Answer: Everything is relative, and the more effective the site, the more you will have to pay!
To do justice to a beautiful well-planned website, takes time, original content, and hours of input from technical professionals to put it together. Like if it is going to take 40 hours labour, we are not going to work for $10 per hour. (unless we are from India and haven’t a clue what we’re doing….. so please don’t do that!)
Please read this article: it adds perspective, as to why it costs so much to build a website, there are many components and steps that have to be carried out. It all takes time to accurately portray your business.
https://www.websearchsocial.com/how-much-should-a-website-cost. It also makes it clear that cheap is not always so wonderful.
Choosing between building your own, employing a large Development co, which has a pool of expert people, or employing just one freelance expert person to do everything?
If you go to just one web expert to build your site, it keeps the build cost down, but you will still need to find marketing experts, after the site is finished. So “a developer” person is not usually a SEO Marketer or PAY per-click Manager, and if they are, that will be at extra cost.
If you want to build your own site: Choose a ready-made build-your-own platform like Wix or Squarespace, and do it yourself, but I warn people that sometimes you can’t get the flexibility of special add on shop functions because of rules governing what is available and what is not. Plus, you may get stuck because you need some technical help. Then end up having to relinquish your site, for a more custom-built website. Of course, some people can successfully use web-building tools, and then just go to a marketer to promote the site; so depending on your needs it is doable that way.
Be aware that platforms like Wix and Squarespace charge huge fees monthly to continue using their platform, so that’s a big contrast to having a WordPress site. For instance, if you get me to help you build a WordPress site, you incur a one-off build fee, then all future costs will just be domain name and hosting renewal fees yearly.
Here is a link from Umbrella Co. they have put together guides for creating your own website, based upon using open source tools, (free) and you buying a domain name and web hosting account in advance. You can also search Google to find hundreds of Youtube tutorials, and I recommend building with WordPress as it has the most user-friendly admin backend to edit and update pages.
If you employ a Team to build your site: To deliver a fully professional website, the team roles would be: a project manager, a back-end developer, a front-end developer, a web designer, a content writer, a SEO and social media integrator, and then they would point you to a bona fide expert Google Partner to do your promotion and marketing. You may even need a graphic designer to do your stationery. Then don’t forget you have to pay to maintain the sites back end and front end on a yearly basis.
When you go to a large web development company, it seems very expensive but you can usually be sure you are getting the best from the latest cutting-edge team. If you require many tailor-made bells and whistles on your site, or you need to cater for a large organisational site, then it is understandable you should go to a larger web development company. But be prepared to pay the price for their commercially run business. Prices are always depending what you are wanting. These types of sites take a minimum of 1 month or more to build. Prices can be $2000 to $30,000 NZD.
If you employ a solo developer to do everything: It may work well for simple informational websites, and is more affordable than paying for a team, but let the buyer beware: it may appear to be cheaper, but if the person you are thinking of employing has no portfolio of past work on display on their website, then how will you know if they can do a good job? You don’t. He may be a starter fresh out of school and prepared to charge small. If he is a great back-end developer, he may not be so good at the front end, and be an inexperienced communicator, or works only at night when he is home from his main job, then your web project becomes a long drawn-out hit-or-miss affair. So you need to be able to trust the person you engage for the job, that they have all the talents, are approachable and can finish it in the agreed time.
For small business websites: A Developer who works from home independently, (like myself) who has many years experience, and charges cheaper overhead fees, fits well for small businesses on a tight budget.
Luckily, I can offer site development as a one-off fee for planning, design, development, and SEO, like a one-stop shop.
Contact me to have your website built in WordPress.