What is the Cost of Website Development For Small Business?
- 6 Minutes to read
Table of Content
- Why Does Your Small Business Need a Website?
- Top Factors that Will Impact the Website Development Cost
- Some Hidden Cost Involved in Website Development that you should Know About
- Final Thoughts
In the Era of Digital World, online presence has been the most essential thing these days. Let’s say you are staying somewhere around the world with an average population of 5 Million. Out of Which not every 5 million people is going to know about you, your business , or presence in the city. That’s the reason “Online presence” is required to let your audience around the World know about you , your business, services or Products.
Why Does Your Small Business Need a Website ?
Few reasons out of many listed to help you understand “Why website development is required for small business!”
1. Reach More Customers
Gone are the days when the only way to advertise was print advertising, pamphlets, etc. With online presence, you can reach more customers within/outside your region. It is easy to update any promotions, offers online and attract more potential customers and in return turning it into a conversion.
Around $6.8 trillion spending is expected globally on digital transformation by the end of 2023. So what are you waiting for?
2. Grow Your Business
It gives you a chance to grow your business from being in “ hundreds” to “thousands of sales” per month. More people knowing about your services will in turn lead to more customers using your product/ services. Reviews and ratings of your product will help to gain more trust to customers who’s newbie to your business. It will often let your business grow, create it to be a big brand and virtually show your presence all around the World.
3. Available 24*7
Imagine getting leads or selling your products even while you are sleeping! It isn’t possible without your online Presence, isn’t it? Your website allows customers to access information about your business at any time, even outside of business hours.
“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die .”- Warren Buffet
4. It Increases Your Credibility
Just as a good Cibil Score helps you with many advantages and builds your reputation; having a good website with SSL Certifications helps to increase the credibility of your business.
As a customer, whenever I look for a product/ service and come across a new brand; I first check its website , its social media presence, and ratings or reviews. So this is how many potential buyers must be searching and with your website it will help them to gain credibility.
Top Factors that Will Impact the Website Development Cost
Now that you have made up your mind to create a website. I would like to describe the charges involved in website development. It all depends upon the CMS you use, and the number of pages you have in your website. If it is an e-commerce website with multiple categories the pages are going to be more and so is the website charge. Location matters too!
The website development cost may vary in various countries. However, the average cost to develop a website with 5 to 6 pages may be between $500 to $2500. If it is an e-commerce store it can range from $1500 to $10,000.
To let you understand the basic mandatory charges, let us breakdown the charges affiliated with the development,
Domain And Web Hosting
This is the very first thing you require while planning to build a website. It is very important to choose your domain name wisely. Just like “ your name” is “your identity”; “Domain Name” is the identity of your business. You can buy domain names from “Godaddy”, “NameCheap”, “Hostinger” to name a few.
Domain names aren’t that costlier. It is affordable and available with great offers. All you need to do is remember to renew it annually. Domain name charges may vary depending on the name you select. If it is a very well-known name it may cost you higher. It starts with pricings as low as $5.
Web Hosting is like renting a place to stay. Web Hosting service rents you a space to store all your website data. You can buy hosting from “Hostgator”, “BlueHost”, “GoDaddy” and there are a lot of options available on the Internet.
Further there are divisions in hosting based on their features, its bandwidth capacity, storage, etc. so the charges will depend upon your requirement. Basic package starts with $69 and again let me tell you it may differ based on service providers, as will their package.
Content Management System (CMS)
A content management system (CMS) is a software application that enables users to manage and publish digital content, without requiring any coding knowledge.
CMS provides user-friendly interface for creating, editing, organising, and publishing content such as articles, images, videos, and other media. Some popular CMS include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla, SquareSpace, Wiz and Shopify with their unique features and capabilities. WordPress is the best CMS platform and is free to use. As mentioned you need to pay for hosting or incase if you use any paid plugins.
Other CMS platforms like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace cost around $16-25 per month including website hosting, even if you’re using it for an eCommerce store.
SSL Charges
SSL is the symbol of trust. When your website is secured with SSL your users can navigate your website without any fear. It also ensures search engine like Google, that your website is safe for users to interact and share information. Most of the hosting providers now provide free SSL certificates with their hosting service. If required to buy it separately it may start with pricing as low as $5 for single domain to $60 for Multi domain site.
Website Design
Your website loading speed will depend on the CSS design and animations used in the website. If your website has poor loading speed it is sure to impact your Technical SEO and increase the bounce rate of your website. That’s why it is necessary to take website design as the crucial part. If your website design is attractive, it is sure to attract more customers and increase conversions. You can do it as yourself too using the website builder tools.
As they said, “ If that’s unique, people are going to notice” , so if it is about creating a brand you should hire a designer who’s a specialist and have expertise in it. You can incorporate an inhouse team or can hire through agencies or there are hundreds of freelancers with good portfolios and hire them for your project.
If you are trying to design DIY using the website builder it may cost you minimally between $0 to $ 295. Or If you are looking to hire a designer from the agencies or a freelancer it may cost you roughly between $500- $4500.
Charges may vary depending on the method you choose, their expertise, and level of experience.
Some Hidden Cost Involved in Website Development that you should Know About
Search Engine Optimization
What’s the point of being digitally available unless you are not on Google’s 1st Search Engine Result’s Page! If your website is well optimized and has proper information about your business, Google will surely recommend your website to relevant users searching for.
Let’s say your business is about “Mattress”, and if someone on google is searching for “ buy mattress online” google will surely show the results of your business if you have a well-optimized website with a proper SEO.
That’s the reason it is Important to invest in SEO. Although it is something which is the owner’s choice to invest in it or not. But it is recommended! Just as web designers, you can hire a SEO specialist with specific agencies, or a freelancer or get an in house team. You can do it yourself too with self learning and using some best SEO tools available across the web.
The charges may depend on the experience level but you can expect the charges to be in the range of $40 to $150 per hour.
Marketing
“What is Seen is Sold” in this digital era. To be visible and let people be aware of your brand it is necessary to invest in marketing. Marketing is essential for every business to increase sales and compete in the market.
Paid social media campaigns, YouTube videos, Google Ads , and there are still more ways to invest in marketing and showcase your brands/services.
SEO and Marketing are the most important things to take into consideration while planning to build a brand online. Although, it is an individual’s choice to invest in it or not!
Final Thoughts
From this, you will to be able to calculate the average estimation charges required to develop a website for a small business. From Website development, designing, marketing and all other costs required to build a website is mentioned.
If you are hiring a developer for your project through freelancers or agencies make sure you check their portfolio, reviews, their presence in the market and make a decision accordingly.
