How Much Does a Website Cost?

Dec 2, 2023

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What Should a Website Cost?

One of the first things clients want to know when they call us here at Moore Tech Solutions is how much a new website will cost. We answer it so much, in fact, that we thought we’d create this handy guide that suggests what you should pay for every different type of website.

One of the reasons this guide is so useful is that the price of a website can depend on a whole host of factors. Unlike building a custom home, which might vary 10%-50% between different builders, the price of a website can vary by as much as 200% or even more! That’s because the type of service and level of experience of website designers can differ massively. To understand the true value of your website, you also have to understand the service you’re going to receive.

Now we’ve got that clear, let’s look at all of the costs associated with building a new website.

Pricing Considerations

Domain Names

What is a website domain name?
It is the name of your website’s link (URL) that is typed into a browser to find your website. For example, our domain name is mooretechsolutions.com.

Before you can have a website, you must first buy a website domain. If you are using a web design agency to create your new website, they can take care of this for you. But for maximum control, you are better off doing this yourself through a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy or Moniker. If you ever change agencies this removes any question of who owns the domain

How much does a domain name cost?
The price of a website domain will typically be between $8-10 per year depending on the type of TLD you choose (.com, .org, .store, etc.) and how long you purchase the domain name for. Domain names can be renewed every year and you will always be able to renew it before it expires. Domain names with a longer expiration date can play a small factor in search engine results, so you may want to renew for multiple years. An added advantage is that you won’t forget to renew!

Website Hosting

What is website hosting?
The website hosting account is where the website physically resides. Your website is made up of files and data that must be stored in a location called a server that connects to the web.

Typically, your web developer will have a preferred provider and will host your website through them. Some design companies will waive the hosting fee, others will include it in the price and others still will charge you separately for it. High-quality hosting isn’t cheap and typically small cheap hosting accounts tend to perform very poorly.

How much does website hosting cost?
Website hosting will typically set you back between $50 and $500 per year depending on the type of hosting you use. The better quality hosting environments usually cost more.

If your site is handling secure data such protected health information (PHI) you may need a HIPAA compliant server which is much more expensive.

Website Development Options

Designer, Platform or DIY?

Who you choose to create your website will have a HUGE impact on the price of the website. Thanks to the number of DIY website builders and open source content management systems you don’t even have to pay anyone (although you probably should).

Below we’ve listed ways in which you can build your website, have your website built, or hire in-house talent. We try to cover about how much those options will cost and our thoughts on each.

What Are Hosted Website Platforms?

There are plenty of options available including Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and Shopify. These platforms are self-hosted, meaning that you pay a monthly fee to use the platform but don’t really own the site.

Pros

  • Hosting is included so you can save some money there
  • You build it yourself so you don’t have to wait for someone else to get it done
  • You can select pre-made templates (themes) that are already designed and ready to go.

Cons

  • You don’t own the site
  • If you sell things you may have to pay a fee per item sold
  • You can’t make changes to the layout or styling, it just is what it is
  • Others will have websites that look the same as yours
  • You can’t control the SEO so there isn’t too much you can do to improve the search engine results
  • You can only extend them so far, additional functionalities are limited

Pricing

  • The typical monthly fee for a hosted platform is anywhere between $30 and $300 per month depending on how much volume you need.

 

What Are Content Management Systems?

A Content Management System (CMS) is a pre-built website that has been zipped up into an folder that must be installed on a hosting account server that has a database setup on it (usually MySql). It normally includes a few pre-built pages, some menu tabs to the pages and maybe a few special items like a login. It incorporates all of the functions and capabilities of a fully functional website plus extensions (plugins) can be installed to extend those functions. Edits to the site can be made using a WYSIWYG (what you see id what you get) text editor or a drag and drop builder (if one has been installed).

Pros

  • Most CMSs have a wide selection of themes and templates that come with demo pages already built
  • You build it yourself so you don’t have to wait for someone else to get it done
  • You can select pre-made templates (themes) that are already designed and ready to go.
  • You own the website and control the hosting account
  • Very simple themes and templates are free so it costs you nothing except hosting and time

Cons

  • You must set up the hosting account, configure the server, and create the database
  • You will need to pay for hosting but service it and manage it yourself
  • Although you can change some styling true design changes require CSS, HTML and sometimes PHP knowledge
  • You will have to learn and get familiar with using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in order to manage site files
  • If you break it you will have to fix it yourself

Pricing

  • Aside from the cost of hosting, open source CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal) are free. However, themes, templates, and third party plugins and extensions are not always free and can run into hundreds a year for updates and renewals.

 

Should I Hire In-House Web Design Staff?

If you have a large company and plan on frequent changes to your website you may feel like having an in-house staff developer is necessary for being responsible for planning and creation of the website. However, be advised that staff developers don’t come cheaply. A basic front-end web developer’s salary starts at about $50,000 a year and if a full-stack backend web developer is needed the mean salary for that member is about $106,000.

