subject: Web Design Cost - How Much Should I Expect To Pay? [print this page] When it's time to create a website, not everyone can do it themselves. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's better to know that you need help building your site than to try to do it on your own and end up with a page that won't attract visitors. A solid design and appealing look are vital to ensuring that your visitors keep on reading. Paying a professional for a good design can seem intimidating, however, especially when you get the bill. Here's a look at some of the standard rates for web design to help you know when you're paying too much.
Understanding Your Needs
There's no standard flat-rate price for a webpage because every site is a little different. It's important to understand what you're asking of your designer before you set the budget. After all, the scope of a simple, HTML-only site will be much different from that of a site that allows user interaction, requires a product database, or requires high-end security features.
For these more complex pages, you'll need to hire someone who is not only a Web designer, but also a programmer. Trying to cut corners will only result in a site that doesn't do what you planned. In the U.S., you should expect to pay between $35 and $75 per hour for a graphic designer, but you might pay up to $150 per hour for an experienced web developer.
Cost by Site Complexity
If you start with a pre-existing website template and don't need a lot out of your designer, you can expect to pay less than you might if you wanted a site build from scratch. You might pay as little as $200 to have a template adapted to your needs. For a small site built from scratch, you can expect to pay a minimum of $500 in the U.S., with prices rising as high as $1,500 for more complex jobs.
Adding E-Commerce
You can expect your site to cost significantly more if you need a complex e-commerce solution. Simpler options, such as PayPal buttons or templates provided by your merchant account may work if you're only selling a small amount of merchandise, but they tend to fail for large businesses or require a monthly fee for high volume sales. Hiring a professional web designer to build an e-commerce site from scratch tends to cost between $2,000 and 5,000, depending on exactly what you need.
Maintenance and Updates
Most competent Web developers will provide you with a site you can update yourself, but there are still tasks you may not be able to perform on your own. If you need to have your underlying software updated, want to make major design changes, or are interested in adding more functionality, you can expect to pay for the privilege. Many designers, however, will give you a discount on these changes if they previously worked with you. This type of job also takes considerably less time than ground-up design, with many changes taking only a few hours.
