Cost of website design?

[LMAdminServices]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if I've put this in the right section, but here goes...

I'm looking into creating a website for my business, there are numerous sites which offer packages for creating them yourself, as I'm sure you're all aware, but I just don't see me having the time to do it between working and looking after my 4 month old daughter.

I'd only need a homepage, services & costs page, contact page, and possibly a blog page (I think).

This might sound really stupid, but I have no idea what the average cost of having one designed for you etc. is.

If anyone can shed some light on this for me I'd be really grateful.

Thanks!

Laura

 

[james_firmsites]

Depends how much work you want to do yourself. There are really cheap site builders for a few pounds a month where you build it yourself. There are companies like mine where we build it for you and charge a larger monthy fee (ours start at £35 per month) or you can spend between hundreds to a few thousand going with a designer one off.

Do you intend to sell online or just advertise services?

 

[Darren C]

A lot of low cost websites are built on a theme that has been adapted to suit. Cost for this is minimal but you need to consider any modifications, domain registration, hosting and email, etc.

Look at something like £100 minimum for set up and then annual cost of anything from £10 to £100 or more.

 

[ryedale]

Hi Laura

There's lots of freelancer sites and overseas deigners who will do it for you about £50-£100 or less but the quality is often poor with little or no ongoing support.

If we were quoting on it , we'd have two options for you

We can build it as a bespoke design and go through a full mock up process using our mock up tool - this would be around £1200 + VAT which includes full research of your competitors in your industry sector.

Or we can help you select a theme and style a site around that for you which would be around £300 + VAT

We'd charge £60 for hosting but prices can vary wildly between companies

If on-going support is going to be important to you, take the time to read online feedback and after sales support policies

 

[Darren C]

By the way. If you don't already have a domain registered do not ever allow a web designer to do this for you. It is the one thing you need to have exclusive control of.

 

[TomJ83]

There is a lot of competition in the web design industry so you will see many different pricing options. For a website with your requirements, some will charge at least £199, others will charge at least £495. As has been mentioned in this thread, there could be higher figures as well.

The best thing you can do before chasing a web designer is to register a domain yourself. Otherwise, there could be difficulties for you once you want to move to a new web designer. Then your domain could be held as a hostage, and as it has been ranked on Google you wouldn't want to start all over again with a new domain.

 

[Alan]

Asking website pricing is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string.

A lot depends if you are prepared to do all the content work ( text and images ) or if you just want the finished product. Also a lot depends if you want to have true 'design' i.e. something designed for your brand or an 'off the shelf' design ( probably 99% of websites are 'off the shelf' designed )

I tried to communicate the pricing variations here https://locally.co.uk/how-much-does-a-website-cost/

 

[Darren C]

Asking website pricing is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string.

OP gave a clear spec. Anybody charging over £200 for this, in my opinion, is taking the micky.

 

[Alan]

Lol, with content or without. Was that in the spec?
Custom design or a template? Was that in the spec?
Have they their own logo and typography? Was that in the spec?

How clear is the spec?

At least the OP admitted they have no idea.
Clearly you are clueless.

 

[AllUpHere]

OP gave a clear spec. Anybody charging over £200 for this, in my opinion, is taking the micky.

That tells us more about the value of your opinion than anything else.

 

[bigbuzzbelfast]

OP gave a clear spec. Anybody charging over £200 for this, in my opinion, is taking the micky.

I'd love to see the type of websites you build for £200, Obviously you are putting yourself in the running for this with a comment like that.

 

[Darren C]

I'd love to see the type of websites you build for £200, Obviously you are putting yourself in the running for this with a comment like that.

Well, I'm not putting myself in the running but good luck to you if this is how you make a living.

 

[Darren C]

Clearly you are clueless.

When someone makes a post I disagree with I try not to be so offensive.

 

[fisicx]

Trying to put things a bit more into context.

@LMAdminServices wants a simple site - really just to promote her services. A wordpress installation with any one of the thousands of free themes could easily be put together for well under £200 if the contact and images are provided.

If she wanted a bespoke theme and some fancy features then the cost would rise.
Add in a booking system or client login then the cost rises again.
Maybe there needs to be some integration with a software package or GRDP and FCA compliance. This may well add to the costs.

So yes, a site could be built for under £200 but the cost could easily rise to a lot more.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

So yes, a site could be built for under £200 but the cost could easily rise to a lot more.

What's the difference between a website that looks good, and one that gets your phone ringing?
The surprising answer is just one word...

TESTED!

Not much testing can be done for "under £200"...!

 

[fisicx]

Not always.

She provides admin services - there is a list of these services on Yell - so all the site has to do is market these services. Well written content will do this and with all the right trust marks and marketing and the phone will ring.

The testing she can do herself. The necessary changes will be to the content not the layout/theme - unless of course she chooses one of those awful parallax, animated, slider themes with more bells and whistles than a convention of bell ringers and whistle blowers.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

The testing she can do herself.

...I just don't see me having the time to do it between working and looking after my 4 month old daughter.

If she doesn't have the time to figure out how to install a wordpress site, then how will she possibly have the time to figure out testing... or her marketing message... How will she stand out from that little crowd on Yell?

BTW, I'm very much in the "plain and simple website with a good marketing message" camp...

 

[fisicx]

True, which is why she would pay £200 for someone to set up the WordPress site and advise/help on the sort of content.

At £40/hour that's an hour to set up WP and 4 hours of consultation.

 

[LMAdminServices]

Thank you for all of your replies - I'm sorry if I wasn't specific enough regarding what I want, but this is a relatively new idea of mine as I have regular customers but will be increasing my work hours in the new year, so am looking into advertising, website etc.

Secondly @james_firmsites, I only intend on advertising at the moment, but may want a booking system in the future.

