11 Factors Affecting Website Design Costs in 2023

How to Determine Website Design Costs?

If you’re about to build a new website, wondering how much website design will cost in 2023 is a common question. Depending on your needs, a website can cost anywhere between $100 to $100,000+, so what’s the difference?

Pricing variables that come into play include design complexity, programming needs, custom functionality, and more. The best way to get an accurate cost for your website design project is to talk in detail with a web design expert.

So, how do you know what to budget when building a new website? It’s challenging to determine website design costs as many variables come into play, but we’ll outline what to expect and the differences in pricing. Understanding website design costs will allow you to select the best design that matches your budget and goals.

There’s no doubt that a great website can fuel your business growth. It can help you improve customer retention and drive more sales by making unforgettable first impressions.

We all know that websites are businesses’ most potent marketing channels. For example, 71% of all small businesses had a website in 2021.

So, the question is no longer whether or not you need a website, but what is the cost of developing a website that fulfills your business needs?

Why Website Design Costs Have Increased

Like everything else, the price of a website design or redesign primarily comes down to supply and demand. Unfortunately, when the Internet was still relatively new, businesses didn’t understand how valuable a website was, so they weren’t willing to pay a high price.

Today, a website is a business’s first consideration when planning its launch. Many entrepreneurs narrow down their potential business names based on which domains are available and how the URL will look.

Of course, increased demand isn’t the only factor, however. 

Websites Today are More Advanced than Ever Before

As time has passed, web designers have improved their techniques, and they have access to much better tools. So, on the one hand, pumping out a decent-looking website is easier than ever with builders like Squarespace and Wix. But, on the other hand, building a first-class, strategic website requires more work than ever.

Today, websites contain live chat to contact your company, self-selection tools to show visitors the best services and products to solve their problems, and even calculators to show how much they benefit from working with your team.

In addition, the requirements to have an optimized website have become more rigorous. Focusing on page speed, accessibility, and user experience is more important than ever.

All of these factors can affect the cost of your website redesign, whether you’re doing it yourself, hiring a freelancer, or working with an agency.

Why is it Difficult to Estimate Website Design Costs?

This query is the most frequent question we receive from our clients worldwide – why is it so difficult to calculate the cost of creating a website?

Now, you might find ballpark figures on the Internet, but these estimates ultimately fail to grasp all the concepts of creating a website and the intricacy of such a venture.

So, why is it so hard to calculate the cost of website development? But first, let’s take a look at this analogy.

Imagine you are building your dream house and have the same question: “What is the cost of building a house?” Of course, the cost will differ based on factors such as the type of house, neighborhood, layout, total floor area, number of rooms, outdoor space, interior and exterior finish, and more. The same goes for website development.

So what is the cost of website development in 2023? The answer will depend on myriad factors.

But relax. We’ve made it easy for you to estimate the cost of developing a website. In this article, we will discuss various factors you will need for the proper estimation.

You can also use our website design cost calculator to determine the cost of a website or online store and get an immediate estimate.

Before starting, let’s look at some baseline statistics that estimate the average website development cost in the US. (Please note that website design and redesign costs vary considerably from country to country.)

Factors that Determine Website Design Cost:

• How do you want your website to look?
• How many pages do you need?
• What platform will your website use? (WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, etc.)
• Who will put your content into the website (Your agency or will you?)
• Do you need advanced CMS capabilities?
• Will your website integrate with other software?
• Do you need to process payments online? (eCommerce)
• Do you have custom functionality that’s required?

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website: General Estimates

According to research, the average cost of building a website often ranges from $1,500 (for a small business website) to $95,000 and more (for a complex custom website).

• The cost could be less than $1,500 or more than $10,000 to build a website for a small business. On the other hand, the price of a custom feature-rich website can go as high as $30,000 or more.
• Creating an e-commerce website, depending on your needs and the number of products, costs anywhere between $5,000 and $50,000.
• Building a custom website can cost between $9,000 and $95,000. You might have to pay even more to develop a complex custom website with advanced functionality.
• To create a site from scratch, the upfront cost ranges from $25,000 to $150,000, including launching and designing it.
• Routine website maintenance costs range from $35 to $5000 per month—or $400 to $60,000 per year.

