What determines the cost of a website?
“How much does a website cost?” has no single answer, because the price is set not by the number of pages but by the job the site has to do. If you can describe that job before asking for quotes, you can also compare the quotes you get.
Someone who asks three companies for a quote on the same day can end up with three very different figures. None of them may be wrong; more often than not, the three companies have priced three different websites. To understand the difference, you have to look at what goes into the price.
A ready-made design or one made for you
Placing a logo and some text on a ready-made theme and designing every screen of a site around your business are not the same job. The first is quick and cheap, but you accept that the site works by the theme's layout rather than by your customers' needs. In a custom design, the first things worked out are what visitors are looking for, what convinces them and where they will reach you; the screens are drawn on top of that.
Who prepares the content
Texts, photos, product details and references are the most time-consuming part of a website. If they all arrive ready, the job is only to put them in place. If copywriting, a photo shoot or moving content from the old site is needed, the price changes accordingly. When comparing quotes, always ask who is responsible for the content.
Who will update the site
If you want to change your site yourself after launch, you need a content management panel. How easy the panel is, what it lets you change and how many people will use it are all part of the job. If you regularly add content such as blog posts, products or projects, a structure is set up for those as well.
Does it need to talk to other systems
Sending form requests to your CRM, pulling stock levels from your ERP, taking payments on the site or connecting to a booking system: each integration is a separate piece of development. These are usually the items that raise a website's price the most, and a quote should list them one by one.
How many languages, how many devices
Every new language means a copy of every text, separate visibility in search and separate upkeep. Working properly on phones, tablets and computers is no longer an option but a basic expectation; even so, a quote should say how it will be tested.
After launch
The domain, hosting, security updates, backups and small changes are work that lasts as long as the site does. Some quotes include them and some don't. The quote that looks lowest at first glance can turn out to be the most expensive once these are added.
Prepare before you ask for a quote
The site's purpose: What should a visitor do on the site for you to call it a success? Request a quote, buy a product, find the information they need?
A rough list of pages and the content you will add regularly.
How much of the content is ready.
The software and systems it needs to connect to.
How many languages the site will have.
Who will update the site after launch.
When you send these six points in writing, the quotes you get will price the same job and become comparable. If you include this list when you write to us, our first meeting can go straight to your project.