Getting Started

How much does it cost to build a website?

The answer to this question is it depends.  It depends if the design will be custom programmed or if you are starting from a site-wide pre-built theme or a page template.

And, of course, how big the website is, meaning is it a simple five-page website or a 30-page website or a 100-page website. So, the simple answer is a few thousand dollars for a basic brochure site, to several thousand for a content rich lead generation website or one with some custom functionality, to tens of thousand dollars for a big catalog site.

The cost to build a website incorporates many elements, including:

• Developing branding and positioning messages
• Installing the Content Management System (CMS) and Theme
• Copywriting
  • Headline copy
  • On-page copy
  • Meta Tags
• Graphic design
  • Custom, usually developed in Photoshop
  • Adapting a design based on a Theme or Template
• Development
  • Installing the website onto a server to allow development (a.k.a a Staging Site or Sandbox)
  • Creating a development environment (a.k.a. a Staging Site or Sandbox) on the server
  • Install WordPress and Theme
  • Create a Child Theme
    The concept of a Theme and Child Theme is like installing Excel and then creating an active Spreadsheet as your workspace, so if you did an update of Excel, it won’t affect the active Spreadsheet.  A Child Theme is used to isoalte the active work space from the main Theme.
  • Custom programming
  • Custom configure a Theme builder
  • Install & configure a pre-built Theme
  • Install and configure Plugins to support special functions like calendar, testimonials, FAQs, image sliders, e-commerce, and more.
  • Quality assurance testing of all functionality prior to going live
  • Transferring the Staging Site to the Website Hosting server
  • Addressing security concerns with malware protection and SSL Certificates
  • Incorporating Meta Tags (Title Tag, Meta Description, H1 Headline) for basic search engine optimization

In addition to the above development cost, there are ongoing annual cost for:

• Domain Name
• Website hosting
• SSL Certificate
• Website maintenance