How much does a website cost?

There is no hard and fast rule about how much a website costs, because it's dependant on what it does.

If you are looking around, be realistic about what you might get for your budget.  Web professionals are highly skilled, regardless of which part of the industry they work in, so expect to pay for their expertise if they are experienced and/or at the top of their game. 

There are free/low cost options if your needs are modest or are just starting out.

Updated July 2011: Read the new article "The cost of building a website" for actual dollar figures.

What will influence the cost of your web project

The things that will influence the cost of your web project are:

• How much design work is required - if you need graphics, images and a new logo designed for you it will add to the cost of the project
• Custom design - if a site has to be designed 'from scratch' with unique elements it takes longer to design and build than one that is based on a purchased template.  Purchased designs will constrain colours, fonts, borders and menu style and placement (among other things).
• Size of the site - the more sections and pages you want, the more work will be required to set it up.  It may also cost more to host.   However, just because you only want three pages, don't assume this will cost next to nothing as there is a baseline level of work required to get even a simple site up and running.
• Functionality - each additional piece of functionality will require development.  This includes shopping carts, payment facilities, blogs and forms.  If this functionality can be obtained via plug-ins to a CMS then this will reduce but not eliminate the costs because there will still be some configuration required.
• Content Management System- there will be setup and on-going costs depending on the CMS used to maintain the site.  Open source CMS's reduce the licensing costs but open source does not always mean free!
• Amount of content - which needs uploading and formatting.  Every page will add to the cost
• Databases - development and integration of product databases can add significant costs
• Images.  Good product images must be created, edited/enhanced, scaled and re-sized.  If you want someone else to do it for you it will cost you.   Balance the cost out against your time and the cost to buy decent image management software
• IE6 - If you want your site to run properly in IE6, your developer may charge extra.  IE6 is an old browser that does not work with modern standards therefore it takes a lot of extra coding work for the site to work specifically for a small number of IE6 users
• How much involvement you want.   If you want to be consulted on every decision at every point or want workshops and brainstorms, you will be charged for the additional hours
• Training - most developers will provide you at least an hour of free training on your CMS.  If you want more you'll be charged.
• Copy-writing - if you engage a professional to write your content for you, this will be additional.  If you write it but it needs to be edited this will also add to the cost.   This is an area where you should think carefully about because content is still king and can significantly influence the success of your website
• Security - if you are taking personal information or payments via your site it will need to be secure.  A security certificate will be extra depending on how just how secure it needs to be.  The more sensitive the information you ask from or are giving people, the more secure your site should be
• Project management - some development projects require careful management particularly if they are large, complex or are time-sensitive
• Reporting - even if a free stats package like Google Analytics is used, there is still setup effort involved.

Website prices range from about $500 for a three page site to several million dollars for large sites with underlying software that has been developed from scratch and/or integrated into back end systems.

You can get a site 'for free' - but remember there is no such thing as a free lunch, and generally you get what you pay for. Some hosting companies will include the setup of your site for free, but it's likely you'll be limited to a small range of templates, and you'll have to do all the setup yourself.

Either way, it pays to shop around, and any good design/development company will give you a written estimate once they have found out what you require.

The one thing most people forget

A website is not a 'set and forget' proposition.  Just like your business it takes ongoing care and attention.  You will either need to budget the time it will take to write and add content, develop links and do promotional work - or pay someone to do it for you.

If you are wondering how much you should budget, you'll need to think about how much value the website will add to your business and what this is worth to you.