How much does it cost for a website design?

It's a biggie. People ask it all the time: how much does website design cost? It's frustrating that so much of the time the answer is 'how long is a piece of string?'. We thought it'd be useful to explore website design cost UK wide and see if we can clarify why it's almost impossible to standardise.

Every business is unique

Unless you're based in outer space, all on your own, the only one of your kind, you probably have plenty of competitors and many will have their own USP, their own unique selling proposition. While you all operate in a similar landscape, with overlapping audiences, every business is unique. It's hard to create a cookie-cutter system of charges when every business is different and their website needs differ as well.

Every person's way of working is unique

People are different, too. Person A might take a quick look at a wireframe design and say 'yes' with no further ado. Person B might spend days or even weeks poring over every tiny detail before signing off a vital stage in the design process. Guess which costs more? Web design agencies usually charge for the time they spend on a project, so your project management style has an impact on the final bill.

Every website is unique

There are practical similarities, of course, and web design trends to take into account. But as a rule every website is different. You might have two businesses that look exactly the same, sell the same stuff from the same place at the same price, but they will present and promote their wares in totally different ways, have a different focus, different preoccupations. And that means website design naturally comes with an incredible level of variety.

You might need a brochure site to showcase your beautiful products cleanly and creatively. That'll be very different from an ecommerce site, which could just as easily be an all-singing, all-dancing shop with zillions of products, collections or departments as a tiny, six page jewel promoting just two exceptional products. Do you pile them high and sell them cheap, or sell a small choice of exclusive bits and bobs? The websites you need will be very different.

How about the level and depth of user engagement you're looking for? That can differ as well. An educational website, for example, usually demands a lot more regular, complicated on-site customer interaction than a site where a punter simply buys something then clicks away. The data you need to keep differs as well, and that has design implications of its own in addition to affecting the site structure, UX and architecture.

You might be able to harness an open source CMS to build your site. It's almost always simpler, faster and less costly than a bespoke CMS. In fact bespoke CMS are relatively rare these days because there are so many top class off-the-shelf CMS to use, including our favourite, Umbraco CMS. We create unique bespoke CMS where necessary of course, but they do invariably cost more than designing a site on an existing CMS or platform.

You might want oodles of brilliant new photography taken by a pro', unlike your competitor who just uses stock shots from the manufacturer. Your site, even if it's exactly the same size, shape and flavour as theirs, will cost more. You might want a suite of exclusive animated images to run across the top of your home page rather than a single static image, and that'll cost more. If you use an illustrator, that costs money. If you want to enjoy ongoing technical, maintenance and creative support from your designers after the site goes live, it costs money.  

How long is your particular piece of string?

Why not come to us for a fair, sensible website design quote? We'll give you the best possible idea we can about the cost, up front, based on your unique needs.

Get in touch with us today by filling in our contact form or calling us on 01844 888 777. We’re always on hand with free, friendly advice to help take your project to the next level.

Find out more about our web design and development services.