What a website actually costs

Why quotes for the same website differ several times over, which factors drive the price, and what to ask before comparing proposals.

This is the first question we get, and the only one with no short honest answer. Search for what a website costs and you will find figures that differ a hundredfold — and all of them are true, because they describe different things.

It is more useful to understand what drives the price. Then you can judge whether a quote is expensive, or simply includes things another quote leaves out.

What actually drives the price

Number of unique templates, not number of pages

A site with eighty product pages can cost less than one with eight pages, if the eighty share a template and the eight are eight different designs. When you get a quote, ask how many unique templates it covers — that is the real unit of work.

Whether the content is ready

This is the most underestimated factor. If copy and photography are ready, the project moves. If copy must be written, photos taken and information structured that currently exists only in the owner’s head, that is separate work with its own timeline and cost. A great many projects stall precisely here.

Functionality beyond presentation

A site that presents services and a site where people log in, pay, book a slot or track an order are different in kind. Each such feature brings development, testing and ongoing maintenance with it.

Integrations with other systems

Connecting to accounting software, inventory, a CRM or a courier is rarely trivial. The cost depends on how well the other system is documented — which often only becomes clear once work has started.

What a low quote usually excludes

When two quotes for the same project differ substantially, the difference is almost never "design quality". It is scope. Here is what the lower one most often leaves out:

• ·Technical search-engine preparation — titles, meta descriptions, structured data, sitemap. Added after launch, they cost more.
• ·Redirects from old URLs on a redesign. Skipped, they cost you positions you had already earned.
• ·Speed optimisation. A site that looks fine on desktop can load unacceptably slowly on a phone over mobile data.
• ·Analytics and conversion tracking. Without them there is no way to tell whether the site works.
• ·Training to edit content yourself — otherwise every text change is a new invoice.
• ·Testing on real devices and browsers, not only on the developer’s screen.

What to ask before comparing

• ·How many unique templates does the price cover, and what does each extra one cost?
• ·Who writes the copy and who provides the photography?
• ·Is technical SEO preparation included, and what specifically does that mean here?
• ·Will I be able to edit content myself, and is training included?
• ·Who owns the site, the domain and the hosting after handover?
• ·On a redesign, what happens to the old URLs?
• ·What does post-launch support cover and what is billed separately?

A quote that does not say what is excluded is not cheaper — the difference simply arrives later.

One question worth more than the price

Ask the supplier what they think the site should achieve and how you will know whether it does. If the answer is about page counts and deadlines rather than enquiries, calls or orders, you will probably get a handsome site that delivers nothing. That is the more expensive mistake than choosing the higher quote.

See how we approach website development and what the process includes →