Website Development Costs

[Fagin2021]

I’m looking at potential costs for building a simple brochure website for a holiday let property. It doesn’t need to be of outstanding quality or conversely, cheap and scruffy.

What I have in mind is a 5 page site with (roughly) 10 indoor photographs, 10 outdoor photographs and a five minute outdoor video. Probably using professional freelancers rather than an agency.

After doing a bit of research the approximate costs look like…

Basic WordPress site with theme say £400-£500 for development

(Using a freelance developer @ £25-£50 per hour or £200-£300 per day)

Hosting & Email say £50-£100 per annum

Photography say £300

(Freelance photographer @ £50-£100 per hour + expenses)

Videography say £350

(Freelance videographer @ £50-£150 per hour + expenses)

Video post-production say £400

Can anyone comment on the accuracy or otherwise of these figures ?

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Basic WordPress site with theme say £400-£500 for development

(Using a freelance developer @ £25-£50 per hour or £200-£300 per day)

I don’t think your requirements of “nothing cheap and scruffy” will tie up with that pricing. £500 is very low for WordPress site, even with a pre-built theme.

Also, define basic. Basic to one person could be quite complex to another so it’s difficult to know what your requirements are for the site. Will you need contact us option for example? Analytics set up etc?

 

[fisicx]

I disagree with @Dillon Lawrence Ltd. You don’t even need to pay a developer to create a simple brochure site that you describe. Once you have the content written you can switch themes until you find one you like. You might need to pay for a couple of hours help for the fiddly bits but there are zillions of online tutorials to help.

Hosting costs are about right.

Can’t help with photography/video costs but @Paul FilmMaker may be able to offer advice.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Agree with the above - this is something you can easily DIY.

The real value is in the visuals, so speak to @Paul FilmMaker as suggested.

Reviews are good.

Other than that, you can amend the detail as you go - a slightly DIY feel to the site will mark you as independent owners rather than some dull marketing cooperative

 

[Fagin2021]

My goodness - there are some early risers (or night hawks) on this forum.

When I say 'basic' I do mean basic. Just a few pages with written descriptions and photographs. A contact page with just an address, map, email and telephone number. No bells, whistles or analytics.

Yes - a reviews page would be good too. That's even simpler with just text.

I think the WordPress question boils down to this....
If you have absolutely zero experience of WordPress and WordPress themes, are you likely to spend more time getting up the learning curve for a 'one-off' project than it's worth ?

Thanks for your replies gentlemen - appreciate it. If @Paul FilmMaker is about I'd love to hear his views on the photography side of things.

 

[fisicx]

If you can write an email or a word document you can create a Wordpress page. Get a bit of help from an expert and you can have a site up and running in a few hours. I’ve just helped an elderly lady with her quilting club site. She had zero experience with Wordpress but all it took was two phone calls and she was flying. It’s not complicated.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I agree with most of the above, however, I would also suggest looking at Joomla instead of Wordpress.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I think the WordPress question boils down to this....
If you have absolutely zero experience of WordPress and WordPress themes, are you likely to spend more time getting up the learning curve for a 'one-off' project than it's worth ?

I would cheerfully class myself as utterly incompetent when it comes to technical or creative stuff.

I built the first website for Fit Out Finance in 5 hours. That would have been 3, but I lost the first one. Literally disappeared, never to be seen again.

2 days later it generated an enquiry from what would become my biggest customer (might be so again in the next year or so) - he liked the fact that it was obvious he was dealing with a person, not a corporation.

The main suggestion I'd give is to keep your theme (and content) simple.

 

[WebDesires]

The pricing you mention seems to be about what we would charge for something you describe.

£500 for development
£100py hosting
£50ph for any further work or support whenever you need.

Give me a bell if you would like some more information or would like us to build you something and help you get the site up and running.

 

[fisicx]

@WebDesires - there is no development. All they need to do is learn how to add content and then choose a theme. It’s about as simple as it gets.

 

[WebDesires]

if thats what they want to do... but im on about if they want someone to handle that and build something for them and help them look after it.

Not everyone wants to go through doing it themselves. Like buying vegetables at the store... could grow your own but its convenient to just let someone else do it sometimes...

 

[antropy]

I agree with most of the above, however, I would also suggest looking at Joomla instead of Wordpress.

I would definitely not recommend Joomla for someone who isn't a developer.

Price for the website looks a bit low.

Once you have the photography and video you could just create a listing on Airbnb?

Paul.

 

[DontAsk]

When I say 'basic' I do mean basic. Just a few pages with written descriptions and photographs. A contact page with just an address, map, email and telephone number. No bells, whistles or analytics.

Good HTML editors can be had for free and will allow you to make a basic site. Even things like PayPal integration are simples. Making it look good on mobile is a bit more work

Served me very well for years until I decided to move to Opencart.

