How Much Does a Website Cost in 2018?

When faced with the need to build a website for your business, the price you will need to pay might be the first thing that you think about. The question, “How much does a website cost?” is never easy to answer as it lacks specifics. First of all, you want to make sure you can afford it, but to do that, you need to understand the factors that influence the cost of creating a website.

Take for example buying a car. To start with, you are naturally interested in the price. However, such aspects as the type and make of the car, its efficiency, and capacity, including your expectations, should be considered. The price of the car will largely depend on the listed features and specifics.

The same principle applies to website development. Figuratively speaking, you wouldn’t expect to get a Tesla for the same price as a VW Golf, would you?

Thus, if you want to understand that factors the influence the cost of building a website, you need to learn the specifics of the process and understand how it all works. In this article, we will focus on the cost of web development to help you make a sound investment decision when building your online presence.

1.Web Dev trends of 2018 and how they can affect website cost

Web development is a fast-paced environment. Every now and then we see new technologies gain momentum, and unexpected design patterns emerge which completely redefine what we know about website UX. This year, you cannot ignore the following trends when building a website:

• Responsive design is a must. A website that can adapt to any screen size is no longer a good idea, but a necessity. However, in order to implement this capability you need to add the implementation cost into your budget (in some cases, this might add up to 20% of the development costs).
• Microservices gain momentum. Building a scalable backend using microservices instead of a heavy-weight monolith web application is a choice that more business owners are making right now. When used correctly, this approach might actually reduce the web development time and cost. However, a lack of experience and skills in the given architecture might lead to poor results and an exceeded budget.
• Web push notifications take center stage. Instead of the email subscription model, more businesses choose to send timely alerts to their users right within the browser (but only if the users opt in to receive such notifications). Being extremely efficient, this retention strategy might require special paid tools to be implemented.

2. How much does it cost to build a website?

A good website is much more than just visual appeal. Its backend capabilities, technologies, and performance - basically what makes the website work is equally important but often overlooked by business owners.

Thus, the cost involved in building a website usually consists of several smaller expense items:

• website design cost (wireframes, UX, user flows and navigation, UI, and branding)
• website development cost (backend and frontend implementation, admin panel, QA, deployment)
• website maintenance cost (support and updates)
• website hosting cost (domain, servers, and storage)

Each of the listed costs can vary depending on your requirements, the type of website you need, and its scope of functionality. Judging by our own experience with the subject matter, the average cost of website design for a small business can be roughly estimated as follows:

• small projects - 300 - 600 hours
• midsize projects - 850 - 1,360 hours
• large-scale projects - 2,500 - 5,000+ hours

Important: The costs every agency charges for web development can vary greatly depending on a number of aspects. That is why we have provided the estimates in hours. To get the cost estimate for your website using this classification, you need to multiply the given hours by the rate of your contractor.

In the given scenario, it is important to provide an adequate estimation for the complexity and scope of your project. For example, a simple business or product website consisting of up to 10 pages can be defined as a small project. An eBay-like online store, a full-featured web application, or a social network like Facebook are large-scale projects.

Everything that falls between the two can be considered a mid-size project, like a small online store with limited number of products and categories, a personal blog or web resource, a simple website with limited functionality that complements your mobile app (think web version of Instagram).

3. How to cut the website cost?

A popular option for building a website at a reasonable cost is generic website builders. However, we strongly discourage our clients from choosing this approach. The customization efforts and further maintenance can lead to even larger expenses in the long run, as compared to the initial development cost of a custom solution.

If you still want to cut expenses, try the following pro tips:

• Have a clear understanding of your requirements and align them with your business needs,

and/or

• Invest in a thorough business analysis and planning with a development team.
• Hire one provider to handle the process from A to Z.
• Start small - develop an MVP to test the waters and use iterative, agile methods.
• Choose an offshore development team.

All in all, if you want to know how much a website costs, you need to first of all choose a provider; or at the very least, narrow down your list to the best 2 or 3 candidates based on skills and relevant expertise. Don’t let the price be the main deciding factor. If you go with the cheapest offer, the chances are you will have to pay twice as much in the long run.

Trusted by hundreds of startups and Fortune 500 companies, we at Eastern Peak offer good value for money, providing end-to-end website development services. We strongly believe that every business is unique, and that is why we tailor our services specifically to meet the needs and requirements of our clients. If you want to know how much will it cost to build a website for your business, contact us now to receive a free personal consultation and a preliminary estimate.