How much should you budget for a website?
Previously, I wrote a little bit about how to choose a web designer for your small business. We get asked all the time for ballparks and rough quotes for interactive projects – everyone basically wants to know, “How much will this cost?”
The short answer: It depends.
The long answer:
If you want an online presence that is truly on-brand, isn’t a generic Wordpress theme, includes features that your business needs, and is flexible enough to grow with your company, you need to budget over $6K. Ideally, you should be looking at the $10,000 to $15,000 range. This ballpark is a sweet spot that guarantees a high quality result, with a beautiful on-brand responsive design and solid architecture and code.
For less than $6K, you may be able to get a website for your business that will work for the time being. It might not have a content management system (i.e. allow you to easily make updates yourself without coding knowledge). It may use a downloaded or premium WordPress theme, and therefore may be inflexible or not match your visual branding. It might not work ideally on mobile phones. Depending on your budget and target audience, these compromises may be worth it for your business.
These prices are, of course, rough guidelines. At Pixel Foundry, we tailor all our cost estimates to our clients’ needs.
Looking to the future
If you’re drawing up a budget and figuring out costs for your business/organization’s online strategy, don’t forget to factor in future updates and maintenance! You’ll want to reserve some monthly budget for upgrades and tweaks. Websites should be an evolving part of your business that grows with you.