How much should a website cost?

– Brett Barron 30 July 2009

I’m asked that question often. I understand why someone asks, but the questioner seldom understands why there is no easy answer.

Websites appear deceptively simple to produce. There are myriad website building tools and generators enabling someone to publish a "web page." You may have built a Facebook or Myspace page, or uploaded photos and pages from your Mac. But, as the desktop publishing phenomenon proved in the 80’s, just putting tools in people’s hands does not necessarily solve the problem.

My grandmother, in 1941, bought a small, two bedroom, one bath frame house with a floor furnace and asbestos siding. It looked very much like all the other homes on the block: simple. She adorned it with Norman Rockwell prints and furniture from Sears and Roebuck. The kitchen was small, naturally, but she made the meals herself so that wasn’t a problem. She held a “42 Party”, every month or so, where a dozen or so of her close friends would play dominos on folding tables and chairs. The home suited my pragmatic grandmother perfectly.

I recently attended a dinner party held in the home of a contemporary of my grandmother, one of Dallas’ most generous philanthropists. This Highland Park home was built around the same time as my grandmother’s. The owners hired a preeminent architect to design the house with requests to showcase both the exterior gardens and an extensive interior art collection. The home has five bedrooms, as many baths, a formal dining room and multiple living areas. The gourmet kitchen with butler’s pantry is as large as my grandmother’s entire house. This is a home designed for entertaining large numbers of people (I’m told more than one U.S. President has dined there). At the time of construction, it featured such residential innovations as central heat and air and an elevator. It is adorned with imported tile, designer furnishings from around the world, and original artwork of Picasso, Degas, and Monet.

My grandmother paid the grand sum of $10,000 for her home. I can only guess that the cost of the custom home was orders of magnitude more expensive.

So, "How much should a website cost?" It depends. The two homes I described differ in size, construction materials, features, custom design effort (or lack thereof), the manner and value of interior furnishings and accessories, and their intended uses. Websites differ in much the same way, so it should be no surprise that costs vary accordingly.

Final cost comes from a simple equation:  professional rate(s)  X  professional time  =  cost. Rates for website designers, developers, and other required specialists vary by location and experience level, but typically resemble those of other highly-trained specialists like registered nurses, plumbers, or lawyers.

The challenge to answering the cost question is time. Professional websites involve tens or hundreds or even thousands of professional hours. Until every detail is known about a web project, no one can predict exactly how long it will take to build. The catch-22 is that many of the details needed for the cost equation are discovered after the project is started - some aren’t known until the project is nearly complete.

Since the question, "How much should a website cost?" can’t be answered, let me suggest a different approach. Ask yourself, "How much can I afford to spend on a website?" Factor in cost saving from a more efficiently run operation and increased revenue opportunities that will result from the website. Then, hire a professional team that you trust to consult with you and show you what you can afford.