the page and its style info. To make everything work, you can use Javascript which is a programming language that is used to build most of the front-ends from websites.

The back-end, or the server-side, it is the part of your website that users don't see. Besides Javascript, other languages can be used to develop it. Some examples are Ruby, PHP and Python. For the back-end, often more than one language is used.

If you're still not sure about which programming languages you need for your website, don't worry. Talk to a web developer, who can guide you in the best way possible.

Avoid creating websites for free

If you want to build a website for free, you should take the following into account:

• Restricted customization. After you launch your website, it's not easy to modify it. For example, adding new features or fixing technical issues will be more difficult. Another problem lies in the design: it's hard to create an original design with fixed templates and it won't easily look professional either.
• It will still cost you money. Launching a free website is not 100% free. Platforms that offer free templates will push you to subscribe to premium services or will even include advertising on your website. This because they need to make a profit in some way.
• Limited hosting. Since it's a free service, they won't grant you a lot of space on their servers. In that case, the only way would be to pay for hosting to boost your website in terms of speed and quality.
• No unique domain. You won't get your own URL, instead, the platform will create a subdomain under their domain. This means that if that domain suddenly disappears, your website will disappear too.
• SEO difficulties. It's fundamental to rank your website in search engines like Google. If your web doesn't appear on first-page search results, it's like it doesn't exist on the internet.
• No technical support. Nobody will come to the rescue when problems arise. In this sense, fixing the most simple bugs might take a while.

Prepare yourself for a web project with these questions

Are you planning a web development project? Then you should pay attention to this. Before bringing in the help of developers, ask yourself these questions.

Key questions:

1. What's the purpose of your website?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. Why should they visit your website?
4. What is your unique selling point?
5. How is the competition in the current market?

Other questions:

1. What's the best structure for your website?
2. What key features do you want to implement?
3. What technologies are demanded for the development?
4. In which languages do you want your web to be accessible?
5. What profiles do you need to become part of your team?

Answering these questions is fundamental to understand what you truly need in your web development process. It also makes the briefing for your team more clearly.

Common web design errors to avoid

Before starting the development process, pay attention to these 8 common errors in web design. By avoiding these, you'll be able to increase your chances of success while optimizing your time and budget.

1. Complicated navigation. Structure your website in a way that users don't have to click more than three times to reach your most important pages. Including too many submenus or elements to click on is not recommended. Moreover, complex navigation can scare away your visitors.
2. Poor content. If your website is well-structured but the content is not on point, it still won't be a good website. For instance, don't include lots of product images without describing those in detail. Remember to always give your visitors what they came for. However, keep in mind that text overloading is also unattractive to users, especially if the content doesn't add value to them.
3. Non-optimized loading speed. A page must be loaded within 3 seconds. The things that make a page load slowly are mainly videos, pictures and animations. These elements are very attractive for users but make sure to compress those files before adding them to your website.
4. 404 errors. When a page of your website is no longer available and a visitor tries to access it, an error will appear. Therefore, it's better not to have this kind of pages, because it can negatively affect the user experience. Furthermore, it can also affect your ranking positions (SERPs), since search engines can interpret it as a sign that you're not updating your website on a regular basis.
5. Black hat SEO. The best way to increase organic traffic to your website is to rely on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's not recommended to use tricks to improve your positioning, as they're easily detected by search engines like Google. For instance, when stuffing too many keywords into a page, Google will penalize you by lowering your rankings.
6. Weak branding. Following trends for designing your website is not a bad thing but remember to focus on your brand identity. Thus, it's better to not copy-paste the style of other websites but use those as an inspiration and mix those with your own company style guide.
7. Bad-quality images. High-quality images make your page load slowly. However, avoid using bad-quality photos with scarce resolution. Finding a balance is always the best thing to do.
8. Unreadable fonts. Some typos are really difficult to read. Therefore, choose them carefully. Besides, it's better to pick diverse fonts for regular text, page titles, subtitles etc.

How to ensure a smooth collaboration with your development team

If you're looking for a web development team with lots of experience or if you don't know which one to choose because there too many options on the market, don't worry! It's very common.

Therefore, we've prepared a brief checklist to help you select the right team for your website project. The following are some requirements you should never overlook:

• Prepare a clear briefing. Your team of developers must understand what you have in mind, otherwise, your website won't be aligned with your goals and expectations.
• Look for specific expertise. No matter what Content Management System (CMS) you'll use, make sure you have chosen the developer that has experience with that specific technology. CMS (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.) can differ considerably from one to another.
• Create a detailed planning. You may need help from different types of professionals for your web project. The most common profiles for web projects are front-end and back-end programmers, copywriters, UI and UX designers etc. However, according to your project, other experts might need to be hired. Ensure you know what support you need and check that the selected professionals are experts in their field.
• Search for experience in building similar websites. Look for professionals who completed comparable projects to yours. Ask for examples of their previous work to get a better impression of their skills.
• Focus on transparency from the start. In order to avoid negative surprises such as additional costs, always check the proposal covers the full project. Another important issue to check is whether they can meet all the planned deadlines.
• Start with the most important features. If your budget is not very high, perhaps it's better to adjust your website or to negotiate the final price. A good solution would be to go for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which only contains the core functionalities of your website. At another stage, you can choose to add additional features.

Where to find your ideal web development team

If you're wondering where to find the best web development team, here are some places you can check out.

• Google. Looking for development options via search engines is quick and easy, but the results need to be filtered accurately. Google can show you multiple results like web development companies, agencies, freelancers and others. The options are endless which makes finding the perfect match for your project complicated.
• Platforms for freelancers. There are multiple portals where you can find freelancers who are specialized in different types of projects. Finding freelancers is relatively easy but evaluating their skills could be very difficult. Always check their ratings on the platform, along with their portfolios. However, be careful, because sometimes their data on the platform may not be trustworthy.
• Tech marketplaces. This is a website where you can find all the profiles you need for your project. This means that you can find front-end and back-end developers, UX and UI designers, SEO experts, etc in the same place. Moreover, a marketplace like Yeeply could support you with choosing the best team for your project.