 

[antropy]

Served me very well for years until I decided to move to Opencart.

Haha yes, for that you'll need to understand MVC-L

Paul.

 

[Bygfut Media]

I think the WordPress question boils down to this....
If you have absolutely zero experience of WordPress and WordPress themes, are you likely to spend more time getting up the learning curve for a 'one-off' project than it's worth ?

Hi @Fagin2021, I think it'll depend on you. For some people, they'd be more than willing to learn everything and then implement themselves, but some would start and give up at some point if they feel it's taking much of their time.

For starters, you could get someone to help you with setting up the website (install WordPress, install theme and plugins, and add contents), and then have the person show you how to make basic updates (e.g. adding/removing photos on the portfolio).

There are free quality themes and plugins in the WordPress repository you could use to get started, as soon as you've sorted out all your contents (text, images and video).

Even though the website is going to be very basic (i.e. 5 pages), there's also the aspect of image and video file sizes to consider. That hasn't been mentioned so far, as it pertains to optimising them (reducing file size, but maintaining the quality) for website load time.

What may look "simple" for the expert is usually not that simple for someone who does not have much experience or interest in web design/development.

The figures for the design and hosting are okay for what you're looking to achieve (if you want to hire someone that is). I can't comment on the ones for photography and videography.

 

[fisicx]

if thats what they want to do... but im on about if they want someone to handle that and build something for them and help them look after it.

Not everyone wants to go through doing it themselves. Like buying vegetables at the store... could grow your own but its convenient to just let someone else do it sometimes...

Yes, but installing WP takes minutes. There is nothing to build (they only need a few pages). Choose one of the standard free themes to make it look pretty and it's all done. At most 2 hours work.

If they them want ongoing maintenance that's a different contract.

I agree some people don't want to do anything themselves but £500 to install and configure WordPress is just ripping people off.

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Coming back to this thread - we use WordPress to build client sites amongst other platforms but there’s more solid options for someone who’s just going to knock up a site themselves. It has a higher learning curve, requires ongoing maintenance to keep it secure and it’ll need backing up.

Choose something like Squarespace or Wix and you’ll get an editor tailored to novices and for a flat fee they’ll deal with the rest of the crap. The starter designs for Squarespace are easily customised and look clean.

Perfectly adequate for basic sites, nothing more.

 

[Fagin2021]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Much appreciated.

 

[wayzgoose]

Find it hard to believe the comments that £500 for a 5 page brochure site is way too low !

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Find it hard to believe the comments that £500 for a 5 page brochure site is way too low !

The truth is most competent web agencies and even some freelancers would just decline such a small project. Then you get stuck with Fiverr level crap

 

[fisicx]

But there are a lot of freelancers and others who do very well out of small projects.

 

[wayzgoose]

The truth is most competent web agencies and even some freelancers would just decline such a small project. Then you get stuck with Fiverr level crap

Less than a day's work - £500. I'm in the wrong job

 

[fisicx]

Less than a day's work - £500. I'm in the wrong job

I think that’s the whole point. Many of us can survive quite comfortably on a lot less. Cut to the bone I only need £70/day to cover the bills. Which means simple projects like a holiday cottage are ideal for me. I prefer to work less and enjoy life more.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

I’m looking at potential costs for building a simple brochure website for a holiday let property. It doesn’t need to be of outstanding quality or conversely, cheap and scruffy.

What I have in mind is a 5 page site with (roughly) 10 indoor photographs, 10 outdoor photographs and a five minute outdoor video. Probably using professional freelancers rather than an agency.

After doing a bit of research the approximate costs look like…

Basic WordPress site with theme say £400-£500 for development

(Using a freelance developer @ £25-£50 per hour or £200-£300 per day)

Hosting & Email say £50-£100 per annum

Photography say £300

(Freelance photographer @ £50-£100 per hour + expenses)

Videography say £350

(Freelance videographer @ £50-£150 per hour + expenses)

Video post-production say £400

Can anyone comment on the accuracy or otherwise of these figures ?

Video production here. For a holiday let video, I think you are looking to pay too much because holiday lets are easy to film, you don't need a high skill level (this is not a Hollywood movie) and I personally know people with a few years experience who would do a good job for less. They're trying to build their customer base.

You are looking at £750 total whereas I think £500 total would be fine for a freelancer who needs customers. For photography, why not get the same freelancer to throw this in while they are there for another £150?

So instead of £1050, you could be paying £650 for photos and video total. If you need one of the freelancers I use, am happy to send you someone if you DM me. You would have to pay him directly and cut me out but if you were in the right kind of location (i.e. the South) then happy to recommend someone. Up North might be a bit trickier.

