Web Design Pricing Guide
Before you invest in a new website, use this guide to explore the different website types and pricing to find a fit for your business goals.
Website design pricing can seem complicated – but it doesn’t have to be.
If you’re in the market for a website, this short web design pricing guide will help you understand how much a website costs, what influences pricing and how much you should budget for your web design project to match your goals.
You’ll learn about the different website types and pricing options so you can get an accurate estimate of the investment required for your next website project.
First of all, it’s important to remember that a professional website is designed to be a powerful marketing and sales tool that helps your business grow.
However – a poorly built website can harm your reputation and slow down your marketing
While it might be tempting to start with a cheap website, cutting corners often does more harm than good.
Cheap websites are typically poorly built and with cut corners at the expense of poper security and maintenance systems, leaving your website exposed to a security issues that can be costly to fix and damage your reputation.
A professional website design is an asset that supports your business’ growth goals
If your goals are growth and sales, then a professionally designed, authority-building website is one of the most reliable and scalable ways to do this. When you invest wisely in professional website design, your website will be an asset that will serve your business for years to come.
Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty…
How much does a website cost?
Remember, when done correctly, a website should provide your business with a return on your investment. So, while choosing quality may require more up-front, a professional website will offer greater benefits and a larger returns in the future.
Below is a guide to the different types of websites, general pricing structures, and what you can expect when working with a web designer.
Pricing for the four types of websites
2. Authority Websites
Sites focused on attracting and converting business.
Learn more
From $10k – $30k
4. Complex Websites
Complex functionality such as memberships and LMS.
Learn more
From $15k – $100k+
Brochure Website
For organisations that want to display simple information in a visually appealing way.
From $5k-$20k
The purpose of a brochure website is to have a place for your content to live online so people can access it easily.
Best for:
Organisations that want to host information online but do not need to generate leads or revenue from the website. Think of it as an online brochure rather than a marketing machine. It showcases your brand or content without actively seeking to generate new sales.
Pricing range:
$5k – $20k AUD. The price will depend on the design complexity, the number of pages required, and how much content will live on each page.
Tips for brochure websites
- Keep it simple and focus on the primary objective of your website
- Prepare your photos, text content and any files in advance
- The more organised you are with your content, the easier it will be for your web design team to create a site that can convey the message that you want in a professional way
- If you want to attract leads to your website and position your business as an authority in your industry, then consider an Authority Website instead of a Brochure Website.
Authority Website
For businesses that want a website that functions as a powerful marketing and sales asset.
From $10k-$30k
The purpose of a Authority Website is to showcase your expertise, attract your ideal audience, and convert visits into sales leads. A professionally designed Authority Website will help support the success of all your other marketing activities.
Best for:
Authority Websites are best for businesses that are serious about growing online and standing out from their competition. They want their website to accurately match the quality of their services so they can attract new business and use it as a marketing tool to retain existing clients as well.
Pricing range:
An Authority Website will require an investment of $10k – $30k. Price depends on design complexity, requirements for each page, and what the competitive landscape looks like. Why does competition matter? Because standing out requires going beyond what your competitors are doing to position your business as the ideal choice.
If you want more than “just a website” and instead want a marketing tool that gives you a competitive advantage, then invest in a professionally designed Authority Website.
Tips for Authority websites:
- Use high-quality, professional photos. Avoid stock photos or AI-generated images. Low-quality or unsuitable images can tarnish the look and feel of your site and brand.
- Hire a professional copywriter. Don’t neglect the importance of proper grammar, well-structured SEO content, and easy-to-comprehend language that helps your visitors convert into leads and customers.
- When choosing a web design agency to build your authority website, choose one with a great portfolio, high reviews, and a history of success in your industry or similar.
eCommerce Sites
For businesses selling products online and rely on their website to generate revenue.
From $15k-$50k
The goal of an eCommerce website is to generate sales. If you’re looking to sell products and scale your eCommerce store, then WooCommerce and Shopify are the ideal platforms to support your growth. Although these platforms are easy to use, they can become a roadblock to your growth if they are not set up and built correctly.
Best for:
eCommerce sites are best for businesses that have a product they are either already selling or want to sell. This will involve working with platforms like WooCommerce or Shopify and leveraging marketing platforms such as Google Shopping ads. Regardless of the types of products you’re selling in your eCommerce store, we can create a site that suits your market, helps you stand out from competitors, and ultimately helps you generate sales.
Pricing range:
eCommerce websites range in pricing from $15k to $50k, depending on specific design needs, scope and complexity. Simple eCommerce sites have add to cart and checkout functionality, whereas more complex eCommerce websites may have product subscriptions, custom shipping, ERP integrations, and more.
Unlike brochure or authority websites, eCommerce websites more complex technical requirements. Why? Because customers interact with them in a different way – they have to purchase, enter their information, browse product categories and more. Not investing in a proper eCommerce website can have disastrous impacts on your business. If your website isn’t reliable, your business won’t come across as reliable to your customers – which will undoubtedly result in downtime, errors, and lost customers.
