Online Marketing & Website Design Services

How much does it cost to hire a website designer?

Are you wondering what the cost for a new website will be?

One of the biggest questions people have when planning for a new website is, “how much does it cost to hire a website designer”. With different companies and freelancers all over the world that have pricing differences all over the place, things can easily get foggy when trying to find out how much a website design company costs. In this article, we hope to provide some help in understanding what costs are involved when developing your new website.

What are you website design requirements?

It might seem pretty obvious, but knowing what all you want on a website is one of the main factors that affect the costs. Do you just want to show your company’s services? Are you selling products online? Are you shipping products? Do you need online marketing? Although most basic features are usually included in the web development estimate, there may be extra costs for other website design features.

For example, third-party software or plugins may need to be purchased to include the custom product design so your customers an customize their products through your website. Maybe you want to be able to print out UPS shipping labels directly from your website admin. Or maybe you would like a conditional based form created that will automatically provide your client with different sales documents based on what they selected in the form? There are many things that affect website design costs so it is important to know what all the website’s requirements are at the beginning.

At Jump Start Marketing, we normally charge a set fee for the initial website design and it includes the main features that most websites need. If there are any requests for additional features that would be outside the scope of the initial website design, we will include the cost for the additional features within our proposal.

Do you have any media (content, images, videos, etc.) for your website or do you need help with this?

One thing that gets overlooked by some web design clients is the media that is needed for the website. Although most website design companies can use stock photos and write basic content for a basic website, all projects are not the same. If you had an ecommerce website with a variety of products and didn’t provide any content or images for the products, there will likely be an additional cost for all the additional time that will be needed.

Do you already have a domain name and web hosting?

A domain name (example.com) is required for your website and is how you navigate to your website. When you register a domain, you are basically leasing the domain. You may be the current owner of it, but you have to keep it renewed so you retain your ownership of it. If you don’t and it becomes available, someone else can quickly register it and will become the new owner.

A website also requires website hosting, which is a server where your website is stored at. This is usually a monthly cost and can vary based upon your business needs. A basic website will not need the amount of web hosting space that a large e-commerce website or photographer with large images might need.

Website design companies may provide services and plans differently from each other but not matter what, the costs of web hosting and domain renewals is required to keep your website online. Some companies may include those costs if you signup with their plan while others may separate the costs so everything is more transparent. Many business owners may already have their own web hosting or registered domains. Regardless, the domain registration and web hosting will be an ongoing cost for website design.

Who is going to manage the website each month and make sure it’s safe, secure and is updated whenever needed?

Once your website is “live”, website management need to be done on a regular basis. The software that your website was built with needs updating on a regular basis. Without this being done, your website can become vulnerable to being hacked. Backups of your website files and database need to be completed on a regular basis to protect your website data. SSL certificates need to be updated to help keep your website links and data secured when accessing browsers and email clients. Small changes are normally needed on a regular basis, so somebody will need to make updates on the website without breaking the overall website. All of these things need to be managed on a regular basis..

Do you need online marketing with your new website?

It is important to understand that just because you get a new website, it does not mean you’re going to start getting new leads or sales immediately. Having a new website built that is optimized correctly may help improve things, but most industries have a variety competitors who have already been doing online marketing before you got started. To improve your online presence for your business and help be found in search engines, this is where an online marketing company can help. Online marketing takes a lot of additional work to get everything done so if needed, this will add to the cost of hiring a web designer.

Make Sure to Understand What You Are Paying For

When receiving an estimate for a new website design or online marketing campaign, find out what exactly comes with it. Make sure you understand what all work will be done and make sure it follows up with what you paid for. Get quotes from multiple companies and compare everything so you can make the right decision for your business.

Keep in mind that just because one might cost more or less than the other, it doesn’t mean that the work will match up with the cost. If one company charges more than the others, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they provide a higher quality work. They may have a much higher overhead cost they need to pay for (fancy offices, sales staff, etc.), so those costs get included in the cost of the services they provide. On the other side, the companies that charge the lowest amount might not have the experience to provide the quality of work that is required to complete a successful website. Find a website design company who is transparent with their charges and provide information on the work they are doing.

Summary

The cost of a new website can vary depending on what all work is required. Find a web design company that is transparent with the costs, details out all the work that will be done and is not charging you for extra things you don’t need.

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