How Much Should a Website Cost?(Complete Guide 2022) – Web Design & Digital Marketing Agency

A website may be created in one of three ways: using a website builder, using WordPress; or employing a professional designer. The path you take will have an impact on the ultimate cost of developing your website.

If you use a website builder, you may pay as low as $6 per month, however utilizing WordPress would cost you somewhere between $11 and $50 each month. Hiring a website designer is the most expensive choice, costing over $10,000 up front.

We’ll go through all three techniques in detail below, including all of the associated fees, so you can select the best option for your budget.

When planning a budget for a developing company, it’s critical to consider how much you’ll spend on your website. After all, taking savings during the early phases of development might result in major challenges later on, ranging from a loss of brand reputation to fatal security vulnerabilities. On the other hand, you don’t want to waste money working on your site, especially on features that you might not require.

How Much Should a Website Cost?

It’s difficult to put a figure on how much a website should cost.

The amount a firm pays varies widely from one company to the next, based on a variety of criteria such as the primary purpose of the website and how it will be built. However, there are three major techniques to establish a website:

First of all, let’s play a quick game: which website do you think costs the most?

How Much Does a Website Cost Using a Website Builder?

One of the most cost-effective ways to create a website is to use a website builder. If you’re a technical newbie who needs to get your site up and running quickly, this is the best option.

It’s also a popular choice for folks who want to create a personal website or portfolio rather than an ecommerce site or anything more complex.

Website Builder Costs	Price	Info
Monthly subscription	$6- $60 per month	Your subscription should cover hosting, security, themes, and a range of features.
Apps	$0- $20+ per month	Apps (free and paid) add extra functionality to your site.
Themes	Not required	Most website builders come with free themes, but you may be able to buy some premium options too.
Hosting	Not required	Hosting will be included within your monthly subscription price.
Security	Not required	Security is already built into your website from your builder, unless you want extra apps.
Professional help	Not required	Easy-to-use website builders rarely require professional guidance to use.

There are several website builders available, each with its own set of features and pricing. The most basic options will typically cost between $6 and $60, depending on the type of functionality you require—for example, adding ecommerce or booking services.

You may also go with free website builders, but they’re rarely the best option for most businesses. Most have extremely restricted capabilities, such as limited bandwidth and storage, a non-custom domain, such as www.mywebsite.squarespace.com, and very poor customer service. It’s possible that advertisements will appear on your website.

Paying the extra price for higher tier modifications might help you create a far more professional and functional site.

The Additional Costs Involved with a Website Builder

Outside of your monthly subscription fee, the most common costs you’ll need to consider when using a website builder include:

A custom domain name: Although a free custom domain may be included with your plan initially, this will usually run out after a year. On average, you’ll pay around $12 per year for your domain, but this could vary depending on where you go.
Apps: Custom apps will add extra funtionalities to your website, such as booking widgets, extra security features, and marketing solutions.
Premium themes: You can pay for a premium theme with some website builders, but you’ll also be able to use a range of free options.

The total cost estimate: $10 to $120 per month.

Choosing the Best Template for Your Site | Help Center | Wix.com

How much do the best website builders cost?

The price of a website builder varies based on the features you want. For example, if you only need a basic website, you may start with a very low-cost site with limited bandwidth and only a few features, such as blogging and SEO.

Hosting Type	Typical Cost	Best For
Basic	$12+ per month	Simple blogs with limited numbers of website pages. You’ll also create a great portfolio with a basic plan.
Ecommerce	$18+ per month	Online stores and people selling services.
Enterprise	$500+ per month	Huge stores with a significant number of visitors and huge bandwidth requirements

There are a handful of great website builders out there, and your choice will depend on mainly on your preferences. Some of the top website builders include:

Wix: One of the easier website builders to use, prices start at around $13 per month
Squarespace: Great for personal portfolios and attractive free themes at $12 per month
Weebly: Around $12 per month for the professional plan, with a range of features

How Much Does a Website Cost Using WordPress?

Open source site builders, such as WordPress, are referred to as such. This means you’ll have a lot more influence over your website’s functionality. This option is generally recommended for folks who have a little more technical knowledge and need greater freedom when it comes to designing their website. WordPress allows you to create blogs, commercial websites, bigger websites, and more creative designs.

Because you have so much flexibility in terms of how basic or sophisticated your site is, estimating the total cost of a WordPress website can be tricky. The platform is available for free download, and you may choose from a variety of free themes and plugins. You will, however, have to pay for hosting, security, and any premium apps you want to include on your site.

