In this article, we identify the pricing factors involved when setting up a website. We explain where to start and the costs involved in setting up and maintaining your website in 2017.
Fly High Media is a digital marketing agency which creates unique and bespoke designs for businesses of all sizes.
Website costs in 2017
An online presence gives a business legitimacy. When considering the cost of building a website there are many factors that determine the price of the overall project. Having a website built for you can be confusing, you may not know where to start, what type of website best suits your needs and how much it should cost. Different design agencies will have varying rates. It’s a good idea to become familiar with the various stages of website design and the associated costs.
The cheapest choice in building and maintaining a website is the DIY option. Free templates for websites are available but these tend to be very basic and lack any individuality. You can purchase a simple website template for about £25, which can incorporate a basic online shop. However, for a well optimised, complex and unique website, many use a web design company to build and maintain their site.
Initial Costs
Domain Name
Every website needs a domain name, it is the address of the website. It needs to be unique as two companies cannot share one name. A .co.uk or .biz are the cheapest options costing around £3 a year, whilst the more popular .com domain costs as much as £10 a year. Popular domain names will cost more due to the greater demand that comes with their associated popularity. If you want a specific name that is already taken, you could potentially apply to buy it from whoever already owns it, but this might be costly.
Hosting
Every website needs to be hosted on a web server. Hosting your site on a web server with other sites usually costs around £10 – £30 a month. To have your own server is much more expensive with costs averaging around £60 a month.
The Cost of Building a Website
Cost of a Small First Website
A first website could be made up of between one and ten pages and is great for start-ups or small businesses. When purchasing the first website you should consider the ease with which it could be upgraded or expanded in the future if your business were to grow, or if you were to add other services or products.
When agreeing on a price for the website ensure that the price quoted is the total cost and that there are no hidden extras. To avoid paying an additional rate per hour for edits and amendments. A website is a large project and will take time to perfect. You should think about what exactly you need and want from your website and then look at what is part of the package offered.
Consider the following when researching your first website:
- How easy is it to reach and communicate with the designer?
- How is your website protected should something go wrong?
Fly High Media clients get the personal mobile phone of their website designer and all websites are regularly backed up.
The cost of a first professionally built website would roughly be:
| Domain and Set Up | £10 – £50 |
| Design | £200 – £350 |
| Content Creation | – |
| Development | £250 – £400 |
| Hosting | £0 – £20 |
| Ongoing Maintenance | £0 – £20 per month |
| Total Cost | £460 – £830 |
Of course, the price of a website depends on the size and complexity, as well as the number of revisions and amends that are required. If your site is for eCommerce or for a dedicated online business, then prices can increase due to the cost of the software required.
Cost of a Small Business Website
A natural progression from a first website is a small business website, which is usually between 10-20 pages. These types of website are suitable for those wishing to redesign or refresh a first website.
For a small business website, you should write down all of your requirements to ensure that your designer can deliver the site you want and need. Consider the following:
- How many pages or sections do you need?
- What functionality do you need – picture gallery? eCommerce?
- What is the scope for future development?
- What graphics or stock images do you need?
- Will it be mobile responsive?
Here’s more information on how to write a design brief.
The cost of a small business website will roughly be:
| Domain and Set Up | £10 – £100 |
| Design | £600 – £1,200 |
| Content Creation | – |
| Development | £900 – £2,000 |
| Hosting | £15 – £25 |
| Ongoing Maintenance | £25 – £40 per month |
| Total Cost | £1,550 – £3,365 |
We would also suggest for this sort of website a monthly budget for marketing campaigns that keep traffic coming to your site.
Cost of a Medium-Sized Website
This type of site is ideal for eCommerce businesses or companies with more traffic, a wider range of products, more information to impart or who require more functionality. When companies start moving onto larger websites it can be highly beneficial to work with a dedicated partner, one that can offer all of the ongoing support that such a project will require.
Unless you have a strong relationship with a talented freelancer, we would definitely recommend looking for an agency to work with when moving onto medium and large-sized websites. This ensures you are getting the best possible service and that they understand your business.
The larger the site gets, the longer it will take to build. There may be unforeseen problems that are encountered along the way so this is not something that you can expect to be finished in a hurry. For this reason, it may be wise to agree on a set fee for the project upfront, rather than by the hour.
The cost of a medium-sized website will roughly be:
| Domain and Set Up | £10 – £300 |
| Design | £800 – £1,800 |
| Content Creation | £100 – £1,000 |
| Development | £1,000 – £3,000 |
| Hosting | £20 – £35 |
| Ongoing Maintenance | £50 – £80 per month |
| Total Cost | £1,980 – £6,215 |
Once you move into the larger website building projects, the price gets higher so you can expect to pay over £1,000 regardless of size, requirements, functionality, etc.
Cost of a Large-Sized Website
Website costs increase considerably as you move up in scale. With multiple sections and lots of functionality, large websites are ideal for big companies or established online brands. A larger site offers potentially greater flexibility. However, it can take time and patience to build such a large site and costs will go up considerably.
If you are looking to develop a larger website or redesign a smaller one, you will need a reliable content management system in place so that you or someone that you employ can access and make regular amends to the site.
You also need to consider who will host your site, either a 3rd-party or on your own internal server. Having your own server can be expensive, but it does add a level of security that you can rely upon, whereas a 3rd-party hosting site might be cheaper, but if they go down then so will your website.
For larger websites, which are often eCommerce sites, it is imperative that it is mobile-responsive. In an ideal world, your designers will migrate your existing site into a new and mobile-responsive framework. However, if this is not possible, you can expect costs to mount up as a new build is required.
The cost of a large-sized website will roughly be:
| Domain and Set Up | £10 – £300 |
| Design | £1,200 – £3,000 |
| Content Creation | £100 – £1,500 |
| Development | £1,000 – £4,000 |
| Hosting | £30 – £50 |
| Ongoing Maintenance | £80 – £100 per month |
| Total Cost | £2,420 – £8,950 |
Other Website Costs – Features and Components
As well as domain, hosting design and build costs, you may also have to factor in the price of future development, external plug-ins, digital marketing PR, SEO, PPC Management or social media marketing.
| Digital Marketing PR | £100 to £500 per month |
| SEO | £500+ per month |
| PPC Management | £250+ per month |
| Social Media Management | £250+ per month |
Key Takeaways
- See your website as investment and marketing tool, not just an expense.
- Know exactly what you are getting for your money before your project starts.
- Ensure communication is consistent with every process.
- Make sure you give the best brief possible to your agency so that the process is smooth from the offset.