Pros

  • You will incrementally control every aspect of your website from server to site
  • You can develop a test platform to test changes prior to implementation
  • You can create custom themes and functions
  • You will own the website

Cons

  • Money, this is a very expensive solution
  • If you don’t hire the right talent you may still find that you have to pay for help
  • If one staff member leaves another must be capable of stepping into the middle of his work, which isn’t easy to do
  • Your staff members will have to train to keep abreast the constant changes in technology
  • Did we mention the expense?

Pricing

  • If you are comfortable paying $50,000 – $100,000 per year, this is a good option for you.

Should I Use a Freelancer To Build My Website?

If you know exactly what is needed, can communicate it clearly to a developer and an also understand what that developer is saying to you then a freelance web designer may be a good choice for you.

Pros

  • You won’t have to have the expense and management time of a full-time staff member
  • You can set budgets and expectations for delivery times
  • You may not (maybe) have to pay if expectations aren’t fulfilled
  • You will own the website

Cons

  • You must be able to communicate clearly and concisely what is needed, what the budget is, and what the delivery time is to be
  • Many freelancers don’t speak English as a first language so communications can be difficult
  • Many freelancers live in another time zone so expect to have very late night conversations or several days of lag time in between conversations
  • If you don’t use a third party freelance platform you may pay for something that will never be delivered
  • If your freelancer goes away you may have to start from scratch later on down the road

Pricing

  • Freelancers tend to charge between $35 and $75 an hour.

Should I Use Web Design Agency To Build My Website?

If you are not technical, are too busy working in your business to work on your business, don’t have a large staffing budget, and you’re not interested in trying to manage a project with a developer that is half way around the world, then hiring a web design agency is the best choice for you.

Pros

  • You can have a non-technical conversation with your developer about things like site goals and specific functions
  • You can usually expect to receive a full price breakdown of what you are getting for your money
  • With the right developer you will own the website
  • You can order work as it is needed
  • A few web design companies (like ours) will provide you with training to make basic content edits to your website

Cons

  • Some web design companies, not all, may not deliver as quickly as you would like
  • Most will not be open on the weekends or evenings if you need changes done at those times
  • Most will charge for time to explore and consult
  • If future edits are needed they must be requested and scheduled

Pricing

  • Website Designers tend to charge between $50 and $200 an hour for ad hoc services but tend to charge less for project pricing. Most will submit to you a full proposal that covers what is included, what additional options are available, and what the project price will be before they begin any work.

 

Website Types and Typical Prices

Is Your Website Basic or Complex?
Apart from who builds your website, the other major factor that will dictate price is the kind of website that you need. It goes without saying, the simpler, the better. The more complex your website is, the more time developers will need to create it and, therefore, the more expensive it will be. Below you can find the standard range of websites that clients usually ask for and their associated agency costs.

How much does a typical one-page website cost?

A one-page website displays information about your company. Customers will use this website to find out more about your service and then make contact either by calling a listed phone number or by filling out an online form.

Typical Price: $1,000 – $2,000

How much does a typical business brochure website cost?

This is typically a 5 to 20-page website used by small and medium-sized businesses. It will have all of the standard pages that you expect a website to have: a homepage, an about page, a services page, a gallery, FAQs, news and a contact page. For additional fees, it can also be connected to a CRM or have restricted download areas.

Typical Price: $3,000 – $10,000

How much does a typical ecommerce website cost?

An E-commerce website is much more technical than a brochure website and the cost will reflect this. It will include categorized product pages, a checkout shopping cart, inventory controls, product variations, shipping rules, taxing rules, a payment gateway and E-commerce SEO.

Typical Price: $5,000 – $20,000

How much does a typical real estate website cost?

A real estate website usually includes a brochure website that also displays real estate listings in addition. These can be entered by hand, iframed from an MLS source or by importing an IDX data feed from an MLS board natively into the website to garner better SEO results.

Typical Price: $3,500 – $10,000

How much does a custom website cost?

Occasionally, clients will want a custom website that doesn’t conform to the categories above and that utilizes advanced functions or ties together third-party platforms. You should always speak with your web design agency to discover the cost of a custom website and to check that they can complete the work.

Typical Price: $3,500 – $10,000

How much does a custom website cost in the UK?

Costs not only vary according to what is needed, but they can also very according to where your website developer is located. Here is a good resource for finding what a website should cost if your development company resides within the UK: Average UK Web Pricing.

Typical Price: 200 – 100,000 Pounds

When we create a site for you – you own it. You own the website and all of the code, if you ever want a copy of it we will provide it to you upon request. We go out of our way to use open source, well-supported tools that are non-proprietary so you never feel obligated to have to use our services once the site has been built.