Web design companies do not randomly decide how much to charge you. In many cases, several factors affect the overall price of the website and how much you need to pay. Great web design companies offer pricing packages that encompass the factors mentioned below, but keep in mind that different companies do the math in different ways. However, knowing about price strategies can also help you determine what is important to your website -- and what is not.
Content
Your website content will also determine your website size and vice versa. Large websites with a large number of pages are more expensive simply because they require more content. This means more images, more text, headers, banners, links, etc. The more pages you have, the more content needs to be generated for the website. Some web site companies have set prices for the number of pages. In most cases, packages include a detailed breakdown of the number of pages involved.
Content also means copywriting. Many web design companies offer in-house writers who will optimize articles and text for search engines and help create flawless content that can help you boost sales.
Time
Time is one of the most important factors that determine pricing for established web design companies. Many web companies charge in two ways: a set project fee that is pre-determined by the company or via a per-hour basis. In almost all cases, price-per-hour is ridiculous for a large website that requires hours of labour but perfect for smaller websites that consist of ten pages or less. Web design companies will often offer what they think is best for the project and the timeframe you give them.
In general, the shorter the timeframe you give, the more expensive it gets. Shorter timeframes mean longer work hours for the designers, graphic and layout artists, content writers, developers and testers that work for the company. Shorter timeframes also mean your project get placed in the foreground and more people will be working on it to meet the deadline. This means the company has to pay more people to get your project going.
Complexity
How complicated the website is will also affect the pricing or the bid you get. Easier websites, without the bells and whistles are generally cheaper. Ecommerce options are often more expensive, because this involves setting up a system that includes payment gates, merchant account and other billing details. Combine this with setting up a catalogue or other aspects that your online business will need. In general, the more complex the website, the more money you need to shell out to the web design company.
On the other hand, a content management system requires a different set of complexities and code, which can result in different pricing. Other considerations include: flash aspects, embedding video and the overall look and style of the website.
Complexity also covers testing, beta-testing and other important factors that actually involve the functionality of the website. The more complex a website is, the more things can go wrong, so your web design company needs to continually test and retest to make sure everything functions correctly.
Search Engine Optimization, Etc.
An established web design company can also offer you extras such as search engine optimization for existing content and link building to help bring traffic to your website. Stock images and customized graphics can also be another element that will be included in the overall design package for you. For customers who are new to the web business, this can be a welcome factor that will not only help create a more successful website but also help continually create new customers or more traffic.
Maintenance and Hosting
Finally, your package can also include future maintenance and server hosting. This can be a godsend for someone who is looking for the total deal. The web design company can offer hosting, bandwidth, subscriptions and deals.
In many cases maintenance is a given. The company will either teach you (the host) how to maintain and upload content to the website or assign someone to help you do this regularly as part of the package. The amount of maintenance is what you pay for -- will they be checking on it on a quarterly basis or do you want someone to take care of the nitty-gritty for you once a week?
