How much does a website cost?

You are about to create a website and want to know how much a website costs? Answer in this article.

First of all, you should know that the price of creating a website varies according to many criteria:

the type of site: a simple showcase site, a more advanced site or an e-commerce.
the features of the site.
the number of pages.
the quality of the design.
integrations with third-party software.

Before you start creating a site, we advise you to establish specifications that will allow the web agency to determine a budget for the project.

To create a website, set your goal clearly. You want a showcase site or an e-commerce? The price will be different because the complexity of work is too. Go with the perspective that your website represents a sustainable investment that will allow you to increase your visibility and support you in your activities.

Create your own website or go through an agency?

There are many solutions to create a site at a reduced price or free. This is for example the case of Wix or CentralApp. But with these solutions, you will have to make your own site.

In the case where your only goal is to have a presence on the web, these solutions will be enough for you thanks to the proposed templates and their ease of use.

However, if you want to develop your online presence, you will quickly realize that these solutions offer limited possibilities. Indeed, each activity is unique and your needs are as well. You will eventually need to use much more flexible tools. If you do not have the necessary skills, you will eventually have to delegate the work. In the end, free or cheap solutions pose some problems:

You waste time understanding how to build the site.
The result is not necessarily optimal.
Your site lacks originality.
You will be quickly limited when you want to use your site to generate leads or sell effectively online.

If your goal is to use all the possibilities offered by the internet to attract new customers, then do not waste time with these solutions because time is money! A simple website is no longer enough and you must surround yourself with professionals to stand out from the competition. Working with an agency will cost you more initially, but the results will be much higher and you will have a better chance of achieving a return on investment.

You are convinced? In this case, let’s go to the 1 million question: How much does a website cost?

How much does a website cost?

Now that we have seen what differentiates cheap solutions from the work of an agency, we will dive into the numbers to determine a price range for your site. According to the agency, a site may cost 500 euros or 200,000 euros (yes, you read correctly). But as we explained above, everything depends on the work to be done.

How much does a showcase site cost?

A showcase site aims to present the company and inform about the activities that it carries out and allows people to contact the company via a simple contact form.

If you realize the site for yourself, the price will be more or less 50 € / month. In this case, you will use a theme that you can then customize with the tools offered by the solution. As a reminder, it is typically the kind of services provided by Wix for example.If you go through an agency, the price will vary mainly according to two criteria:

Who provides the content?
Should we create a custom design or not?

Since this is a simple showcase site, we will not talk about complex features. A contact form and that’s it.

According to our observations, a simple website usually costs around 3,000 to 4,000 euros with a custom design. But we have seen showcases for less than 500 euros and others at more than 40,000 euros.

How much does a custom professional website cost?

Unlike a simple showcase site, a truly professional site will help your business achieve different goals. Generally, it’s about acquiring qualified leads, so-called leads in jargon.

Each element of the site will be designed for the sole purpose of achieving your goals. Each image, each text, each button will be carefully worked to increase the conversion rate of your site. You will need to call on a web designer, an ergonomist, a web marketing specialist, a photographer, a developer, …
In addition to designing the site, you will also need to integrate marketing tools such as CRM, Facebook tracking code, Google Analytics goal tracking setup, Google AdWords conversion setup, link with your e-mailing software, …

The possibilities are numerous and the cost of such a site can vary greatly, from a few thousand euros to more than 50,000 euros for the most complex sites.

In the case of Citruseo, the cost for the creation of such a site starts at around 4 to 5,000 euros and reaches up to 10,000 euros for some projects depending on the marketing follow-up to be carried out. This is a price range that we have also observed among our competitors operating in the same sector.

How much does an e-commerce site cost?

An e-commerce also called online shop or online commerce is a website allowing you to make sales of your products. The creation of this type of site is much more complex and requires a much longer working time.

If your online store is having problems, is slow or inaccessible, you will not realize sales. A good service provider will have to use more robust, and therefore more expensive, technical solutions to host and maintain your site.

Although there are low-cost solutions, for example Wix offers an e-commerce option, you will quickly be limited in your evolution. If you want to use a solution that you can use yourself, we recommend Shopify. It is an effective solution to launch yourself your first shop for a reasonable price. But you will have to pay by month and each added feature will increase your monthly payment, which can eventually be a significant cost.

Regardless of the site design, you will also need support with logistics, security, inventory management, legislation and more. Going into e-commerce can not be improvised if your wish is to do things right.

For an e-commerce site, prices vary from several thousand euros up to more than 100 000 euros for complete shops integrating interfaces with physical stocks, logistics services, a complex CRM, several languages, …

At Citruseo, an e-commerce site for an SME typically ranges from 7,000 to 9,000 euros depending on the options chosen. This is a price range that we have also observed among our competitors operating in the same sector.

If you want to create your online store, do not choose the cheapest provider unless you are certain to make the right choice. You may save money at first, but your shop will not take off.

A good agency must provide you with complete support. Beyond the simple design of the site, your provider must be able to help you and ensure a follow-up for all that concerns the management of your shop, the catalog, the stocks, the customer service, the laws in force, …

More than ever, the realization of a specification for your e-commerce is an essential step to prepare your project.

Ancillary costs

The creation of a website may entail different additional costs to be taken into account when drafting your specifications:

the support in case of technical problem of the site.
the choice of the domain name.
hosting the site.
content creation.
the realization of professional photos.
setting up and monitoring the marketing strategy.
natural referencing.
possible advertising campaigns.
…

All these elements must be integrated from the beginning to your website project if you really want to gain visibility and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Do not think money, think needs!

In conclusion, the price charged for the creation of a website will depend on the web agency you work with, its experience as well as the workload to be achieved.

If you wish to obtain a comprehensive estimate, you will have to produce extremely precise specifications which include the costs related to the design of the site, but also the maintenance and the follow-up. Be clear on what you expect from your web agency and specify who will take care of what.

Finally, to avoid unpleasant surprises, do not try to work with the cheapest agency. Rather, look for the most competent web agency according to your needs and which will offer you a complete support to reach your objectives.