How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website in 2020 (Design + Development)

“What is the average cost to build a website?”

It is the first question that comes to anyone’s mind who wants to build a website for their business. And right now, in this pandemic scenario, almost every business is looking to build a business site.

COVID-19 has changed the way the world functions, and that’s why in future web development is going to become even more important than ever. In such a situation, it is important to know how much you’ll exactly need to build that perfect business website.

As an experienced web development and design company, we can assure you that there is no set price tag for website development. However, we can tell you all about how the development cost might fluctuate and what factors affect it. So let’s talk about how the cost to build and maintain a website is affected by various elements of the development process.

So How Much Does it Cost to Make a Website?

We’ll try to breakdown the cost of website development in the following step by step process:

Today, more or less every business is setting up its own web platforms. No wonder why website development services are in huge demand today.

From custom website cost to small business web development cost – we will cover everything in this blog.

Let’s get cracking!

1. Factors That’ll Determine The Cost Of Your Website

It has already been mentioned that the final cost of a website can be very different from the initial cost estimation. It is due to the various influencing factors in web development cost breakdown. The development approach also plays an important role in the cost of building an advanced website.

We have to tell you before we begin, that the development cost for each website depends on their individual features and goals. These features and goals are influenced by too many factors, changing the entire website creation cost. This is why a small business web design cost and development cost will never be the same as an advanced website development cost.

Below we’ve made a list of all the factors you need to consider while creating a budget for website creation.

a. Type and Purpose

To answer the question “how much does it cost to make a website?”, you have to know what is the purpose of your website. Right now you’ll find that there are eight different types of website trending in the market.

• Personal website and blog
• Corporate
• eCommerce
• Catalog
• Educative
• Brochure (Landing page)
• Community building website (Forums, Social Sharing)
• Web portal

We are going to get back to the topic of average website costs by type in detail later in this blog.

b. Domain and Hosting

A website needs a domain and hosting service, and that is a given. This important part of your website is also another factor that’s going to affect the price of development for your website.

c. Basic Tech Stack

The websites are built and designed using codes and frameworks. When it comes to the basic technical stacks, you’ll have many options to choose from, and these choices are going to determine the cost of development for your website.

d. Components

If you want to spice up your basic website, then you’re gonna need some additional plugins and third-party tools. Depending on how many additional components you are using, the price of web development for your business is going to vary.

e. Setup/Design/Development

Getting all the components is not enough, you have to assemble them into a website as well. For this, you’ll have three options.

Firstly, you can do it all yourself, but you will need to have an in-depth knowledge of website development. Secondly, you can hire a freelancer, who will help you to develop a website for a more affordable price. And thirdly, you can hire a web development agency that will not only develop and design the website but also help you to maintain it. The choice is yours, but remember, your choice is going to have a serious effect on the budget.

f. Maintenance

To make sure that your website is running flawlessly, you have to maintain it on a regular basis. This means that you have to include the website maintenance cost as a part of the total cost of making a website.

So we talked about the major factors that’ll influence the web development cost for you. Now let’s get onto the next point that is different types of websites and their development costs.

2. Figure Out The Type Of Website

As already discussed above, a website can be of many types with different purposes. Now, let’s take a look at the cost of building a website by different types.

When it comes to developing a website, there are five basic types-

• Basic
• Template
• Custom websites
• E-commerce
• Web application

The different types of websites are going to cost differently, but how much? Let’s have a look

a. Creating A Basic Business Website

In general, such websites are informational. Usually, such websites are built to promote your brand. Also, these help to increase the brand’s loyalty to your business’s target audience. Depending on the complexity, a business website cost can vary.

So if you are thinking about building a basic business website, then you’ll need the following basic pages. Remember that the number of pages your website is going to have will determine the cost of creating a website.

• About the company
• Services offered by the company and portfolio
• Contact page
• Press / Blog page
• Testimonials of the clients
• The other frequently asked features for business websites are
• Integration with ready-made live chats like Freshchat, Intercom, etc.
• Mobile-ready design
• SSL certificate
• Admin panel
• On-site search opportunity
• Contact back form

The above list, however, is for a small business website. When it comes to big enterprises, the above list doesn’t apply because they usually prefer to build customized websites.

b. Template-based Website Development Cost

Sometimes your website needs are not going to be fulfilled by a basic website, but that doesn’t mean you need a completely custom built website either. And in these instances, you need template-based websites.

