What a website costs, and why the answers vary
Two quotes for the same project can be so far apart they seem to describe different jobs. This guide explains what moves the number and how we arrive at ours.
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Why the price starts with the scope
Two sites that look alike from the front can be entirely different underneath. One is five pages of text, and the other takes payments, syncs to a CRM, books appointments and gates content for members.
A quote given before anyone knows which of those you need is a guess, and the guess ends up in the price.
Numbers across the market also come from different kinds of sellers. A template reseller, a freelancer, an offshore team and a studio that plans, writes, designs, builds and supports the work are selling different services, so their prices were never comparable.
What drives the cost
Scope
Page count matters far less than what the site has to do. Publishing content is one job, and taking bookings, processing payments or running a member area is another. Each capability adds design, build and testing time.
Integrations
Connecting the site to a CRM, QuickBooks, a booking system or a payment processor is often where the value is, and careful work there takes time. A form that files a clean CRM record is worth more than one that sends an email to a shared inbox, and bookings that land as jobs are worth more still.
Content
Someone has to write the pages and source the photos. If a quote assumes you’ll hand over finished copy, that gap shows up later as delays or filler text.
Care
A site needs software updates, backups, security patches and changes after launch. Some quotes price that in and some sell it separately. When neither does, it’s missing, and over three years the cheapest build is often the most expensive one.
We scope first, then price, so the proposal shows what’s included and why
A fixed package makes you choose between paying for things you don’t need and giving up things you do.
What happens when you ask us for a price
Four steps, and you can stop after any of them.
A scoping call, at no cost
You tell us what the site has to do for the business, and we ask the questions that change the number. Nobody signs anything. Start a project and a person replies within one business day.
A date for the written price
Before the call ends, we tell you when the written number will arrive, and it arrives on that date. How long it takes depends on the project.
A fixed quote, itemized and in writing
The proposal lists what’s included and what’s excluded, with the reason for each piece. The number is fixed for the scope you sign, so nothing is added to it afterward.
A scope you can take anywhere
It’s written clearly enough to take to another builder, and some people do.
Questions to ask any studio, including us
About the build
- Who writes the copy, and what happens if we’re slow delivering ours?
- Which of our existing tools will the site connect to, and how?
- Will we own the domain, the site and every account outright?
- What happens between signing and launch, step by step?
About life after launch
- Who applies software and security updates, and how often?
- Where do backups live, and has a restore ever been tested?
- What does a minor change cost after launch, and who makes it?
- If we part ways, what do we walk away with?
Questions
Is the cheapest quote ever the right choice?
Why does a rebuild cost money when the site already exists?
Tell us what you need built
A person reads every request and replies within one business day.
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