So you know that you want a website, but you have no clue how much it costs, or how much to budget for your project. Well, we’re going to give you some insight into the costs of web design, and how much you’ll need for your web project.

How Much Does Web Design Cost?

The first thing that I will tell you is, yes, I am biased. But I’m not biased be only because I own a web design firm, I’m also biased because I understand the importance and the value of a professionally designed website. The average price of one of our websites is around $4,500.  This may sound like a lot of money because truth be told, you can get a website put together for around $100 bucks. So let’s start there. Let me explain what you’ll get in the different pricing tiers of web design.

$2,500 or Less

For the time that it takes graphically design a website, and the convert that graphic design into an actual web page, it’ s not worth a professional web designers time do this at this price. If you are paying $2,500 or less for your web design project a “good” web designer will design your site from a pre-existing web design template. In this case, your site is built from a template that has already been created, and your site will look like every other site that uses this template. Worst of all, a novice Internet user can tell the difference between one of these web sites and a custom designed site.

These types of sites do have their place. They work best with individuals, families, and others seeking an affordable online presence.

$2,500 to  $4,000

In this price range you are getting into the ballpark of a professional custom web site design. Don’t get too excited though. This price range works for some businesses, but not for all. Generally in this price range, you can get a graphically pleasing web design, with a 10 or less pages. This won’t buy you any fancy  functionality or enhanced interactivity, but you will get a solid web presence that allows your site visitors to know that you’re a credible organization.

$4,000 to $10,000

Most of our web design clients fit into this price range, and we will deliver a very impressive design here. In this price range, designs can easily take 70+ hours to completely design, so you are really getting your money’s worth.Your design will not only be graphically impressive, but your site will also actively compete with your competition. If desired, you can also expect you receive flash animation, drop down menus, and other common features you find in good quality web sites.

You can also expect to be able to maintain your own site without knowing any type of web programming language.

ROI & Conclusion

A website is an investment. So the most important point to consider in determining how much to spend for a web site is your return on investment (ROI). Determine many new customers or sales must the web site generate in order to pay for itself. If you are a realtor, for example, and you get one new customer from the web site, which results in a sale of a home and $10,000 commission – then your website has probably already paid for itself! Of course, each business is different, so you’ll need to figure out the ROI for your own business.

So if you’re looking for a new website, don’t simply go the cheapest route possible. Talk to a professional design firm and ask them how they can help you make more money through the Internet. You may be surprised at how cheap the marketing Internet can be in the long run.