Also, for video, no-one works on hourly rates. Personally, I mainly sell projects but still sometimes do shooting and editing myself because I really enjoy it and customers ask for me. But it is always a day rate because there is travel and if I see a customer in the morning, I can't just nip off and go see another one in the afternoon. It doesn't work like that. I have a day rate and that's it. I don't do half day rates. No-one really does that except complete beginners.

If you want to show a couple of people enjoying the holiday rental then you would need to put a cost on top of that. You would need a couple of actors / models and I would suggest an extra £300 for two of them.

 

[Fagin2021]

Video production here. For a holiday let video, I think you are looking to pay too much because holiday lets are easy to film, you don't need a high skill level (this is not a Hollywood movie) and I personally know people with a few years experience who would do a good job for less. They're trying to build their customer base.

You are looking at £750 total whereas I think £500 total would be fine for a freelancer who needs customers. For photography, why not get the same freelancer to throw this in while they are there for another £150?

So instead of £1050, you could be paying £650 for photos and video total. If you need one of the freelancers I use, am happy to send you someone if you DM me. You would have to pay him directly and cut me out but if you were in the right kind of location (i.e. the South) then happy to recommend someone. Up North might be a bit trickier.

Also, for video, no-one works on hourly rates. Personally, I mainly sell projects but still sometimes do shooting and editing myself because I really enjoy it and customers ask for me. But it is always a day rate because there is travel and if I see a customer in the morning, I can't just nip off and go see another one in the afternoon. It doesn't work like that. I have a day rate and that's it. I don't do half day rates. No-one really does that except complete beginners.

If you want to show a couple of people enjoying the holiday rental then you would need to put a cost on top of that. You would need a couple of actors / models and I would suggest an extra £300 for two of them.

Thanks Paul. I was hoping for your input. Most helpful.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Thanks Paul. I was hoping for your input. Most helpful.

Happy to help and if you need someone cheap and capable based in the South, please just DM me and I'll push someone your way.

 

[UKSBD]

The thing about holiday let sites and things like that is you can't compete with the booking system type sites and it just isn't worth trying

If you have say a budget of £1,000 you are far better of paying about £300 for a very basic site and spending the rest on getting listings on the booking sites

I built a very basic site for someone a few years ago, I (and them) have barely touched it since and don't need to as there far better off spending the time and money editing the places it is listed in rather than spending money on the website

Do a search for Robbie's Barn
The site itself is basic as can be but it's added to multiple listing sites like sykes, booking, manor, hotels, aribnb, etc.

It's not the cost of the site you should be thinking off

If you are getting photos, videos, etc. done ensure you get permission to use them anywhere and not just on your site

You can spend £1000 on content, £300 to get a site built
Don't then think the website cost you £1,300 as the photos and videos can be used and reused in multiple places

 

[Emedias]

I'm a bit late to this but generally speaking I've been creating WordPress based websites for many local holiday let properties at £500 and they include a booking engine which if needed which can sync with AirBnB or SuperControl etc...

I think while the value is good I believe the end results look good too BUT I do insist you host with me @ £159 per year. My prices are exclusive for clients hosting with me.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

The thing about holiday let sites and things like that is you can't compete with the booking system type sites and it just isn't worth trying

If you have say a budget of £1,000 you are far better of paying about £300 for a very basic site and spending the rest on getting listings on the booking sites

I built a very basic site for someone a few years ago, I (and them) have barely touched it since and don't need to as there far better off spending the time and money editing the places it is listed in rather than spending money on the website

Do a search for Robbie's Barn
The site itself is basic as can be but it's added to multiple listing sites like sykes, booking, manor, hotels, aribnb, etc.

It's not the cost of the site you should be thinking off

If you are getting photos, videos, etc. done ensure you get permission to use them anywhere and not just on your site

You can spend £1000 on content, £300 to get a site built
Don't then think the website cost you £1,300 as the photos and videos can be used and reused in multiple places

It's a good point about photos / videos being reused elsewhere. The guys I'd recommend would give up ownership so he would own everything.

 

[fisicx]

I think while the value is good I believe the end results look good too BUT I do insist you host with me @ £159 per year. My prices are exclusive for clients hosting with me.

How much if they use their existing hosting?

 

[Emedias]

For a job of that value I'd add £200 to the overall cost. I have to add a disclaimer also that this assumes the client's hosting in place won't cause any extra effort. It's not common but I've seen it happen a lot.

I'm not a sales person but if the client isn't tied into into their platform (and for many reasons they may be and that's fine), I'm happy to push the pros benefits of my hosting (value, performance, offsite backups etc..)