Website Builder Costs	Price	Info
Monthly subscription	$0	WordPress is free to use.
Apps	$0- $100+ per month	There are free and premium plugins available. The more advanced the plugin, the more it costs.
Themes	$0 – $50+	While there are free themes available, you may also want to consider a premium theme, which will usually require a one-off cost.
Hosting	$2.95 – $50+ per month	Hosting is an essential part of getting your site online. You’ll need to pay around $35 up front for a year of hosting at minimum.
Security	$0 – $200 per year	Security can be included in some hosting plans, but it may be worth installing additional security features, particularly if you’re building an ecommerce store.
Professional help	$80 – $180 per hour	This is an optional cost if you don’t have the technical knowledge required to use WordPress.

The cost of a WordPress website is determined by a number of factors, including how personalised you want your site to be and how much assistance you want.

How Much Do the Best Web Hosts Cost?

When creating a WordPress website, web hosting expenses are perhaps the most important cost to consider. You won’t be able to publish your website on the Internet if you don’t have a host, which means it won’t be accessible online and you won’t be able to share it with others.

The actual price you’ll pay for hosting is determined on the sort of hosting you choose and where you obtain your hosting from. Consider the following example:

Hosting Type	Typical Cost	Best For
Shared	$2 – $15 per month	Ideal for new websites, blogs, and hobby-style websites. Shared hosting will come with limited bandwidth and low costs.
Managed WP	$20 to $160 per month	Bloggers with larger sites, people building big portfolios, and businesses. Managed WP gives you more assistance managing your hosting needs.
Ecommerce	$7 – $30 per month	Online stores and companies selling services. Ecommerce hosting gives you more security, and better uptime overall.

There are a number of WordPress hosting providers available, including:

hostinger: Starting at $3.99 with an uptime of 999.95%
BlueHost: Starting at $2.95 with an uptime of 100%
dreamhost: Starting at $5.95 per month with a 99.94% uptime

The Additional Costs Involved with WordPress

Aside from the monthly cost of hosting, there are a few other costs that may add up to make constructing a website using WordPress more expensive, such as:

Professional assistance: WordPress is very beginner-friendly, but you may find yourself needing additional assistance as you start building it out. Developers can cost between $30 and $100 per hour, and the more skills they offer, the more expensive they’re likely to be.

Domain name: The domain name is the address your customers use to find your website. You’ll need a custom domain to ensure you stand out on the web. Some hosts provide your first year of domain hosting for free.

Plugins: Add-ins and extras for WordPress can cost you extra, like newsletter subscription widgets, SEO plugins, page builder and marketing tools. While these aren’t a requirement for every brand, they may be necessary for some companies, depending on what your website needs to do.

Themes: While free themes are available, they are somewhat basic. Premium themes can allow you to accomplish more with your website design. They also often look a lot more professional, and may even come with additional features specific to your company’s needs. Premium themes can cost anywhere between $50 and $200+.

Security: Hosting providers generally offer security as part of the service you pay for on a monthly or annual basis. However, additional security plugins are extremely useful for blocking and removing potential threats from your site. Extra security may be a good idea if you want to protect your site from hackers and give visitors peace of mind, especially if you run an ecommerce site.

The entire cost is estimated to be $250+ for themes, designs, and expert assistance up front, followed by $3.95 to $150 per month for hosting, your domain name, and other extras.

How Much Does a Website Cost Using a Web Designer?

Hiring a professional web designer is arguably the most expensive choice of all the methods to develop your website. There are several approaches to this. Start by looking at sites such as Upwork or Fiverr, or look at sites like People per Hour.

Working with a web designer relieves you of the burden of building your own website and allows you to delegate the task to a professional.

This may be the best option for you if you require a more complicated website, want to build a more advanced solution for your business, or don’t have time to work on your site yourself.

It’s tough to predict the cost of hiring a web designer because there are so many different freelancers and organizations to choose from, each with its own price range. You should expect to pay anything from $5,000 to $30,000 for a whole website.

There will be an additional monthly cost if you want further support in administering your site.

Website Builder Costs	Price	Info
Monthly subscription	$500 – $1,000 per year	A monthly fee is usually for things like maintenance for your website, updates, and re-designs when necessary to keep your site up-to-date.
Apps	$0	Apps, extra features, and widgets are usually included in part of the total upfront cost for your design.
Themes	$0	The use of any themes will be included in your up-front quote. However, many web designers will start building your site from scratch.
Hosting	$2.95 – $50+ per month	You’ll still be responsible for managing the hosting of your website with a website designer in most cases. Usually, you’ll need to pay an annual price.
Security	$0 – $200 per year	Security can be included as part of your hosting plan. However, it’s worth investing in additional security measures too, particularly for ecommerce sites.
Professional help	$5,000 – $30,000	The “professional help” part of the equation will include the costs of paying someone to create and design your website. The more complex the design, the more your site will cost.

