How much does a custom business website cost?

Number and type of pages

A page that repeats an existing layout costs far less than one that needs its own design. A site with a home page, a few service pages and a contact page is a different project from one with dozens of unique layouts.

Content

If your copy and photography are ready, the work is design and build. If they need writing, editing or shooting, that is extra work and often the part that takes longest.

Custom design or adapted template

An adapted template starts from an existing structure. A custom design starts from your business, your customers and your brand, which takes more time but produces something that fits.

Integrations

Connecting forms to a CRM, a booking calendar, email follow-up or payments adds build and testing work for each connection.

Content management

If your team needs to edit pages, publish articles or manage listings themselves, the site needs an editing setup that is easy for non-technical people to use.

Redesign or new site

A redesign can reuse good content and structure, but it may also involve moving pages, keeping old links working and preserving search visibility.

Launch and technical setup

Domain connection, deployment, analytics, redirects, form testing and performance checks are real work and should be in the quote.

Hosting, domain renewal and ongoing maintenance are separate from the build. Ask which of these you will pay for, to whom, and how often, so there are no surprises after launch.

Quotes vary most when the brief is vague. The more of the following you can prepare, the more comparable the quotes will be.

• –A rough list of the pages you expect to need.
• –Whether copy, photos and a logo exist, and who will supply what is missing.
• –Sites you like, and what specifically you like about them.
• –The tools the site must work with: CRM, calendar, email platform, payments.
• –Who will update the site after launch, and how often.
• –Any deadline tied to a real event, such as a launch or a trade show.

A good proposal lists what is included, what is not, and who owns the site, domain and accounts once it is live. In our own website design and development work, clients own their domain, brand, content, customer data and the finished website once it is paid for.

Timelines follow scope. A single landing page is a far smaller project than a multi-page site with a CRM connection and online booking. What usually slows a project down is not the build but waiting on content, feedback and access to accounts such as the domain registrar.

For example, a physiotherapy clinic that has its copy written, its photos ready and its booking system already chosen will move much faster than one that still needs to decide which services to list and how patients should book.

Not every site needs a full redesign. Sometimes clearer copy, faster pages or a better enquiry form fixes the real problem. A redesign is worth considering when several of these are true:

• –The site no longer describes what you sell or who you sell to.
• –It is slow, awkward on phones or hard for your team to update.
• –Enquiries arrive in an inbox and get copied into other tools by hand.
• –You are embarrassed to send customers to it.
• –You cannot log in to your own domain or hosting account.

If you are still deciding between a builder platform and a custom build, website builder vs custom website covers the tradeoffs. Either way, start by writing down what the site needs to do for your customers. That list is the most useful thing you can bring to any quote.