How Much Should a Web Site Cost?
I'll bet you are wondering, How much will my web site cost? Like anything else, costs for a web site vary, depending on the skill and experience of the design/development team. And, as is typical, costs have dropped since the Internet went mainstream. Below is a summary of prices for web sites since 1995 when we at Sumner McKenzie, Inc. started working in this field.
1995 – 1997 Expected cost: $7,500 to $12,000
1998 – 2000 Expected cost: $6,000 to $10,000
2000 – 2004 Expected cost: $2,500 to $4,500
2004 – 2007 Expected cost: $2,000 to $7,500
Today's savvy consumers have a wealth of designers/developers to choose from. They also demand better quality, more interactivity, Flash, dynamic driven web sites and more sophisticated products in general. Here's a breakdown of what you can expect to pay today:
Web Site Components and Costs
Domain Name: $9 a year
Hosting: $125 to $225 a year (depending on visitor traffic to the website and whether or not you are getting a basic site or a dynamic, database site)
Web design and graphics development time: 60 hours to 150 hours (based on actual numbers for a 15 page Web site)
Web site maintenance: $500 to $1250 a year (depending on the number of updates needed on the Web site)
The below prices are average costs for web development. When you work with Sumner McKenzie, Inc., the overall price for your web site will generally be lower.
Informational or Small Business Web Site Cost:
8 to 16 web pages
Custom graphics
Stock photos
Little or no flash
Web forms sending to email accounts
Project duration: 30 to 75 days (not assuming a consistent 8 hour a day)
Web site cost range: $2,000 to $6,000
Corporate (100 or more employees) Web Site Cost:
25 to 75 web pages
Heavy use of flash
High quality design work on all web pages
Content management system
Extra components: Intranet, calendars, web site search
Project duration: 60 to 90 days (not assuming a consistent 8 hour a day)
Web site cost range: $10,000 to $25,000
Ecommerce Web Site Cost:
100 to 1000 products
Shopping cart
Payment gateway integration
Product descriptions and images
Sales tax and shipping calculation
Customer and administrative control panel
Project duration: 60 to 120 days (not assuming a consistent 8 hour a day)
Web site cost range: $5,000 to $15,000
Database Driven Web Site or Web Application:
Dynamic web pages 20 to 2,000
Administrative control panel for web site management
Advanced programming skill sets required
Interactivity with web site visitor
Enterprise database (MS SQL Server or MySQL)
Project duration: 90 to 180 days (not assuming a consistent 8 hour a day)
Web site cost range: $6,000 to $35,000