How do most web agencies charge? The most common method for a professional agency to charge for website design and development services, is to establish an hourly rate that takes into account salary, overhead, and profit.
This is similar to how other professionals charge, whether a lawyer, doctor, plumber, etc. CX3 Digital (for example) is based in Virginia, so we have labor costs for each team member, as well as typical business overhead such as office expenses, rent, insurance, etc. Based on that, our hourly rate (as of January 2019) is $125 for most services.
Web agencies that use offshore staff have lower costs and so their hourly rate may be lower. Freelancers, one-person shops and website brokers can also be more competitive on price but may have other challenges such as communication, reliability, and quality.
When a client brings their project to us, we determine how many hours it will take and charge accordingly. So if a small business website takes 100 hours to build, that translates to a billable cost of $12,500. So how much does a website cost in 2019?
Some web companies that cater to web neophytes may promote website costs in “package prices” such as $1995 for website “Package A”, $4,950 for the “Pro Package”, etc. This is an effective way to sell websites but we advise you to scrutinize the fine print of what is included. In order to sell a package website and make a profit, the scope or limitations have to be very restrictive. That may not be readily apparent when you scan the list of “included” features.
Also, these types of website deals are often “managed” by the company, so there is the potential for them to overcharge you on other basic services like hosting, SEO, maintenance, etc. If you’re a business owner, that is not how a beautiful and effective website will cost in 2019.
How Much Does a Website Cost in 2019?
Finally, some interactive agencies will look at website cost based on what they think the value is to your business. For example, if they see you are a five million dollar business, they may calculate a value of the website at X% of your total sales.
We would love to hear your thoughts on website pricing. How much does a website cost in 2019?