Tips for eCommerce:
- Prepare your product information in a simple spreadsheet before you begin so it can be easily added to your site
- Take high-quality photos of your products so they stand out to your customers in the search results
- Decide on your shipping rates and keep them very simple. Unexpected costs at checkout are the leading cause of abandoned carts, so keep your shipping simple, and you’ll see your sales grow
- Make sure you have a digital marketing strategy for your eCommerce site that goes beyond just building it. Successful stores need strategies to attract, convert, and deliver a great customer experience.
Complex Sites
Advanced functionality such as memberships and learning management systems.
From $15k – $100k+
A complex site could be a membership website, a learning management system, custom directory, or any website that involves complex functionality beyond displaying pages. These sites go beyond the basics and require more investment to build and maintain.
Best for:
Custom sites are best for established businesses that have strategic reason for to invest in building something custom. We generally don’t recommend this type of site to new businesses or those without the appropriate strategy. Why? Unless you have very specific reasons why a custom site is required, one of the other website types outlined on this page will most likely fit your needs.
Pricing range:
A price range for a complex website is from $15k – $100k+. This price range is so broad because a complex website depends on functionality and scope of work. We recommend starting with a digital strategy roadmap to scope project to determine your needs and success criteria to develop a clear roadmap for what success looks like before you start building. This will help keep your custom website project on time and on budget.
Pro tips for Custom Sites
- A custom site requires a clear scope from the get-go and significant web hosting resources
- Keeping custom sites separate from your main marketing website so it’s on its own subdomain or domain e.g. courses.yourdomain.com.au
- Work with a web developer you can trust and who has extensive experience in custom website delivery for the project you’re looking to build.
What Influences Web Design Pricing?
At this point you might be wondering, how can you get accurate web design pricing for your project?
Great question.
While we follow the general guidelines above, the exact pricing for our web design services varies from one project to the next.
We start by asking questions to better understand your business and its current position in the market. They also help us grasp your ideal vision for a website and how we may help you.
From there, we’ll put together a web design quote for your specific project.
Before quoting a price, we consider the below questions:
1. Competitors
Which businesses are your customers comparing you to when searching? What do their websites look like? What is their content like? Are they using real or stock photos? Do they use video? Do they have a blog? How many Google reviews do they have?
2. Target Audience
Which other brands do your ideal or target customers purchase from? How does your brand and website compare?
3. Brand Positioning
Include a time allocation for making small changes to the site when you’re too busy or don’t know how to make them yourself.
4. Scope
How many pages will your website have? Which specific features are required? Do you need professional photos? Do you need website copywriting?
1. Competitors
Which businesses are your customers comparing you to when searching? What do their websites look like? What is their content like? Are they using real or stock photos? Do they use video? Do they have a blog? How many Google reviews do they have?
2. Target Audience
Which other brands do your ideal or target customers purchase from? How does your brand and website compare?
3. Brand Positioning
Include a time allocation for making small changes to the site when you’re too busy or don’t know how to make them yourself.
4. Scope
How many pages will your website have? Which specific features are required? Do you need professional photos? Do you need website copywriting?
How can you ensure your website is a success?
We hear you: you want to make sure you’re investing in a website that’s worth the upfront costs.
After all, what’s the point if your website doesn’t deliver return on your investment?
As part of our web design process, we will help you decide on goals and strategies for your website, analyse your target audience and competitors, create digital marketing reports, and analyse our results.
Ultimately, a website is not successful if it doesn’t support your marketing and sales goals. We will use all the tools at our disposal to help you generate targeted traffic to your website and convert these visitors to paying customers.
In addition to web design, we also offer a range of digital solutions, including in-depth consultations on WordPress website development, search engine optimisation (SEO), Google Adwords, branding and logo design, web hosting, eCommerce, digital marketing strategy, website support maintenance, and social media marketing.
Why should you care about website design?
Beyond the pricing guide, we hope that you remember the message about how important your website is.
Your website is often the first point of contact between you and your customers. It offers a powerful opportunity to establish your brand, promote your products and services, and build trust with your audience.
A well-designed website will accomplish these goals through a range of display elements, including easy navigation, useful and relevant information, and a visually appealing, mobile-friendly design.
At SGD, we care deeply about website design and the impact it can have on your business. We would love to work with you to create a website in line with your specific goals.
At SGD, we offer every service you need to create a high-performing website. Whether you’re after web design, digital marketing consultations, or a mix of these and more, our friendly team can help you.
We’re the digital team to call when you need a website that will turn heads and grow your business.
In fact, our strategies have been used to help 300+ clients launch their businesses into the modern marketplace.
Based in Hawthorn and working across the globe, our team has the passion and qualifications to guide you through every step of creating a great website, from identifying key goals and drafting a plan to mocking up designs and writing the code.
Contact us for a chat and an obligation-free quote.
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