How much does it cost to create a professional website?
Nowadays, it is now essential to have a company website. It could be a showcase site, which serves to present your company, or an e-commerce site through which you can sell your products, or even a blog. There are many possibilities but what matters is being present online. With a site, customers can find us easily and we can increase our credibility. After all, not being on the web would put our company in a bad light, making it appear old-fashioned or less than reliable. Building an online reputation is therefore the best thing. Therefore, website development is essential. But how much does it cost to create a website?
How much does a professional website cost: the steps to define it
It has been seen that the cost of a website can range on average from 350 to 1500 euros, but this depends on many factors, such as the type of site being created and which platforms you decide to use, or whether you rely on a website agency or not, if you want a professional website or something less studied. On average, the cost of creating a showcase site with 5 or 6 pages is around 1500 euros.
Clearly, the price can increase further, depending on the size of the job and the time spent on it. It also depends on how many professionals are involved in the project, how big the company is and the level of accuracy you want to have.There are many elements to pay attention to when creating a website in 2024.
The first step to create a website
First, you need to decide what type of website you want. In general, the types of sites for companies are the following:
- Showcase site: Introduces the company, its products or services, and contact information. It is ideal for increasing online visibility and providing a professional presence.
- E-commerce: It is like an online store, it allows the sale of products or services directly online. It includes features like shopping carts, secure payments, and inventory management.
- Company Blog: Used to share informative content, news, updates and industry-related articles. It helps improve SEO and establish the company as an expert in its field.
- Landing page: Single page focused on a specific objective, such as collecting leads or promoting a marketing campaign.
- Services site: Designed for companies that offer services, with sections dedicated to service descriptions, case studies, customer testimonials and contact forms for requesting quotes.
- Company portal: Complex site that may include different sections and features, such as forums, employee areas, document management and other resources useful for the internal and external management of the company.
In the field of aesthetic medicine, for example, the website for a medical clinic is often a showcase website. The treatments, any offers, the staff are presented and you can possibly choose to keep a blog to talk about the products and to answer customers' most frequently asked questions. It is very important for aesthetic medicine clinics to present themselves well online, in order to allow potential customers to choose the right treatment and understand who they are trusting.
Second stage in creating a website: choosing the domain and hosting
Domain name
Once you have chosen what you want to do, based on the company's goals, you need to check that the domain is available. That is to say, no one on the internet already has a site with the same name that you want to use for your own. To register the name and obtain the rights it is necessary to pay a fee. A first payment that must be taken into account.
It is important to choose a domain that is short, easy to remember, representative of the brand and possibly contains keywords relevant to the sector. You can check domain availability through a domain registrar, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Google Domains.
Hosting service
Web hosting is the service that allows you to store website files on a server accessible via the internet. That is to say, it is the space on the internet that will host the site. The choice of hosting depends on the needs of the site in terms of traffic, speed, security and support and the cost can vary from 30 euros per year to 200 euros per month. There are different types of hosting, such as:
- Shared hosting: Shares server resources with other websites, suitable for small or newly started sites.
- VPS hosting: Offers dedicated resources on a virtual server, suitable for sites with medium traffic.
- Dedicated hosting: Uses an entire server for the site, suitable for sites with high traffic and stringent security requirements.
- Cloud hosting: Uses a network of servers to ensure scalability and reliability.
The cost - variable according to needs - of a hosting service is one of the points to take into account when creating your website. Much of the site's security depends on the hosting you choose. Investing in a good hosting service could make all the difference.
Third stage to create your site: create a CMS or custom website?
At this point, we need to build the actual site. There are two roads.
- CMS: "Content Management System", is a software that allows you to create websites without necessarily being experts in computer codes thanks to already existing functions. The most famous CMS is Wordpress. There are many different types of CMS, from the most basic to the most complex, with different costs. Some are free. CMS like HubSpot are very effective and allow you to develop a professional website, while remaining extremely intuitive in their use. In fact, HubSpot is considered a user-friendly software. In addition to being a CMS, it is also a CRM, meaning that it allows global management of relationships with users and customers, moving not only from the simple site but also taking advantage of other channels, such as social media and newsletters, all of which can be operated from the inside the platform. It allows you to manage contacts, create lists, improve the customer lifecycle funnel and much more. Request a free demo now where we will explain all the details about HubSpot.
- Custom: it is a site created completely from scratch. You need to rely on an expert who programs the graphics, structure, operation and everything with the codes, based on the customer's needs. The cost is higher, and in general you must always consider that it will never be a free job, but in this way you are sure of obtaining exactly the desired result.
Static or dynamic site?
