Is Building A Website Really Expensive?

website design cost web development expensive

Back in the days, having a website for your business used to be one of the best marketing strategies you could do for your business. 

Once you had it built, you could easily rank on the first page on Google. 

But times have changed. 

Nowadays, you can’t just build a simple webpage and hope that you’ll get results. 

In most cases, you have to optimize your site for conversions and do SEO to get ranked. 

All of the above takes a lot of time, expertise and work. 

Building a website for a local business can cost you anywhere from $3k to $10k on average. 

In this article, I’d like to let you know how to pick the right service provider and measure your website ROI 

Why Do Website Prices Range So Drastically? 

Almost unlike any other digital service, web design prices vary a lot. 

And there are multiple reasons for it. 

The first one is functionality. You see, a word website has a very broad meaning. 

A simple landing page and a huge e-commerce shop are both websites, yet the amount of time and effort needed to build both of these can vary a lot. 

Even corporate websites can be very different - from simple ones with 3-4 pages to bigger ones that can have up to 30 or 40 pages. 

The second reason is a service provider himself. 

You have multiple options here as well: from DIY solutions like WIX, WordPress, or Squarespace to hiring a freelancer or an agency. 

And even when picking a freelancer or an agency, you can come across a very wide range of prices. 

In most developed countries like USA, Germany, Australia digital agencies usually charge anywhere from $50 to $200 an hour. 

If you want to work with a company located in Central and Eastern Europe, you are likely to pay them $25 - $50 an hour. 

And last but not least in the slightest you have India and other Asian countries that charge from $15 - $25 an hour in most cases. 

Freelancers are no different. 

Their prices depend on their location and expertise levels. 

How To Select the Right Price and Vendor? 

Having so many options it can be very difficult to decide which one you should choose. 

Let me give you some basic rules that you can follow. 

First of all, you should think about business goals you’re trying to achieve. 

Don’t focus too much on the features. Let your service provider help you as they have much more experience then you do. 

With that said, here are my 3 golden rules that will help pick the right vendor: 

1. Results 

The most important thing is to make sure that your web design company can deliver results. When discussing your project with them, pay attention to the questions that they ask. If they only talk about colors and fonts and don’t focus on a business outcome - it’s a huge red flag. It’s very unlikely that they will help you achieve your goals as they simply don’t know them. 

2. Authority

Authority can come in many different ways: testimonials, awards, case studies, mentions in top magazines, etc. Before making a final decision, you have to verify the company you’re going to sign a contact with. Collect as much information as you can, look at their previous clients, make sure that they’ve helped them get huge results. To be fair, a young company can also help you get great results, but they’re a much more risky option. 

3. Price 

You need to have a clear vision of what you are planning to achieve with your website. How much money or business you are planning to get from it. It makes no sense to pay $15k for a website that you will bring you 2 new clients worth $100/month. It will take forever to get your ROI

On the other hand, if your website can bring you 10 new leads or 2-3 new clients every month that are worth $3k each, it makes perfect sense to invest $15k in a website. 

Measure Your ROI: Putting Website Price Into A Perspective 

I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth repeating - you have to know the final business outcome for your website. 

Otherwise, even paying someone $200 on Upwork can be too much. 

Having a clear and precise goal in mind is the only way you can measure. 

Think of a website as an investment in your business. 

If you’re planning to earn $200k a year on, it’s perfectly ok to invest $20-30k (10-15% of the expected outcome) into it. 

Having that kind of understanding, all of a sudden a $20k website doesn’t seem so expensive, does it? 

I hope this article was helpful. Feel free to share it on your social media with your friends and peers.


I hope you enjoyed this blog post about the cost of building a website from various agencies and freelancers available worldwide.

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