As a freelancer for web design, I am often exposed to the situation of having to explain to potential customers why professional websites or homepages cost as much as they cost . A majority of customers can understand my prices because they understand that good work comes at a price. Others have wishful thinking, high-quality websites can be realized with a minimum of financial investment. But how much does it cost to create a professional homepage ?
Quality differences in websites decide on prices
I like to compare the creation of websites with living conditions: You can live in a detached house with garden and enjoy all the conveniences of the place and pension. With your own apartment you usually still have a good investment. If you rent, you give away money. If you live in a tent , you always buy a new one and hardly keep it there in the winter.
It's the same with websites: Websites from professionals are sustainable, optimized and well thought out. The customer gets what he wants. Homepages from the modular system are standardized and therefore allow less individuality. Optimization is difficult, even if the ad likes to say that building site websites are optimized for eg Google. They are not in the sense that customers really hope for.
Websites from low- cost providers are not much better : those who peddle with dumping prices either no longer need to earn money or need customers at all costs. The price pays in the end the customer , because at very low prices simply no professional homepage is to be expected.
How much do websites cost?
In the following infographic I have tried, based on my experience, to outline the rough process of a simple project . Of course, the final price depends on the hourly wages of the web developer or web designer . That can be 20 € or even 100 €. Suppliers who are new to the market often have lower prices because they do not have that many customer requests yet.
Established professionals set the price higher, since their utilization is often more than sufficient and because specialists can usually develop websites much faster. In addition, professional web designers pay attention to subtleties such as security and performance. This means that the customer pays for the experience, which had to be laboriously built up for years.
External costs for eg SEO agencies, which possibly accompany a web page creation or also copywriters, which are to provide for the correct content, are not listed here and must be extra calculated. Likewise, hours on the part of the client are not included, which in most cases, of course, has to contribute to the creation of the homepage itself by providing information and content for the web designer.
To calculate what a website costs now, simply multiply the number of hours by the hourly rate of a web developer:
At 40 € hourly rate x 15 hours => costs a website 600 €
At 60 € hourly rate x 15 hours => costs a website 900 €
At 100 € hourly rate x 15 hours => costs a website 1500 €
On this page I have broken down a little more detailed, with what costs you have to expect.
Do not forget costs for maintenance and webhosting
A website needs regular maintenance. Today, static websites are rarely created that barely change or require any software updates. Mostly content management systems are used, which of course are further developed by their manufacturers. So for example with the case. Here at least once a month an update run of the plugins, the theme and WP itself should be inserted to take the latest features, to remain compatible with the plugins and themes and to close potential security vulnerabilities. Many website owners shy away from this work and then either have a vulnerable and outdated website or pay a professional for it.
A maintenance contract can cost several hundred euros to the thousands. Depending on what and how often should be done. Of course, a daily service is more expensive than a monthly update.
In addition, you still have to keep in mind the running costs for web hosting. Depending on the size of the website, at least 10 € per month should always be included here. The cheap providers are not recommended.
Cost of content production
Not everyone can and will write or have the time. As a result, it is relatively common for external providers to be involved in creating texts when creating a new website. There are many providers on the market, I have been working with content.de for years and have always been satisfied. Good copywriter at really good prices (no for 2ct per word there is no quality) and you only accept what suits you.
What about web developers of auction platforms?
OF COURSE you are a web developer at Freelancermap, MyHammer or project work will find that your web development for 20-30 € squander . But you should think of one thing: why do they offer their services so cheaply ? And how can they make a living from such dumping prices? And of course you can also be lucky enough to find a cheap provider there that will do you a good job. But the danger that you will have to turn on a professional at the end , who iron out the mistakes in structure, search engine optimization, security, is very high.
At the end you pay the bill for your new website and you want to be satisfied with the visuals, the speed or the user guidance. You want your customers to feel comfortable on your website, just as they might want in your store. If you do not want to take any risks here , you switch on the pro to pay the price for a website that is really justified .
Since the publication of this article in 2015, the framework for creating a website has changed little. The issue of SSL encryption has already come into focus in 2018 and must, of course, always be taken into account in 2019 as well. Also the page-speed optimization are more and more of interest for the offer, because Google simply looks at it more. Just through the mobile script hovering above all, speed becomes particularly relevant. Those who still rely on lame and not mobile optimized websites, has little chance in the future in direct comparison with optimized websites.
The price for web design may therefore need to be a few hours for page-page optimization and an SSL certificate. How much is difficult to say and must be checked on a case-by-case basis. Mobile optimization is part of every offer on a new website, but is often neglected because customers still do not have it on screen. It is the task of the web designer to set the right direction at an early stage: mobile first.