It is no secret that having a robust online presence is essential for the success of your business or product brand.

Investing in your brand’s website or e-commerce store is a vital endeavor you can’t overlook. But not every entrepreneur knows how much they should budget for it. The same applies when considering a website redesign.

Let’s explore the 11 main factors that affect website design and redesign costs.

Main Factors Affecting Web Design Costs

1. Overall Project Scope

As you might guess, the website’s size significantly determines how much it will cost to design. Web designers can often complete small business websites for between $3,000-$5,000.

But large websites with increased functionality can often exceed $10,000. E-commerce stores can quickly run into tens of thousands of dollars. It all depends on the type of content, functionality, etc., depending on what you need for your site’s pages.

When calculating the cost, most web design professionals will charge you for the number of pages on your website. This cost estimate allows you to implement only the content you need to minimize the total number of pages on your site.

It will also help you allocate more money toward other attributes of your company’s site.

2. Preferred Design Style

Some websites require a different style, which heavily depends on your company’s branding, the products you offer, etc.

For example, a luxury clothing brand must create a website with the highest quality design possible. This effort allows their site design to reflect the quality of the products.

On the other hand, a website for a local mechanic won’t require quite as much development. In this case, the latter website would likely be far less expensive.

Regardless of your type of preferred style, though, you’ll need to ensure that the style you choose adequately conveys who your brand is. Otherwise, you might find that your website deters people from making purchases or conversions.

When searching for a developer, you should look for someone with a large amount of experience in designing in the style you envision. That way, you can ensure that you achieve the best results.

3. Number of Pages

A website may consist of a single page or 100 different ones. For example, each product or service will require a separate page for an e-commerce website. Unsurprisingly, the cost of developing your website will increase as the number of pages increases.

While you can mitigate the number of pages you need by the CMS you use, you might still need to design and develop a few different page templates.

Additionally, text, images, and graphics will need to be implemented into the website once the design is completed. This implementation takes time and effort and often requires the expertise to manipulate the web pages and images to optimize them.

While it is possible to automate optimizing images through a CMS, manually doing so will always produce the best results. It will ensure that pages look good and load quickly as well. However, image optimization is specialized work, and the cost will depend upon how much it is required.

4. Number of Unique Designs

The cost of custom design and development for your website also depends on the number of unique designs.

Of course, you can use the same structure and design for all of the pages on your website. However, some pages have a specific design or layout to accommodate the required functionality.

The more unique design or unique views your website needs, the more the developer will need to work to create these pages for you. The extra work will increase your website design costs.

5. User Experience / User Interface 

There are several ready-to-use templates available no matter what development platform you choose. Opting for such templates reduces the time required for development and the design costs of your website. However, this comes with a few disadvantages as well.

By using an openly available template, you risk having a generic-looking website that is similar to many others and fails to stand out. Readymade templates also make future customizations very difficult. You might find it quite cumbersome to fit your brand’s specific image into a template.

This problem doesn’t arise when using completely custom design services. When you design your website from scratch, the developers can ensure that it reflects your brand and its USPs best. A custom design will ensure that your website and its user interface (UI) are unique and stand out from the crowd, giving visitors a solid user experience (UX). Naturally, custom-made designs will drive up the website design cost.

6. Level of Functionality and Customization

As previously mentioned, different brands require different elements for their website.

Some websites exist solely to showcase somebody’s professional work. Others serve as a sales platform. If your website requires a high level of functionality, you will have to budget more for this service. This type of work includes features like e-commerce functionality and database integration.

Whether it is an online store, a membership or subscription site, or a payment portal for appointment booking or ticket sales, adding shopping carts, payment gateways, and checkout pages are essential.

