The Cost of Building a Website in 2023

When hiring a team to build your website, one of the most challenging questions you'll face is, "How much should I pay for it?"

Your website holds immense value for your business, so it's crucial to get the build right. While quality comes at a price, we understand that you have a budget, a timeline, and a desire to maximize your investment.

Let's talk about the cost of creating a website. Building a website involves various complexities, and these factors play a significant role in determining the pricing. So, let's take a moment to consider the figures and explore the reasons behind the considerable variance in costs.

Expertise and skills come with a price tag, but they offer tremendous value that exceeds the project's cost. Remember, a website is an investment in your business's future.

While it may seem tempting to spend more for potentially better results, your budget remains the primary guiding factor in making the right decision.

Please keep in mind that we are specifically discussing the upfront cost of outsourcing a website. This does not cover the ongoing expenses such as hosting, CMS, uptime monitoring, or long-term support and maintenance. These additional costs should be considered separately when budgeting for your website.

The variation in the table above can largely be attributed to differences in skills and services offered. Here are a few key points to consider:

Scope of the Project:

Your specific requirements can significantly impact the scope of the project and, consequently, influence the choice of the best partner to assist you. Understanding your needs is crucial in selecting the right team for your project.

Freelancer or Agency:

When deciding between hiring a freelancer or an agency, it's essential to understand their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Freelancers:

They typically specialize in one or two specific skills and are well-suited for smaller-scale projects.

Agencies:

They often offer a broader range of skillsets and can handle more extensive projects. However, they tend to be relatively more expensive.

Additionally, workflows may vary among agencies and freelancers, so it's important to find the approach that aligns with your preferences and requirements.

Ultimately, finding the right fit for your project comes down to understanding your needs and choosing the option that works best for you.

When searching for a partner to build a marketing website, docs site, or eCommerce store, one of the most significant factors to consider is the level of customization you desire.

Here's a breakdown of templates versus custom builds:

Templates:

Ideal for getting started quickly. Relatively affordable. Provides a foundation for your website design.

Custom Builds:

Offers much greater flexibility. Allows for future-proofing your site. Efficiently built to meet your specific needs. Improved maintainability for long-term success. Keep in mind that the quality of the team you work with can influence the degree of overlap between templates and custom builds. It's important to carefully evaluate your requirements and determine the approach that best aligns with your goals and preferences.

Design, development, and other services play a crucial role when seeking external assistance. There are two common scenarios:

1. Single Skill: At times, you may require a specific skill that your team lacks. In such cases, various freelancers and agencies specialize in offering specific services to fill those skill gaps.
2. Full-Service Solutions: On the other hand, some teams provide comprehensive, end-to-end solutions tailored to specific types of websites. They focus on providing all the necessary components to create a complete website experience.

Your project's needs will determine the approach that suits you best. It's always advisable to conduct thorough research to identify the right team that aligns with your requirements.

Why should you be willing to pay more?

There are several factors to consider when hiring an external team to build or update your website. Each team has unique talents and specializations, so conducting thorough research is crucial.

Pricing typically depends on the team's experience, the level of specialization required for your solution, and the quality of the final result.

Experience:

When you hire an external team, it's likely because you don't have the resources or expertise to build the website yourself. While platforms like Webflow, Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace enable DIY website creation, paying for experience provides invaluable benefits. Experienced experts can guide you on what works, what doesn't, and the best approach for your ideas. Their wealth of knowledge can save you time and effort.

Quality:

Experience goes hand in hand with better quality. Specialists in specific platforms, tools, or skill sets continually refine and enhance their services. Agencies and freelancers constantly challenge their own approaches through work with diverse clients, leading to a broader understanding of user experience, improved UI designs, and streamlined code maintenance for long-term success.

Services & Solutions:

Teams differ in the range of services and solutions they offer. Some may focus intensely on specific skills, while others specialize in achieving particular outcomes. There are also all-rounders who provide comprehensive support.

Your project's needs will determine the value you attribute to different services. Whether you require expertise in UX design, a solution like a headless marketing website, or general all-around support, these considerations can influence the cost of the support provided.

Remember to align your project requirements with the team's offerings to ensure the best fit and value for your investment.

What do you need?

Ensuring that an external team can deliver what you're looking for is a paramount consideration before hiring them. The pricing will typically be tied to the desired output, with more complex projects often costing more but offering potentially superior results.

Size:

The number of pages you require significantly impacts the website build. Building a 10-page website versus a 1000-page website entails a substantial difference in effort. Highly skilled teams can create systems that enable easy creation and maintenance of thousands of pages.

Complexity:

Websites vary in complexity beyond simple landing pages. As your site's needs increase, complexity arises. Whether it's multilingual support, adding a checkout system, or building a custom SaaS interface, these factors add complexity to your site. Although complex functionality can pose challenges in development and maintenance, it also differentiates your site by delivering exceptional experiences to your team and customers.

Talented teams will simplify complex functionality, ensuring it feels straightforward and user-friendly.

Quality:

The care and attention you invest in your website significantly contribute to its standing. High-quality websites resonate with customers, providing better experiences that encourage repeat visits. They can even generate viral attention or awards, leading to increased traffic. Expert teams bring vast knowledge and expertise from their completed projects. They offer skills that may be absent from your internal team, resulting in a higher-quality solution than you could achieve independently.

By considering these aspects, you can make informed decisions to create a website that stands out and delivers an exceptional user experience.

Important observations:

Websites can have a wide cost range, starting from affordable options to expensive ones. This variation is driven by the business use case of the website. As a business, your website is a money-making asset, and investing in its success is crucial. The potential revenue your website can generate is influenced by the size and reach of your business, making it essential to allocate a suitable budget for a well-executed website.

Agencies generally have higher costs compared to freelancers. This is because agencies have teams to support and additional business expenses to consider. Comparing the lowest pricing between agencies and freelancers clearly reveals the difference. However, it's worth noting that as projects become more complex, the price gap narrows. The value of the solution remains high, regardless of whether it's created by freelancers or agencies.

There's no upper cap on website pricing. The prices listed are starting points, and there can be significant variations even within a specific group. For instance, small, custom Webflow sites created by freelancers can sell for 25,000€ due to the immense value they provide. It's crucial to remember that this guide serves as a reference, rather than a definitive rule for pricing across all freelancers and agencies.

Conclusion:

Website prices can vary significantly, with small projects being more affordable while complexity drives costs exponentially higher. If large and complex websites exceed your budget, remember that your business needs may not always require such extensive spending. It's essential to strike a balance between affordability and your desired outcome. Thorough research is always advised to ensure you obtain precisely what you need. If you need assistance in finding the right solution, feel free to get in touch.