How Much Does a Website Cost?

"How much does a website cost?"

It's probably one of the first questions people ask when they're thinking about getting a website, and unfortunately, there's no simple answer. You can find someone offering a website for a few hundred dollars, while another designer might quote several thousand. So how do you know what's reasonable, and more importantly, what are you actually paying for?

The truth is, a website isn't really priced by how many pages you get. There's a lot more that goes into it.

Why do website prices vary so much?

Two businesses might both ask for a five page website, but that doesn't mean they're asking for the same thing. One might need five fairly simple pages with basic information and a contact form, while another might need custom design, booking functionality, payment integration, forms, email connections, SEO, animations or a much more involved user experience.

Both are technically "five page websites", but they're very different projects. The platform being used, the amount of customisation required, the experience of the designer and the amount of work involved behind the scenes can all affect the final price.

What are you actually paying for?

When you pay for a professional website, you're not just paying for someone to make a few pages look nice. You're paying for someone to understand your business and work out what your website actually needs to do.

Before the design even starts, there needs to be some thought around what you do, who your customers are, what information they need and what you actually want them to do when they land on your website. A website for a photographer is going to work very differently from a website for a tradesperson, therapist, online store or professional service.

Then there's the structure. What pages do you actually need? What information belongs where? What should be on the homepage and what can be moved somewhere else? Sometimes the best decision is actually having fewer pages. More pages doesn't automatically mean a better website.

Then comes the design and user experience. There are decisions around how information is presented, what needs to stand out, where buttons should go and how someone moves through the website. Your website needs to make sense to someone who doesn't already know your business, not just to you because you've been looking at it for years.

There's also the technical side. The website needs to work properly on mobile, links need to work, forms need to be tested, images need to display properly and everything needs to be checked across different screen sizes. Depending on the project, there might also be custom code involved to achieve a particular design or functionality.

Then you've got all of the other digital pieces that can come with a website. Your domain, business email, Google Business Profile, booking systems, payment systems, forms, analytics and basic SEO can all be part of the process depending on what your business needs.

Does a more expensive website mean it's better?

Not necessarily.

You don't need to spend $10,000 on a website just because someone tells you that's what a professional website should cost. Your website should be appropriate for your business, your goals and your budget.

A small local business might need a simple, well structured website that answers the important questions and makes it easy for people to enquire. Another business might genuinely need a much more complex website with ecommerce, bookings, integrations and custom functionality.

The right website is the one that solves the right problems for your business.

What about building it yourself?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with building your own website. Platforms like Squarespace make it much more accessible for business owners to create something themselves, and if you've got the time and confidence to do it, it can be a great option.

The difference is the time and expertise involved.

If you're spending hours trying to work out why your mobile layout isn't working, how to structure your pages or why your contact form isn't doing what you want it to do, that's time you're not spending on your actual business.

Sometimes the value of hiring a web designer isn't just the finished website. It's having someone who already knows how to do the things you're trying to figure out.

So, how much should you budget?

There's no magic number, and I think that's actually a good thing. Rather than starting with a dollar amount, I'd start by asking what you actually need your website to do.

Do you need five pages? Do you need bookings? Payments? Ecommerce? Forms? Help with your content? Do you need your website connected to other parts of your business? Do you want someone to continue supporting you once it's live?

Once you know what you actually need, it's much easier to work out what sort of investment makes sense.

At Conn Web Studio, my website packages start from $2,800, with the final investment depending on the scope and requirements of the project.

The goal isn't to sell you the biggest website possible. It's to build the website your business actually needs, and make sure it's something that is going to be useful to you rather than just another expense.