How much does a website cost?
Well, let’s talk about a loaded question – how much does website design cost? Being in the website agency world for over 11 years, we’ve seen a lot of prices. This is mostly due to how broad the scope of work can be for a new website design.
Are you looking for an interactive website with unique user experience or are you looking for a small business website to generate leads? Are you in a big city or looking for website design in Pawleys Island, SC? – that’s our home base by the way.
Today we’re diving into a two questions:
How much sould I pay for a website? (3 Options)
What’s more important than a website? (Our pro tip)
Here we go.
Option #1 Custom Website Design
This is the top tier for making sure you get everything you need out of your website. If your paying at this level, you should be getting a few things from your designer / agency.
Discovery Meeting
Most likely they are going to take time to “discover” your brand. They are going to be asking you a lot of questions about what you want out of your website and will be spending time looking at your previous analytics. When it comes to custom developers, they want to make sure your website performs analytically and has a kick ass user experience.
Copywriting
They will likely be offering you custom copywriting as well. They want to make sure that when visitors come to your site, your headlines grab attention, your copy keeps them intrigued, and leads to form submissions and phone calls.
Video & Photography Needs
A custom design agency will make sure your website has all the necessary marketing assets needed to be effective. Often they will have strong industry connections for photography and video – they might even have these skills in house. At June Co. we’re firm believers that the right video and photography can make or break a site. These are tools that must be used!
Conversion Analysis
We’ve said this a few different ways, but they will make sure that your website actually turns your visitors into buyers. This could be from A/B testing button locations, using heatmaps, color theory, and more. When paying for custom design, this is very very important. Probably the most important thing for us a June Co.
Website Support, Training & Maintenance
The last piece you’ll get with a custom design agency is support and training. They aren’t fly by night freelancers who build a site and disappear. They will have packages built in to make sure your website stays up to date, relevant, and continues to work for you.
So, how much is a website at this range?
This isn’t all encompassing of all the variables you’ll need to discuss - like (page counts, interactive features, client portals, custom animations, etc.). However a typical website with the above deliverables will be between $8,500 - $22,500.
We’ve had custom projects fall under this and we’ve had projects over this. But, this should give you an idea of what your looking at when it comes to website pricing.
At June Co. we know the upfront cost of website design can take a hit, that’s why we help you spread it out over many months. Want to learn more? Shoot us a message and we can send an example of what a monthly partnership can look like.
Option #2 Theme or Template Website Design
There are so so many great resources out there for website themes and templates. Whether you’re using Squarespace (our fave), Wix, Wordpress, Shopify, Lightspeed, etc – there is a premium template you can purchase somewhere on the internet.
We aren’t talking about the cheapo, free, low budget templates - we’re talking about premium shops that have dedicated design time to deliver a high quality converting template.
Why take this route? It cuts out some of the “custom” design time needed from option #1. Most of these shops have put a lot of effort into make sure these templates are effective.
However, you will miss out on the custom photography, custom copywriting, conversion testing, and support (some template shops offer support). You can google “squarespace template shops” to find some good examples.
So, how much money are we talking here?
Templates can range anywhere from a monthly fee of $24/mo to a one time fee of $499. This can save a lot of money!
If we’re working with a new brand on a budget, this is typically where we will start. Rather than creating a “custom” design, we will spend effort on implementing effective copywriting and conversion testing. We want to make sure this thing is making you money!
Total investment can range anywhere between $2,000 - $6,500 if you’re hiring a team to help with copywriting, conversion, photography, and maintenance.
Option #3 DIY Website Design | Theme Install
The last one is essentially a complete DIY. If your budget is under $1,500 - leaves you at the mercy of your own skills.
Here’s what we recommend.
Google premium templates for your platform “premium squarespace templates”.
Search through and find one that has copywriting prompts
Look for companies that have template install support and assistance
See how far you can get, and if you get stuck reach out to a freelancer and see if they can help get you over the hump.
Do Not. Please Please Do Not. Use a generic them on your website builder. And PLEASE find someone skilled with a camera to elevate your image.
As always - our team is here to help answer any of your questions. No matter what your budget is, we believe in helping you grow your business. So, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you feel stuck.
So, with all that said. What’s more important than your website?
I’ll be completely honest. I’ve said it for years. I started selling websites in 2012 at an agency for $5,000. It was true then and it’s true now, the value isn’t in someone building you a website. It’s what lives on the website and how people engage with the website that matters.
It’s easier than ever to build a website today. In fact, I’ll probably do a video where we build a website in an hour - idk maybe.
But, in order to build that website in an hour, I need a few things.
I need really really great website copywriting.
I need a brand kit and an understanding of the brands value
I need excellent marketing assets (photography and videography) to highlight and showcase the products / services
I need a workflow that is efficient.
Plus having a website built is just the start of the journey.
We need to constantly update content
We need to perform Search Engine Optimization,
And we need to analyze how our viewers are interacting with the site.
Building a website without doing the above is like throwing money out the window. No matter how much you spend - it won’t work.
So how much will you pay for website design? Still not sure what you need?
You can fill out our project inquiry form here and we will give you a breakdown of your options.
We can’t wait to see what you create.
Keep squeezing,
Tyler