And, of course, this will increase your web development cost. Adding these features and synchronizing the entire system with this additional functionality will increase the price of developing your website.

Cutting as many corners as possible regarding website design can be tempting due to the overall expense. But you will only be creating obstacles for yourself in the future.

For example, let’s assume you run a clothing business that operates entirely online. If your users find it challenging to find the product they want, navigate through your site in general, or complete a transaction, you’ll be significantly impacting your sales numbers.

Instead, investing in the right functionality for your website will ensure you have all the tools and assets you need. As a result, you can generate additional sales and recoup your investment.

7. Number of Languages

If your business has a presence – or wishes to create a presence – in multiple countries, it might be a good idea to present a website in their language. For example, a website that’s available in the German language will be much more prevalent in Germany than a site that doesn’t have any option other than English.

However, developing a multilingual website will require additional development time and effort. Firstly, all the content on the site will have to be translated (and using auto-translate tools is never a good idea).

Next, the language options need to be configured so that when a visitor chooses a language, the site gets populated with the translated content. This implementation will considerably increase your chances of gaining business from non-English speaking countries. The additional costs you will incur will depend upon the number of languages and translations required.

8. Page Content Creation

You won’t find a website without any text on it. But not just any writing will do— you’ll need professionally-written copy to help your brand make as many conversions as possible.

Professional writing will also help you establish your brand as an authority in your space. For consumers, nothing is more frustrating than a website full of errors, awkwardly-phrased sentences, etc.

As with the overall size of your website, professional writers typically charge per page. So, you’ll need to calculate the total number of pages you need on your website.

You’ll also need to provide your writer with as much information as possible about your desired goals so that they can adequately illustrate your vision.

There’s one more factor to consider— your writer should be able to create content that allows your site to rank higher on Google’s search results. Otherwise, you risk paying for a service from which your target audience will not benefit.

In addition, your website project potentially includes custom images, graphics, icons, and video creation. Of course, you can use stock photos or clipart. But if you want to create unique visuals, you need to hire professionals, which will increase your website design costs.

9. Animations and Motion Graphics

Due to the latest advancements and benefits in frontend technologies such as Javascript, Angular, CSS3, etc., web designers can now achieve a lot in animation and motion graphics within a web browser.

However, not all web browsers can accommodate similar levels of animation. Therefore it is essential to survey what kinds and versions of browsers the majority of your visitors are using before deciding on the type of animations you wish to implement on your site.

Animations and motion graphics can significantly increase the attractiveness of your website and enhance the user experience it provides. However, while some animations are relatively simple, others can be considerably complex to execute and implement, which may further drive up the website design costs. The costs can vary greatly, and you need to include them when discussing plans and designs for your website.

10. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is an essential component of a successful website. Many brands choose to redesign their sites entirely solely for this purpose. But SEO tactics transcend page copy. In general, you’ll need to consider factors like:

• Meta-descriptions and the title tags
• Properly tagged images
• Schema markup
• Overall page load speed
• User experience

These last two metrics are crucial.

If the users who reach your site quickly navigate away, it will affect a different metric known as a bounce rate. Google uses this to determine whether your website has high-quality contact.

If your bounce rate increases, it’s highly likely that your ranking will decrease. So, ensure that you hire a professional who understands how to incorporate site-wide SEO.

11. Related (and Often Overlooked) Costs

In addition to the website design costs outlined above, you need to consider a few more associated costs before launching your website or online store.

Do you already have a domain purchased, or are you willing to buy another domain? Specific domain names are more expensive than others simply because they are more in demand. The domain registration costs also depend on the length of time you register the domain, usually between one to ten years.

Will the agency manage the hosting of your website? Are you going to work hosting in-house? Several factors related to website hosting, domain registrations, and website optimization affect the cost of the website. 

Website maintenance services include all activities for keeping a close eye on website issues and fixing them as they are discovered. The idea is to ensure the website remains functional without losing user experience and downtime. Maintenance costs depend on the services provided.