This type of website development is for small and medium websites that can’t spend a lot of money on customized websites for their business. It is easy and quick, with only a few modifications to be done with the template.

There are many website development services in the market that provide template-based web development. WordPress, Wix are some of the examples of these web service providers.

The price of building template-based websites are not much, and usually, they work out really well. So if you are an owner of a small or medium business then make sure to consider the template-based websites for your business.

Template-based websites are a little more sophisticated than the basic ones. However, remember that template-based websites are not the permanent web solution for any business.

c. Customized Business Web Development

For bigger businesses, customized websites are the key to success. It’s mostly because bigger enterprises can invest more at the website development process, and not mention, they want their website to stand out and engaging to the users.

The custom-built websites have a sophisticated backend infrastructure. And that’s why the custom website development timeline can last from a couple of months to a few years depending on the complexity of the website.

Before you jump to the decision of creating a custom website for your service, remember that not all businesses need custom website development and the fact that you will have to pay more for a custom website than you will pay for a basic or template-based website.

Below we have provided a simple list of all the features that should be included in a custom website development.

• Business analysis
• Project management
• UI/UX design
• Web development (frontend, backend, admin panel)
• Quality Assurance
• Ongoing Support and Maintenance

Even though it is a costly decision compared to basic and template-based website development, it is still a better decision to go with custom website development. The benefits of a customized website are mentioned below-

• Easier support and maintenance
• Scalability
• Easier to add and customize features
• Easier bug fixing
• Zero load time issue
• No need to rely on templates or other services
• Unlimited choice of functionalities
• Ability to cover specific business needs
• Optimize performance
• Code and design remain completely under your control
• Opportunity to be unique and innovative
• Opportunity to apply interesting design elements and interface
• Quick adaptability to trending digital enhancements (e.g. Chatbot)
• hire web developers knowing the web development cost

To get exact business website development pricing, get in touch with our expert team of web developers. Our web development team has years of experience in crafting a phenomenal digital presence for industry-specific global businesses.

d. For eCommerce Website Development

eCommerce business is in the limelight for the last couple of years. It is hard to not notice the trend to invest in eCommerce business these days.

So, what are the frequently-requested web pages for an online shopping site?

• Main Page
• Product pages
• Shopping cart
• Check out
• Favorites
• Blog

These are the basic web pages an online shopping site needs. Now, to make the shopping site more intriguing, you cannot avoid the following features.

• Integration with payment gateways (e.g. Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, etc.)
• Recently viewed products
• Search
• Rating and review
• Push notifications
• Admin panel

Now, as a business owner, you may want some modifications or the addition of some other features. you can do so by asking your web development team.

In every aspect, including development, design, and marketing, such online shopping sites require considerable investments. As for the tech stack, it too can vary from project to project. It entirely depends on business objectives and complexity. Correspondingly, all these factors will affect the average cost to develop a website for eCommerce business.

Want to get a precise figure regarding how much does a website cost to build for eCommerce business? Reach our professional eCommerce development team.

e. Creating A Single Page Web Application

This is a single-page website. Also, it can be a separate page that exists on a multipage website. Usually, the main purpose of this page is to sell or promote something – be it a service or a product.

Web applications are very popular due to its accessibility. Users can pretty much use any device to access these single-page applications. However, remember that these websites are not supposed to be overloaded with content.

Developing a web application is a lot less than building custom websites. If you are specifically targeting smartphone users with your website, then this will be a smart choice.

As for the tech stack, many web developers prefer to use Bootstrap and pure HTML to create this type of website. Depending on the level of animation complexity use, both time and the overall web development pricing can vary here.

3. Cost To Build A Website Also Depends on Your Business Goals!

Why are you building a website?

If your answer is the generic version of “to succeed in my field of business”, then you need to think deeper.

Having a set of goals for your website is going to make it a lot easier for you to determine what kind of website you might need, and also determine the cost of development.