 

[Mark T Jones]

The thing about holiday let sites and things like that is you can't compete with the booking system type sites and it just isn't worth trying

If you have say a budget of £1,000 you are far better of paying about £300 for a very basic site and spending the rest on getting listings on the booking sites

I built a very basic site for someone a few years ago, I (and them) have barely touched it since and don't need to as there far better off spending the time and money editing the places it is listed in rather than spending money on the website

Do a search for Robbie's Barn
The site itself is basic as can be but it's added to multiple listing sites like sykes, booking, manor, hotels, aribnb, etc.

It's not the cost of the site you should be thinking off

If you are getting photos, videos, etc. done ensure you get permission to use them anywhere and not just on your site

You can spend £1000 on content, £300 to get a site built
Don't then think the website cost you £1,300 as the photos and videos can be used and reused in multiple places

That does pre-suppose that they are looking to generate business from the website.

I know nothing of the OP's circumstances or goals, but a number of acquaintances with holiday lets have no desire whatsoever to generate enquiries, they have websites simply to park information and perhaps a rudimentary booking form.

Which is why, in this case Wix might be adequate.

 

[UKSBD]

That does pre-suppose that they are looking to generate business from the website.

I know nothing of the OP's circumstances or goals, but a number of acquaintances with holiday lets have no desire whatsoever to generate enquiries, they have websites simply to park information and perhaps a rudimentary booking form.

Which is why, in this case Wix might be adequate.

That's basically what I mean

For a lot of people there is no point spending a lot of money building a site to generate enquiries, just build a basic one and use the systems that are already out there for the enquiries/bookings.

Getting the good content together (photos/videos/descriptions) is key

 

[Mark T Jones]

That's basically what I mean

For a lot of people there is no point spending a lot of money building a site to generate enquiries, just build a basic one and use the systems that are already out there for the enquiries/bookings.

Getting the good content together (photos/videos/descriptions) is key

Apologies - misinterpreted!

 

[UKSBD]

When I do sites like that most of the actual work is in the sorting, sizing, optimizing of the photos and getting the person to provide the copy in a way that can just be copied and pasted

Get someone good taking the photos, sorting them, naming them, sizing them, so no cropping is needed and building the site takes fraction of the time/cost.

 

[fisicx]

For a job of that value I'd add £200 to the overall cost. I have to add a disclaimer also that this assumes the client's hosting in place won't cause any extra effort. It's not common but I've seen it happen a lot.

That’s quite a lot for a simple site. It’s something you can put together in less than a day. In fact with a bit of automation you could do most of the work in a hour or two. @UKSBD suggests, it’s often only a placeholder as booking are usually made off site.

 

[studiofolklore]

Morning

I'd advise considering the fundamentals before you design your website. Strategy, copywriting, what your users actually need, design system and marketing your site. It sounds like you want a low-maintenance solution, don't go for either WordPress.com or .org. it's a needy and clunky website building platform. There are far better platforms available that help avoid the long-term maintenance headache and give you a better look and feel.

 

[mateusz125]

I would suggest to create website from template (for example from envato elements). This way you have much more control over your content, design etc. You can create simple website yourself, if you spend a few hours to learn basics of wordpress and for example elementor.

 

[Emedias]

That’s quite a lot for a simple site. It’s something you can put together in less than a day. In fact with a bit of automation you could do most of the work in a hour or two. @UKSBD suggests, it’s often only a placeholder as booking are usually made off site.

In most instances clients do host their website with me (95%). I hope that it's an incentive in itself on the overall pricing and quality of work. Likewise the hosting offered is reliable, performs very well and is well priced.

I think in all instances I've added the £200 charge and explained it, the client has still gone for it, though like you say, not to say it's perfect but how I've set it up.

 

[RussellWhiting]

I’m looking at potential costs for building a simple brochure website for a holiday let property. It doesn’t need to be of outstanding quality or conversely, cheap and scruffy.

What I have in mind is a 5 page site with (roughly) 10 indoor photographs, 10 outdoor photographs and a five minute outdoor video. Probably using professional freelancers rather than an agency.

After doing a bit of research the approximate costs look like…

Basic WordPress site with theme say £400-£500 for development

(Using a freelance developer @ £25-£50 per hour or £200-£300 per day)

Hosting & Email say £50-£100 per annum

Photography say £300

(Freelance photographer @ £50-£100 per hour + expenses)

Videography say £350

(Freelance videographer @ £50-£150 per hour + expenses)

Video post-production say £400

Can anyone comment on the accuracy or otherwise of these figures ?

Hi Fagin,
Would love to help out here if you are still looking.
I have a small family business, myself, 2 son's and wife where we create sites, produce graphics and video and write copy - you can see details on my website.
I think your figures are reasonably accurate prices, I wouldn't expect you'd need to be paying more, but just depends on the subject content.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Russell