Who will be managing the project? What about the design handover? Who will bear the cost of plugins, API keys, and other integrations?

Comparing the Cost of Hiring In-House, a Freelancer, or an Agency

When it comes to website creation, you have three main options: hiring in-house, working with freelancers, or going with an agency. Let’s compare the pros and cons of each option to help you decide which is best for you.

In-house

Pros:

• You have more control over the project since you work directly with the team.
• You can build a long-term relationship with the team, which can benefit future projects.

Cons:

• It’s more expensive since you have to pay salaries and benefits.
• You need more than one person on the team to get the job done, which can be challenging to manage.

Freelancers

Pros:

• They’re often more affordable than in-house or agency options.
• They can be a good option for small projects.

Cons:

• They lack the resources of a larger team, limiting what they can do.
• It can be harder to build a long-term relationship with a freelancer.

Agency

Pros:

• Agencies have the experience and resources to handle more complicated projects.
• They can be a good option if you’re on a tight deadline.

Cons:

• They’re often more expensive than in-house or freelancer options.
• You have less control over the project since you’re working with a third party.

What are Hidden Website Design Costs?

Numerous hidden costs are associated with making a website, many of which business owners overlook. The cost of website design, domains, and hosting are just a few more apparent costs. However, several other costs are often forgotten or ignored.

The cost of content is one of the most often overlooked costs of making a website. Quality content is essential for any website, yet it can be costly.

If you plan on having a website with regularly updated content, you will need to factor in the cost of hiring writers or paying for content creation software.

Another hidden cost of making a website is the cost of marketing. If you have the best website in the world, it won’t be beneficial if nobody knows it exists.

You will need to invest time and money into marketing your website. These costs include search engine optimization, social media marketing, and pay-per-click advertising.

Finally, you also need to factor in the cost of maintenance and updates. Even the best websites need to be kept up-to-date and maintained regularly. Maintenance costs include security updates, software updates, and adding new features.

So, How Much Does Website Design Cost?

If you’re considering making a website, there are so many options available that it can be hard to know where to start. The good news is that the prices of these services have dropped dramatically over the past few years, making them affordable even for small businesses or individuals who want a simple site.

Depending on your needs, a website design/redesign could cost between $3,000-$25,000 or more, depending on your desired features. But, hiring a professional for a website redesign will ensure that you get better value for your money no matter how much you pay.

Your website is the face of your company. Creating a stunning website, therefore, should be your top priority. However, to build an engaging website and boost your business, you need an experienced web development partner.

We at PixoLabo are an award-winning team of web and e-commerce developers. We have helped many businesses, from startups to MBEs, grow their business with our WordPress website design and development solutions.

With so many different websites available at various price points, there’s no doubt that there’s an option for everyone! Want to learn more about what we have to offer? Feel free to contact us today and see how we can help.

Do You Need a Website for Your Business?

Are you looking to redesign or update your website or online store for your business or product brand? Are you unsure how to budget? Our team of WordPress experts will be happy to help you with this. But first, look at our portfolio and read our case studies.

Then, if you believe we are a good fit for your business web design needs, let’s talk! We offer a full range of consulting and design solutions for businesses and product brands.

If you are unsure how to build a website to support your business objectives, let’s talk! Our team will listen to your concerns, evaluate your needs, and create a website design to keep you ahead of your online competitors and stay within your website design budget.

Did You Consider Website Design Costs?

Did you build a website or online store for your business? If so, how did you budget for website design costs? Did you encounter any other website design cost factors?

Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit and grab our feed, so you don’t miss our next post! And help your audience with their website by sharing our 2023 website design costs!

For more content relevant to your business or product brand – check out the range of articles on our web design blog. (This one, explaining the importance of user experience in web design, is an excellent place to start!)

Thank you! We appreciate your help ending bad business websites, one pixel at a time!

By PixoLabo
Not Your Average WordPress Web Design Agency
@pixolabo