Now, the individual goals of every website can be different. What you aim to achieve with your website can be different than what Amazon might want to achieve with their website. You have to be careful when selecting your website goals. Below we have mentioned a few website goals and how they might affect your website development cost. But remember, the goals of your website needs to be specific to your own website.

a. Increase Your Sales

As an eCommerce website or a website that is selling some kind of service, your main goal should be to increase sales.

When it comes to increasing your website, you have to make sure that the content you put on the page is optimized to rank in the search engine result page, and this needs to be done right at the development stage. This is why you need to hire developers who are well versed in  SEO, or you will have to hire a separate SEO expert, which will eventually drive up the cost of development.

b. Become An Authoritative Source Of Information

In case your website is news of blogging website, and you want to become an authoritative source of information on the net, you have to make sure that the content on your website is well optimized from the beginning.

Always make sure to upload content with accurate information. Flawless and original, are the two main features of successful content. Along with that, you will also need a custom content management system.

The online CMS service providers can feel really limited, not to mention, your website content can be in danger from malicious attacks.  So if you want your website to become a reliable source of information, make sure to develop a website that is centered around the content.

c. Improve Interaction With Clients (Existing & Prospective)

No matter what your website is for, the end goal of it is to reach people. Both existing and prospective clients need to be impressed with your website. But that doesn’t mean an amazing design along with extra but unnecessary features.

To communicate well with the clients through the website design, you have to build a website that not only has an amazing and usable design but is also robust in the technical aspects.

Choose your frameworks and programming language wisely, and hire experts who are well versed in your choice of tech stack. Any kind of technical fault in the website development process is going to hinder the user experience.

The design, on the other hand, needs to communicate with the client your visions and messages accurately. Choosing the right design elements for your website is not just a matter of aesthetics, but conveying your message to them. And it goes without saying that designing the right website is going to seriously affect your website development cost.

d. Create Your Own Brand

Whether you are a small business, or a big enterprise, creating a brand is going to be one of the most important goals if you want loyal clients.

And building a brand through the website is pretty simple if you know what kind of audience you want to reach out to.

Knowing the target audience will help you to optimize your website design. To build a brand, you need to know your audience, and knowing your audience will enable you to optimize your website design accordingly.

Building a brand is also about providing clients with the best user experience. And this can only be possible when you invest enough in the site architecture and UX/UX design. Remember that building a website to complete your website goal might be expensive, but at the end of the day, it will pay you back with enough ROI.

4. The Design Perspective to Determine the Cost Your Website Development (Most Crucial Part)

Web design happens to be the first thing the visitor notices when they land on the site pages. It is the first thing that will determine whether they are going to stay and scroll through the site, or are they going to get out and continue their search on google.

So keeping that in mind, you have to know a few things before getting to the question of how much to design a website. What are those parts you ask? Well, let’s take a look.

a. You Can’t Sacrifice On Design

For a new business, affordability in web design is often the more attractive part of the process than the actual design. And it is understandable, but also part of the problem why new businesses have problems getting their website off the ground and function well to bring in more business. Let’s look at a few stats that will tell us exactly how important good web and graphic designing is going to be important for business success

Some quick stats

1. About 94% of negative website feedback is always design related.
2. You have about 0.05 seconds to make the first impression on the visitors with your web design.
3. 38% of users will stop engaging with the website if they find the layout to be unattractive.
4. 47% of the users expect the webpages to load within 2 seconds or less.

And there are more. And all these statistics will point you towards only one fact, and that is- you can not sacrifice on good design for the sake of affordability. Good web design is the most important business investment you will make, and if done right, it will give you more than just ROI. it will help you to create a brand that will ultimately establish you as a leader in the industry. So while looking for the answer to the question “how much does web design cost?” do not forget that the design of your site can define its success.

Read Also: Create A Powerful Website that Converts With Our Web Design Principles

b. Going Responsive Is Worth The Expense

The use of mobile is increasing when it comes to accessing the web. And in such a scenario, if you are not investing in a responsive design, you are digging the grave for your own business.

According to research, 74% of users would come back to a site if the site experience was mobile-friendly. The positive mobile experience makes for a positive opinion about the business, and 67% of users have said they would be much more likely to buy a company’s product if the site is mobile friendly.

