Deciding how much to budget for a website can be challenging. There are numerous factors that may affect the cost of building and developing an effective website, such as project size, features, design elements, and usability. In this guide, we’ll explore what goes into calculating the cost of a website and provide helpful tips on how to stick to your budget.
Design Complexity and Features.
The design and functionality of your website will affect the development cost. A more intricate design with multiple elements or animations may require additional time to create and space for additional components like plugins and widgets, which can quickly drive up the cost. Additionally, user-specific features such as custom eCommerce integration, payment gateways, third-party API integrations or platform migration all add their own amounts. Therefore, it is important to specify all your website requirements beforehand so that developers can accurately estimate the needed time and materials.
Number of Pages and Platforms.
Your website’s number of pages, levels, and platforms all play a major role in affecting the development cost of your project. This includes how many graphics and videos you require, how many variations you want across different devices (e.g. desktop or mobile), and what type of software or CMS needs to be used—such as WordPress, Drupal or Shopify. Consider also whether there are any back-end features to be included such as data sources for analytics and tracking, user accounts for signing in, or an eCommerce shop integration. All of these details will help your developers set an accurate timeline with realistic pricing for the overall website development project.
Quality of Design.
Website design also has a massive impact on your development costs. If you want quality results, you’ll need talented designers toexecute the A-grade designs. The level of complexity of the designs should also be taken into consideration—as sleek, comprehensive graphics and icons require skilled graphic designers with professional software tools—all of which command an additional cost. Unless you’re willing to sacrifice the visual quality that good website design can bring to your site, expect to pay more for premium visuals.
Content Strategy, Composition, and Messaging.
Content development, scripting and writing plays a crucial role in your website’s success. It is important to know the specific content you wish to include on each page of your site. This should be planned out before web design begins as it’s much easier for a developer to work with predetermined content than on-the-fly changes. Determining the messaging, composition and strategy for all of your website pages takes time—a lot of it—so it’s only natural that this creative aspect will drive cost.
Responsive Website Functionality and Optimization for Mobile Devices.
Mobile devices account for at least half of all web traffic so that’s why it is essential to ensure your website looks and functions properly on tablets and smartphones. Building a mobile site can be expensive, but if you need the extra functionalities to make sure all visitors can access your content it could become necessary. It’s important to consider the needs of every user, who might have different device requirements and browsers. The cost of testing multiple platforms is also important to factor in to accommodate as many users as possible.
