Are you planning to create a website or start your own website creation agency but have no idea how much it might cost?
Have you contacted several agencies or freelancers and received completely different prices?
This article is for you.
We will try to demystify the price of a showcase website as precisely as possible.
Ready ?
Let's go!
The specifications
Before getting into technical explanations, it is important to know the factors that could influence the creation time (and therefore the price) of a website:
1. How many pages do you need for your website? (home, about us, contact, services, one page per service…)
2. Does the site need to be translated into multiple languages?
3. Do you already have a logo and visual identity, or do you need one? graphic design agency ?
4. Do you already have a web host and a domain name?
5. Integrations with an online booking system or other more complex integrations
6. Do you have photos and text content for your website, or is this handled by the agency?
The answers to these questions will strongly determine the final price of your showcase site.
Hosting and domain name
For your website to be accessible it must be hosted on a server and you must have a domain name.
Classic hosting costs between €75 and €125 per year (and you can install around fifty small WordPress or other sites).
Most of these hosts will give you the domain name when you purchase the hosting.
Otherwise, a domain name costs around €7 per year.
Please note that some agencies will offer to host the website on their servers.
In this case, you are not the owner of the website.
If the agency goes bankrupt, you run the risk of being left without your site, so be careful.
It's a bit like building a house on a neighbor's land.
Given the prices of a host, it is therefore not justified to host the site on a third party's server.
We therefore advise you to buy your own server from Hostinger or O2switch, for example.
To enjoy a 20% discount on your accommodation, you can use our affiliate link here: https://hostinger.com?REFERRALCODE=1PEDROSOARE21
Monthly subscription or one-time payment?
As with hosting your site, some agencies will offer you a monthly subscription to create your website.
Basically you pay between €99 and €299 per month, and in exchange you get a website.
As with hosting, if you pay a monthly subscription, you don't own the site, you are a tenant.
From the moment you stop paying your "rent", your site is no longer online.
We therefore advise you not to take this option, even if it seems more advantageous at first.
It's best to pay for your website once and own it for life.
Recurring charges
Some CMS (content management system) like WordPress need updates of their extensions, themes and others.
Therefore, if your website is created with WordPress, you may have to update your site yourself or pay an agency around fifty euros per month to do it.
It may happen that when updating an extension the website presents errors and is no longer accessible.
It doesn't happen often, but... it can happen!
If you are not used to working with WordPress, we advise you to delegate this part to the agency or freelancer who is responsible for creating the website.
Using pre-built themes or custom website?
Most CMSs offer themes.
A theme is a pre-built website (examples available here: https://wpastra.com/starter-templates/)
A website using a theme will cost you significantly less than a custom website.
Why?
It's a bit like a pre-built piece of furniture or a custom-made piece of furniture.
It doesn't require the same work and therefore not the same price.
For a pre-built showcase website it can cost you between €800 and €5000, depending on the answers to your questions in the introduction.
The price varies greatly, because creating a one-page site in French will not be as complex as creating a 27-page site in 3 languages and with an online booking system.
For a personalized website you will be between 10.000 and 20.000€ depending on the complexity.
Conclusion
If you opt for a pre-built website, it will cost you between €800 and €5000 depending on the answers you have to the questions in our introduction.
If you opt for a custom-made website, you will be spending around €10.000 depending on the agencies or freelancers you work with.
Please note that these prices are given for information purposes only and do not constitute a fixed offer.
Each agency is also free to charge whatever prices it wants, but be careful not to get scammed!
Contact us to get a more precise quote on the creation of your showcase website.
See you soon,
Pedro