All these numbers only show how many users out there are craving for mobile websites. And they don’t just want a mobile website, they want a well designed mobile website. And that’s why 85% of adult users think that the mobile website needs to be as good or even better than the desktop website. So if you are afraid about investing in responsive web design and thinking that it will increase the average cost of website design, then just take a look at the market demand. And this is one investment that is going to pay you back more than what you spent.

c. Finding The Right Partner With The Right Process Can Make All The Difference

Now you must be thinking, “oh god, I have to invest in a good web design that also needs to be responsive and it is going to increase the average cost to build a website!” but let us tell you the value of finding the right design partner, with the right process.

Design, just like development, is a process on its own. There are steps to it that need to be followed before you can finalize the design. Now if you are thinking you can hire a freelancer and be done with it, then you are not exactly right. The value of a curated design process created based on decades of experience is no match for freelancer affordability. And to give you an example of how a curated design process goes, we are going to show you how we design a website

d. Creating The Perfect Strategy

Our design process is not based on simple assumptions, but a rock-solid strategy that is formed after thorough research and discussions with clients and stakeholders. This strategy serves as the bedrock for the entire design process. It includes all of business goals and requirements, the target audience and their needs, and how we are going fulfill them with design

• Defining User Persona

The user persona is the fictional representation of the target audience. This bio aids in figuring out who the target users are, and all necessary information such as jobs, location as well as the tasks users might be trying to accomplish with the site. Through this practice, we try to gain insight into user pain points and what kind of solutions are necessary to integrate.

e. Empathy Mapping For Deeper Understanding

We believe that the perfect design needs a deeper knowledge of the user’s mind. And that’s why this step in the design operation helps to gain detailed insight into what the users are saying, thinking, and feeling about the site. This insight is going to help in creating a site.

f. Creating Information Architecture Through Card Sorting

Design is not just about the colors and images, it is about providing information to the users in the best possible way. And that’s why structuring the information in the right way holds a special place in the process. We apply tests like card sorting to understand the intuitive model and design the information structure the way users want. This way we are able to integrate intuitiveness to the design.

• Wireframing

Once we have all the necessary information and structure in place, it’s time to get cracking on the design. Our wireframing process is designed specifically to keep up with the common purpose of the website we are designing and ensures that there’s no mistake in arranging the elements to their best effect.

• Finalizing The Design

Last but not least, comes the moment of truth, or as we like to call it, finalizing the design. This is the step where we consult our clients and get their feedback on the design. Once we have made changes to the design and got the design approved by them, it is time to move on to development.

The design process is incredibly important to determine how much does it cost to design a website. And with a design partner who has the perfect streamlined design process, can help you to bring down the design cost.

5. The Development: How It Affects The Cost Of Website Building?

While the design is all about the external visuals, development is all about the internal functions. To create a robust website, you can not skip over on having a strong development process. However, the development of the site is going to affect website development costs as well. So let’s check out what an ideal web development process includes.

a. Frontend Development

The frontend of the website is the part your site visitors are going to see. The frontend of the website is the part they are going to interact with.

For the frontend development, you have to consider two concerning factors- one is the complexity of the animations and the second is the responsiveness of the website. These two factors have the power to change the website building cost.

Below we have shared most preferred tech stack by developers all around the world  –

• CSS3,
• HTML5 (Markup languages),
• TypeScript,
• JavaScript (Programming languages),
• Angular, Vue, React, etc. (JavaScript frameworks)
• According to our industry-experienced development team, for impressive frontend development, the minimum required time can vary between 250-255 hours.

But you can’t figure out “how much does it cost to hire a website developer” just by front end development. For a complete idea, you need to check out the backend development process as well.

b. Backend Development

The backend, also known as the server-side of the website is like the heart of the website. This is where the main features of the website are going to operate and the development cost for backend is going to take a large portion of the total budget for the website development.

Related Read: The Agile Software Development Process – How We Do It

The total requested time and cost for backend development are influenced by a lot of factors such as complex queries, non-standard data processing tasks, such as working with audio, integration of third-party services, etc.

At this phase, the preferred tech stack is as follows.