What are the Typical Costs of Hiring a Web Designer?

The fee you pay for a web designer will be determined by a variety of criteria, including the complexity of your website and the scope of work you want your designer to do. If you want a web designer to take care of your hosting, domains, and plugins, as well as continuous maintenance, you’ll have to pay extra.

You’ll also need to consider what features you’ll need (like ecommerce), how many pages your site will have, and if your designer will start from scratch or use a template you’ve already acquired.

It’s normally easier to handle your own domain name and hosting because you’ll have more price control this way. A web designer’s usual charges

Elements of Design	Hiring Your Web Designer
Setup	$150-$200+
Design and building	$5,000+
Content creation	$500+
Training	$500+
Maintenance	$500+

The typical cost of developing a website is around $6,750+, however the final cost will be determined by your individual requirements. Using a pre-made theme for your website and doing things like maintenance and hosting yourself can save you some money.

The overall cost is estimated to be $6,000-$10,000+ up front, with ongoing maintenance and expenditures of $500-$1,000+ per year.

5 Key Questions Before You Start Building Your First Website

Whether you’re using a website builder, WordPress, or enlisting the help of a professional web designer, you’ll need to answer certain questions. The following are the most crucial questions to consider before making a decision:

What kind of website am I building?

First and foremost, you must choose what you want your website to do. The cost of creating a simple portfolio website varies greatly from the cost of creating a comprehensive corporate website. If you want to sell items and services on your website, you’ll need to consider this while making your website-building decisions. The following are some examples of frequent site types:

Small site or portfolio (the cheapest option)
Blog or larger business website (mid-range)
Ecommerce or enterprise site (higher costs)

How will I manage my website?

The amount of effort you’re prepared to put into maintaining your website will have an influence on the amount of money you spend on it. You can save money on regular maintenance and specialized fees if you manage your site yourself.

Running and administering your own site also means you can make changes right away instead of waiting for your developer. However, it also implies that you should be vigilant about the actions you take on your website.

It may be more expensive to hire a developer to manage your website, but you will have access to additional experience and assistance.

What kind of features do I need?

Because the elements you need for a successful website may vary over time, it’s important to consider your needs today and in the future. If you’re running a conventional company website, for example, you might simply need basic features like a blog and some basic marketing tools right now.

You might wish to add some more features as your site expands, such as a page where users can sign up for monthly newsletters or a booking app.

Most businesses begin with a simple website and progress to something more elaborate over time.

Will I handle the technical side myself?

Managing your website isn’t the only long-term commitment you’ll have to make to your project. You’ll also have to consider certain technological issues. From SEO to patching, the technical part of your website may include a wide range of topics.

You could be ready to tackle a few things on your own if you have some technical skills, such as installing fixes and upgrading your programs. Alternatively, you might hire a professional to help you with more difficult tasks, such as technical SEO.

What does my budget look like?

When it comes to investing in any part of business growth, we all have budgets to consider. With this in mind, it’s worth devoting some effort to figuring out how much you can afford. If you discover that your budget is insufficient to produce something of excellent quality, you may need to reconsider your alternatives and seek extra funds.

Remember to factor in both the up-front and continuing costs of website design and setup when determining your budget. Purchases of domain names and hosting, as well as maintenance and security, are all part of the ongoing expenditures.

So, how much should a website cost?

Building and maintaining a website may be done in a variety of methods, each with its own set of costs. You have three choices:

Using a website builder costs between $6 and $50 each month (cheapest)

If you have a restricted budget and don’t have many complex requirements for your website, website builders are suitable. You don’t need to know how to code to have your site up and operating quickly.

Wix, Squarespace, and Zyro are also popular possibilities.

Using WordPress: initial cost of $35-$780, recurring cost of $11-$50+ each month (mid-level);

With WordPress, you’ll have a lot more control over your website, including additional customization options. WordPress, on the other hand, needs a bit more code expertise.

Bluehost, dreamhost, and Hostinger are all good options for WordPress hosting.

Using a website designer can cost anything from $500 to $10,000 and above, with variable recurring charges (most expensive)

If you have a higher budget and don’t want to deal with the hassles of building a website yourself, this is the best option. If you’re short on time, it’s also a good option.