One of the most important and daunting decisions that a business owner must make for their business is to decide how much money to invest in a website. I will admit that from a business owner’s perspective, it can be very challenging to know the appropriate price to pay. The cost of a website depends on the scope of work required and it will vary depending on who you choose to work with, the platform the website is built on, the geographic location, and more. In this article, I break down some of the most important factors you should consider before making your investment.
A website is an investment
The first mental block that I face with business owners is that they do not see a website as an investment. I say this because when I ask them why they want a website, the most common answer I receive is that they need it to increase their digital presence. So their intent here is correct in that they want to increase digital presence but they also ask for something “very” simple (ex. a 5-page, simple website). They have this mindset because they have a small budget and want to spend as little as possible on the project. The reality is that simple websites will not get the attention required to draw in the appropriate amount of traffic. A website without traffic has no chance of making money. These business owners end up spending money with little to no return, which is contrary to what investing is.
For example, when investing money into the stock market we expect that our funds will grow over time if managed appropriately. However, the less money we invest the slower it grows, if it grows at all. Similarly, websites are living and breathing money-making machines that need to be carefully managed over time. Business owners must continue to budget money regularly towards the website for it to grow faster. If the website is neglected or managed poorly, then the business owner will end up losing money.
High-quality websites are developed using sound processes
Having a process in design and development has many benefits. The best agencies and freelancers in the world all have meticulous processes to develop web solutions based on defined business problems, pain points, and objectives. When I build my websites, I also follow these best practices and use a process for better results.
One of the biggest benefits of following a process is that the website would be built just once and would only require minor revisions. A good process involves a significant time investment in understanding the business, its target audience, and end-users, and generally takes weeks to months to get the best results.
On the flip side, if a process is not followed then it invites chaos and disorganization. A freelancer or agency might promise you a quick turnaround on the project and charge you must less (sometimes more) but the end result may not be of sufficient quality to generate revenue. The investment would bring no return and the business owner would have to pay someone else to redo the entire project, costing them more money they may not have.
Business owners must ask freelancers and agency owners about their design and development process prior to investing any money. Choose someone that understands the significance and relationship between high-quality websites and sound processes.
Hiring someone else vs building the website yourself
As a business owner, you might find yourself struggling to decide whether you should build the website yourself or whether you should hire someone else to do it. If choosing to hire someone, a business owner has to further decide if they want to hire a freelancer or an agency for the project too. The size of the investment will vary depending on these three options. Let’s take a deeper dive into the pros and cons of each of them.
Do it yourself
Choosing to build a website without a freelancer or agency is the cheapest option available but requires the greatest investment in time for the business owner. There are plenty of online courses, blog articles, and YouTube videos available that can be followed step-by-step to launch a website. However, most of these online resources only show “how” to build a website, and do not cover some very important elements such as user experience design, search engine optimization (SEO), analytics, and advertisements. It is not enough to think that if you build the website then “they will come”, rather no one is going to know about your website unless you market it regularly. Business owners need to keep in mind that they also have to maintain their websites after it has been launched, updating their content and software to ensure everything is running smoothly. If the website fails, then the business owner is responsible to make sure that they troubleshoot and recover the website quickly (especially important for e-commerce applications). Website security must also be monitored regularly to ensure there are no virus infections or successful hacking attempts.
The cost: You will save on labor fees to build your websites but you must still spend on a domain name, web hosting, plugins, and themes that you might require to build the site. There are also readily available templates that you can purchase but keep in mind the templates are a one-size fits all solution, and will not account for your business goals and objectives.
The verdict: Build the website on your own if you have the time to learn how to develop it with best practices, but also maintain it with best practices after launching it.
Hire an agency
A well-reputed agency is your safest bet but at very high costs. Agencies have significant overhead that they must cover and so their prices are much higher than freelancers. However, you can have confidence that the agency will have a good process, and the workload for your project will be well distributed across a team of designers and developers. You can expect an agency to produce a website for your business faster than a freelancer could, depending on the scope of your project.
The cost: With agencies you can expect to spend at least $5,000 on basic websites (5-page simple websites) to $100,000 or more on larger and more complex web applications.
The verdict: Hire an agency if you need a complex website built and you have the budget to afford it. This is generally a good idea if you own a well-established business or organization with a solid source of revenue.
Hire a freelancer
Freelancers are individuals who offer website development services at a fraction of the cost of agencies but they lack the resources of an agency. The biggest benefit that I see with working with a freelancer is that business owners will have direct access to them. This improves communication and reduces the chances of any misunderstandings between both parties. The biggest disadvantage with freelancers is that they may lack structure and process which could result in more back and forth between both parties in producing a quality result. With freelancers, there can also be a lack of accountability, which can lead to delays in the project and missed deadlines too. I will note that if the freelancer is known to have high integrity and follows a solid process then many of these negatives will be negligible. Business owners can also win by choosing a well-reputed freelancer because they will get a high-quality website at lower rates.
The cost: With freelancers, you can expect to spend at least $1500 on basic websites to $10,000 or more on more complex websites.
The verdict: Hire a freelancer if you need a basic to medium-sized business and cannot afford the prices of an agency.
The prices described above are rough estimates and can vary depending on the scope of work, freelancer or agency level of experience, geographic location, and customization requirements. The fees above also may or may not include additional critical services such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), wireframing, user experience design, user interface design, email marketing services, social media management, and more.
Conclusion
Every business owner must seek to establish their digital presence with a proper website ecosystem and developing the website is the first step. Deciding on whether to pay a freelancer, hire an agency, or just build the website yourself can be a daunting experience. I hope that the information I have provided in this article proves useful to you in your decision-making process. If you are still unsure, feel free to write me an email at [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook and I would be more than happy to help you to make your decision. Keep in mind that a website is an investment and your mindset should be to expect a return on investment. If you are not comfortable managing it yourself then hire a freelancer or agency you feel you can trust to help you meet your business goals and grow your organization.
Zakir Faizal is an Industrial Engineer and a WordPress Solutions Specialist situated in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada. He has a strong passion for website development and digital marketing and spends his spare time finding ways to help small to medium sized businesses find success online.