• Web frameworks: Phoenix, Ruby On Rails
• Web Servers: Apache, Nginx
• Programming languages: Elixir, PHP, Java, Python, Ruby, etc.
• Database servers: MySQL, PostgreSQL
• Cloud server platforms: AWS, EC2, S3, etc.

According to our experienced web development consultant team, the minimum time required for seamless backend development is almost 80 hours. And the maximum time limit can vary between 250-255 hours.

c. Content Management System

When it comes to web development, content is king. But you also need a proper Content management system to manage and optimize the content of your website. Remember that your website is not just there to sell your brand or service to the site visitors, but to communicate your vision to them. And that’s why you need to make sure the content of your website is of the best quality.

The content management systems are software that will enable you to change the content on your website without having to ask the developer for every single change you are about to make.

Now you are going to find many popular CMS services online. CMS services like WordPress, Joomla, Silverstripe and many more. Depending on your website content requirements, you can choose any of these services. Or, you can develop a custom CMS for your website.

Why though? What’s the point of developing a custom CMS service when you can easily access the above mentioned CMS for your websites. There are plenty of reasons for that, but here are the two main reasons-

Firstly, online readymade content management systems are really limited and they might not suit your website goals and types. Also, the popular CMS services are always a better target for malicious software than the custom ones. And that’s why even though it might be a little costly, developing a custom CMS is going to be better for the success and security of your website.

d. Third-party Tools Integration

Depending on the website and industry, the site will definitely need some integrated third-party services. And these costs need to be included when looking for the answer to the question of how much does it cost to get a website developed? Some of the most popular third-party services to integrate are mentioned below.

• Social media integration: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Payment gateways: Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, etc.
• Delivery services: FedEx, EasyPost, etc.
• Maps and Navigation: Google Maps, etc.
• Analytical tools: MixPanel or Firebase, Google Analytics or Flurry, etc.
• Email marketing integration: MailChimp, etc.

6. Some Essential & Unavoidable Cost to Start a Website

If you are thinking that the above expenses are enough, then you need to think again. Because the above-mentioned factors and features are all a matter of consideration, and the cost depending on them can vary. But the essential costs of website creation, the domain name, and hosting services, you have to pay for.

a. Domain Name

You probably know what a domain name is, but in case you are not aware of what a Domain is, let us tell you.

A domain is the name of the site. It needs to be registered before one starts to use it, and two sites cannot have the same domain. Users can use the name to visit the site directly. Here are a few websites where site owners can buy new site domain —

• GoDaddy
• Hostinger
• Interserver
• Bluehost

The price range starts from approximately $5 and ranges up to $15 yearly.

b. Hosting

The loading time of the website depends on the quality of the servers. And that’s why you have to be careful about choosing the right hosting provider.

Here is a list of some of the trusted hosting providers to understand what starting a site will cost you.

• GoDaddy
• Inmotion
• Ionos
• Hostgator

The hosting cost range starts from approximately $75 and ranges up to $200 yearly.

c. Updates

In case you have chosen to go with the self-hosted website, then you will have to update the software and servers yourself, which means that it will cost you some significant amount of money.

d. Premium renewals

Most of the third-party plugins and tools you use for your website use the license model. They offer support and updates for a limited time, and in case you miss that, you will have to pay a couple of extra bucks to renew the license.

e. SSL certificate

A commercial SSL certificate needs to be renewed after a set interval of time. This is another additional expense for your website.

f. Security

The security of the website needs to be of utmost importance, and that’s why the site data needs to be backed up regularly. This process becomes easier with a premium hosting solution. So consider the security charges as well when making a site development cost blueprint.

So, How Much It Will Really Cost To Put Up A Website?

Giving an exact figure for website development pricing is tough! Experienced web developers need to see all the requirements. Also, they need to understand what to do in detail. Only then they can figure out the actual website setup cost.

On average the answer for how much does it cost to build a website can vary between $2500 to $95000 and more. Again, KEEP IN YOUR MIND that depending on the customization you want on your website, you may expect to pay more than the mentioned price. Also, the required time to build a website varies depending on the requirements.

So, want to hire a professional developer to create a website? You are at the right place! Consult with our professional web development team in New York, USA, and India. And proudly stand out in the crowd with an outstanding digital presence.