The biggest question after making a decision to create a website is “how much are web design costs”? Anyone who has ever owned a website has probably asked the very same question. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to give a single correct answer to such questions because there are just so many variables that could affect the total web design costs.
Since it’s impossible to quote the final cost for designing a website, let me help you instead by at least giving you an idea on factors that affect this design cost. Hopefully, sharing this information with you will help give you an idea on how you can lower your web design costs which is undoubtedly the common goal of every web owner.
Factors Affecting Web Design Costs:
1. Number of pages – The number of pages on your website can affect the cost of your web design. Obviously, the more pages that make up the website, the higher the cost can get. This is true whether you are being paying by the hour or by the page. The solution – omit any unnecessary pages on the site’s design and limit the amount of content up to what your budget will allow.
If limiting the number of pages is your way of lowering the web design cost, make sure that the design you choose allows expansion or addition of pages for potential growth and future development.
A good option here is to pay for the website as an all-inclusive cost which is usually a better choice. You will get a set number of pages for quoted web design costs. An additional expense will be charged for every extra page that winds up being added to the web design.
2. Images and other visual attributes – Images, graphics, and other visual elements come standard with the web design. If you don’t have the ability to devote too much time coming up with these elements yourself, then you can always leave the task to your web designer. As a reminder, if you don’t want to pay high web design costs, then you can provide the visual elements yourself.
The visual elements include;
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Images
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Business Logo
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Video
Providing these materials yourself can lower the web design cost as well as reduce the time spent on designing the website. This would ultimately affect the total web design costs.
3. Content is king! – Content such as articles is essential to a website. Web visitors love to have something to read while visiting your site. If you have good articles on your website, that will encourage visitors to keep them coming back. Having good, readable content is also good for search engine optimization, giving you a better chance of getting high ranking on search engines.
Some web designers include content in their web design packages. Though this might seem convenient, it can easily drive up the web design cost. To lower this cost, you always have the option to provide your own content. Writing the content yourself guarantees that all the contents says exactly what you want it to say as well save money on the web design costs.
4. Special effects – Adding special effects such as animation, flash or music can increase the web design cost. These elements appeal to a certain element of web readers, however, if you are on a tight budget, remove these features from the list as they can drive up the web design costs. A pleasing image combined with a good color combination is already sufficient enough to make a site visually appealing.
5. Deadline – Don’t give your web designer a tight deadline as that will only increase your web design cost. If possible, be flexible with your time frame so that you web designer will not be rushed to complete the work. This doesn’t necessarily lower the web design costs, but it does improve the outcome of the finished design product.
The cost of creating a great website can certainly range from low to high depending upon the choices that you make. Hopefully this article will have provided some valuable information to help you keep your web design costs at a level that is affordable to you and your company!
Chris Hunter is an expert in Web Design and Search Engine Marketing and runs a blog about Internet Marketing techniques. He has been designing websites since 1994 both as a hobby and now professionally. He is currently VP of Operations for Web Unlimited based north of Houston, TX. For additional information, go to web design costs.