When creating the site, you must choose whether to make it static or dynamic, an essential choice before opening a website. Each site has its own needs and requires a careful choice.
A static site consists of fixed web pages, coded in HTML and CSS, that display the same content to all users. To update the content, you need to manually edit the page code. Static sites are simpler and quicker to build, require less server resources and maintenance, and are ideal for small businesses or portfolios that don't need frequent updates.
A dynamic site, on the other hand, generates content interactively, often using databases and server-side programming languages such as PHP, Python or Ruby. These sites can show personalized content and update automatically, for example, showing different products in an online store or updating news in real time. Dynamic sites are more complex and require ongoing management, but offer advanced functionality and a better user experience.
In terms of price, static sites are generally cheaper to develop and maintain, as they require less programming and infrastructure work. Dynamic sites are more expensive, involving more complex programming, database integration, and potentially more powerful hosting to handle dynamic requests and workload.
The website tree
Once you have decided how you want to make the site, you need to understand what it will contain. Therefore, it is necessary to structure the site tree. The tree is the graphic representation of the pages that the site will contain. We start from the home page, then there is often a section that contains the history of the company and an explanation of the people who make it up. Then there is a section that presents the company's products or services, a possible area where you can buy them, a page with contacts and, if desired, also one that contains the articles.
There are so many possibilities. It all depends on how detailed you want to do it and the needs of the company.
The contents that a website must have
Now that the structure of the site has been established, you need to decide what to include. You need to choose graphics that suit the company, decide where to insert images, texts, titles and links. That is, the actual contents. Relying on a web marketing agency can be useful to ensure that you have a well-done and coherent job, and therefore that you have a professional website. This is also a cost to take into consideration, but it can be considered an investment equal to the others. Naturally, the agencies offer a quote first, so that you can understand overall how much this will affect the website cost budget.
If you have chosen a CMS, there will probably already be some pre-set structures to choose from. The cost of graphics made with already set systems can be really low, even less than 50 euros.
However, if you have opted for a custom site, you need to hire a web designer and have the graphics created separately, and then have it created by the programmer who deals with web development. The work takes more time and money, but gives better and more personalized results. The cost of customized graphics can also go up to 500 euros, depending on the skill and professionalism of the person you decide to hire.
SEO for a professional website
SEO includes all those activities that take place to improve the positioning of a site on the web. In fact, it is important for a company to be present on the web, but if it does not position itself high in search results, the effectiveness of the thing is greatly reduced.
To improve the positioning of your website, you can insert images of the right size and quality, renamed so as to be indexed, or even videos that optimize the page even further. Again, you need to follow a certain structure when building pages. You need to use specific keywords and with a certain frequency, write texts of a certain length and with a certain number of titles and subtitles.
Some CMS already provide instructions for maximizing the site's indexing in internet searches. For example, Wordpress has Yoast SEO inside, which gives general indications on what to insert and how to improve the text for SEO. With custom sites, all these details and specifics are done by hand.
Define the cost of your website together with the experts
There are many elements that influence the price of a website when you decide to create it. Trust Ekeria - experts in website development in Milan - for the creation of your site, making the most of the possibilities of the budget you have set up. Request a free consultation and discover the best solutions for you!
FAQ
Q: What affects the cost of building a website in 2024?
A: The cost of building a website in 2024 depends on various factors such as the type of site, required features, design, number of pages, integration of complex systems and much more.
Q: How much does it cost to build an e-commerce website in 2024?
A: The creation of an e-commerce site can vary greatly depending on the specific needs of the project, but in general it requires a higher investment than a showcase site due to the additional features such as product and order management.
Q: How can I reduce costs in creating my website?
A: To lower the cost of creating a website, you can opt for pre-built solutions such as CMS platforms like WordPress that offer ready-made templates and design templates, reducing the time and effort needed for creation.
Q: What is the average cost to build a website in 2024?
A: The average cost to create a website in 2024 can vary greatly and could range between hundreds and thousands of dollars depending on the specific characteristics of the project and the complexity required.
Q: What are the main services included in the cost of creating a professional website?
A: A professional website might include services such as custom web design, content development, search engine optimization, payment integration, and more, depending on the client's needs.
Q: What should I consider when choosing a web agency to create my website?
A: When choosing a web agency to create your website, you should consider several important factors. First, evaluate their portfolio to check the quality of their previous work and make sure they have experience in your specific industry. Make sure the agency offers all the necessary services, such as design, development, SEO and maintenance. Check the portfolio regarding the work already done. Compare quotes from different agencies to find the best value for money. Finally, choose an agency you feel comfortable communicating with, as good communication is critical to the success of the project.