We are often asked in simple terms “how much does a website cost?” This is similar to asking “how much does a car cost?” It depends on which car you want and your needs. You may have seen prices that range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. So what is the difference?
Your website is unarguably one of the most valuable marketing tools you have. Spending a little more upfront will get you a custom professional design, features that make your site more dynamic, a site that attracts new customers, search engine optimization, and the ability to grow the site overtime with little or no added cost.
Below are a few of the pricing models we run into and a brief explanation of each. These costs do not account for the opportunity cost of lost business leads from an inadequate website.
Overpriced Inexpensive Websites:
Some website design companies will sell you a $500 recycled template website with your logo slapped into the header. Seems like a good deal right? When you start adding up the cost of updates, revisions, and new designs you can easily sink a few thousand dollars into your initial investment of $500.
Basic Yearly Cost of an Inexpensive Website:
$500 5 Page Site
$400 In Content Updates (8 hours at $50/hour)
$400 Addition of a Login Section
$300 Generic Blog Addition
$250 Custom Gallery Addition
$250 Social Media Integration
$200 Addition of Custom Graphics
$200 Testimonial Section
Total:$2,500 Generic Template Site So now you have a $2,500 website that is still generic and may not have all the features you really need. This is very similar to buying an inexpensive used car and spending thousands on repairs. Your money would have been better spent on a custom site designed around your real needs today and tomorrow.
We receive dozens of inquires a week from customers that bought an inexpensive site and need it fixed. Most of the time it is cheaper to start from scratch than to redesign an existing website. Customers soon realize how much money a professional custom site would have saved them.
Monthly Payment Plan Websites:
A website for $50-$200 a month seems like a good deal at the onset. After just a few months and updates you will have spent more and received less as compared to building a custom site from the start. To make matters worse, most of these contracts insure that you do not retain site ownership. At the end of the contract you can easily have $2,000-$5,000 invested in a site you do not own.
Cost of a 24 Month 5 Page Website Contract:
$2,400 $100 x 24 Months
$840 1 Hour of Additional Maintenance $35/Month
$240 Image Gallery $10/Month
$240 Blog $10/Month
$120 Custom Contact Form $5/Month
$120 One Additional Page $5/Month
Total: $3,960 For A Basic Site You Do Not Own Companies that sell payment plan websites know you may default at any time, so they mitigate their risk by providing the most inexpensive website possible. They do this in a number of ways:
- Generic Template Designs – For a website company, hiring professional designers can be very expensive. Hiring these professionals just doesn’t make sense when a website company knows you may default after just a few payments. Their answer is use extremely generic templates that cost them little to design and implement.
- Costly Updates – Since these companies usually retain the site ownership, they know you can’t go elsewhere to revise your site. This allows them to use your inability to update the site as a revenue generator. Updates are usually slow and expensive.
- Website Company Retains Ownership – When your contract is over or when you want to change website companies, most design companies will not allow you to keep your site.
- Slow Website – Most of the time your site will be hosted on an overcrowded shared server to minimize their costs.
- Long Contracts – A 24 month contract will cost $1,200-$4,800 before the cost of updates. After 2 years of updates a basic 5 page site can cost close to $10,000.
VisFire’s Website Design Methodology :
Customers own their sites, not us. Clients are given full access to a custom site built to their specifications.
100% Custom Designs: We do not use pre-made templates. Because our process includes unlimited design revisions and mock-ups prior to acceptance, customers will receive a completely customized design tailored to their needs. Our typical process includes a design consultation questionnaire, color pallet choice, multiple design proofs, and a full satisfaction revisions process.
Content Management Systems: Sites are admin controlled. A Content Management System, or CMS, is built into every site at no additional cost. This means that you will have the ability to update basic content, pages, and images without paying for additional support.
Constant Communication: Single point of contact provided. You will be provided updates for each step of the web design process by a single point of contact assigned to your account. This allows you to stay in control of your project and insures your expectations are met.
Search Engine Optimization: Onsite SEO at no charge. We do not charge extra fees for onsite SEO included in your package. You will get the same great SEO onsite service for your site that we include in our specialized SEO packages.
Free Hosting: We include 3 months of free hosting.* We set up the site’s server to the site’s unique requirements and host it for 3 months at no charge. *Includes our Deluxe shared hosting package; VPS or dedicated server hosting is available for an additional fee.
Free Support: Have questions about your new site, just ask! You will receive one month of our Small Business Support at no charge. Support includes basic updates and revisions for up to 4 billable hours.
Free Training: Need to know how your new site works? You just got a brand new website and now you need to know how to update it. No problem, we include a free training session with each custom built website. You will never be left wondering.