How much does a quality website cost?
Recently on a forum, a member asked the question of the “average price for a quality professional website”. As is often the case with this type of question, the consensus is precise: prices range from 400 to several hundred thousand euros. That really narrows it down for us.
What is striking is that the value of a site according to the “professionals” themselves is based on surprising criteria.
Selling by the kilo
Two examples of what I call selling by the kilo:
“For a 5-page brochure site, it’s 500 euros; with a Flash animation, 1500 euros; with a Joomla-type CMS, it’s more than 2500 euros”.
A more nuanced variation:
“A brochure site will cost between 1500 and 4000 €, an e-commerce site between 5000 and 25000… as for the CMS, the range is wide!”.
Advice missing
However, the majority of responses are of this nature:
“As mentioned in the previous answers, precise details and specifications will allow a service provider to give you an estimate.”
And what about the client in all this? Let them figure out whether they need a CMS and learn how to write a web project specification.
These two types of responses raise two issues:
- By setting a price based on a technology (code, Flash, CMS), people make the client believe that a website is an off-the-shelf product. A hierarchy is established between technologies, which makes no sense.
- By asking the client for precise specifications, the essential phase consisting of helping the client translate a “business” need into a “technical” need is completely overlooked.
The first case does not stand up to analysis: excellent websites do very well without Flash animations, while others compete in bad taste through the overuse of this technology (see the article about flashy websites). I also have trouble understanding why a CMS is more expensive than a “coded” site.
As for the second, it is a very comfortable situation for the service provider, who completely absolves themselves of their duty to advise: I’m a web professional, but tell me exactly what I need to do. It is up to the client to know what they want and what will be suitable for them, even though this is decisive for the success of the project.
A website is an investment, not a commodity
I often tell our clients that a website is an investment, not a commodity. The real price of a site is therefore directly proportional to what you expect from it:
The local storefront
Do you simply want to have an online storefront to give your opening hours and provide directions to your store? 1500 euros should be enough (you will find offers at 500 euros; it all depends on the image you want to project for your company).
Required skills: a good graphic designer near you.
National business development
Do you want to find new customers online to promote your innovative product in the environmental sector?
You may need to spend more than 5000 euros to create a site that showcases the benefits of your product, is optimized for organic search, user-friendly, and easy to update.
But the largest budget will no doubt be reserved for promoting your site (advertising, SEO activities). Also set aside time to create original content, participate in blogs and forums, or keep your Facebook fan page active (or entrust this task to professionals).
Required skills: Internet marketing, web ergonomics, SEO, web design, graphic design, web writing, integration (for those who want to connect their site to other systems such as a CRM), system administration.
The international store
Do you want to develop a global online store in the IT sector? Expect to spend a few hundred thousand euros to have a chance of being found by your potential customers, and do not skimp on the technical architecture and security.
Required skills: experience with similar projects.
In short, the real price of a website is the one that matches the expected return on investment. The technical aspect is secondary.
Seen from this angle, 500 euros for a site that devalues the company and is impossible to find is already very expensive.