Thanks!

Laura

 

[Discdevil]

As as ex-web developer i used to charge 150 per day. I can tell you it depends on the quality of work and security etc. im sure there are people willing to do it for £30 a day but obviously they wouldnt have the security and experience you would expect when paying £150.

just ask yourself if your website needs to be dynamic/interactive
or
just information only.

if its the later. you are looking at £5 for the domain, £5 month hosting, 100-200 for the website

 

[Kev2017]

The way I see it, please excuse me if I am wrong, if you do not have time to build the site, you will not have time to update or maintain it. Get a pro, there are plenty on here. A basic site can be knocked up in a day, quite easily. As Discdevil above says, around £150 is more than reasonable. You can spend hours building and tweaking and re doing, or pay someone who does it day in day out £150. It's a no brainer to me. There are some guys on the forums who build websites, check their work out and see what you like. I can recommend some really good designers, but that wouldn't be fair to the guys on here. Let us all know how you get on, referrals for people and services are really important.

 

[Alan]

As as ex-web developer i used to charge 150 per day. I can tell you it depends on the quality of work and security etc. im sure there are people willing to do it for £30 a day but obviously they wouldnt have the security and experience you would expect when paying £150.

I assume you are offshore not UK based, at those rates. Or you totally under valued your skills.

 

[AllUpHere]

As @Alan points out, nobody who knows what they are doing works for 150 quid a day in this country. If they do, they probably aren't worth using.

 

[fisicx]

I do. But according to some UKBF members I haven't got a clue what I'm doing so that's ok.

 

[Alan]

I do. But according to some UKBF members I haven't got a clue what I'm doing so that's ok.

Or you totally under valued your skills.

You already mention £40/hour which is £300 per day , why do you say you work for half of this?

The UK median rate for Wordpress contracts is £325 per day ( https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/wordpress.do ) and those are for contracts normally offering 35hours + a week for months on end, without the cost of marketing / selling / downtime, so a 'freelancer' working as a business should really be asking £50+ per hour to be viable compared to just getting a job.

Lifestyle decision excepted.

Agencies => need to charge double that i.e £100 per hour = £700 per day and guess what that is the UK average agency rate.

 

[Orla_marketing]

I came across an Activ Net Marketing consultant the other day. I understand they are a franchise and have local consultants nationwide. I've never used them but might be worth looking into & meeting a local consultant. Perhaps people on here have a view about them.

 

[AllUpHere]

I came across an Activ Net Marketing consultant the other day. I understand they are a franchise and have local consultants nationwide. I've never used them but might be worth looking into & meeting a local consultant. Perhaps people on here have a view about them.

I can't think of a single legitimate reason why a marketing consultant would need to buy a franchise in order to build a business or find clients. The only reason I can think of is that they don't know very much about marketing; a definite downside to a marketing consultant, I'm sure you'll agree?

 

[Orla_marketing]

The clue is in the capital letters. Activ Net Marketing is the name of the company. Clearly some people need things parsed. He was a web designer/developer. Why would I post about marketing consultants if the thread is about web design?

 

[Alan]

I know of a company called Activ Web design, which is a franchise, maybe Activ Net Marketing is related, but I can't find out because their website is down with server errors ( the irony ).

I did get one customer come to me a few years back because they were about to sign up with an Activ Web consultant, then they saw the 'franchise' copy which basically said consultants can join 'no experience necessary'

 

[AllUpHere]

Why would I post about marketing consultants if the thread is about web design?

You tell me. Maybe your fingers work quicker than your brain, who knows.

 

[UKSBD]

You tell me. Maybe your fingers work quicker than your brain, who knows.

Orla_marketing said - He was an "Activ Net Marketing" consultant - not an "Activ Net" marketing consultant.

It doesn't hurt apologising to someone when you have made a mistake you know.

 

[AllUpHere]

Orla_marketing said - He was an "Activ Net Marketing" consultant - not an "Activ Net" marketing consultant.

It doesn't hurt apologising to someone when you have made a mistake you know.

That's not the way I read her post. Anyway, my point stands regarding the franchise model for any marketing related business.
If you read many of my posts you will know I'm perfectly happy to admit if I'm wrong, or need to see another member's point of view.

When an apology is needed, you will find I won't need to be prompted; I'm not a child.

 

[UKSBD]

That's not the way I read her post.

It's not the way I read it either - But, after she explained, you still felt the need to belittle.
Or did you not understand her explanation?

 

[AllUpHere]

It's not the way I read it either - But, after she explained, you still felt the need to belittle.
Or did you not understand her explanation?

Her explanation was sarcastic, so I replied in the same manner.

Just as I don't need you to tell me when an apology is required, I don't need you to check whether or not I understand someone's post. Once again, I'm not a child.

Maybe you can stop trying to drag this thread off topic now.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hi Laura!

I just release a Blog post about the web design prices it's a definitive guide.

I hope that's would help!

Please visit my website trough my profile!

kind regards,
Levi

Levi. A little word to the wise here. Digging up old threads to self-promote won’t help you - apart from getting you banned it is far more likely to antagonise people than to attract than to attract them

The way to get business from a forum (any forum) is to add value - to help others with your skills and knowledge

There is a lot more to selling than shouting ‘buy my stuff’.

 

[kulture]

too late

 

[billybob99]

A lot of these jokers posting here that think they're worth £300 a day isn't because they are, its just because the top talent in the market is priced in this range, and they just price themselves in this price bracket, thinking they also know what they are doing.

I've contacted a lot of these "marketing" guys from this forum using completely different details, won't name and shame, some are in this thread, but they were useless.

As for web development, you just have to take a look at the links to websites in most peoples footers to understand you're about to make a mistake.

 

[kulture]

Its a dead thread. I am closing it.