How are websites priced?

Some agencies might pluck a figure out of thin air, but we've always wanted to be completely transparent with clients over pricing, so you can make an informed decision. 

This transparency means that, if the price is a more or less than what you were expecting, you can already start to think about why that might be, based on the detailed website estimate that we provide.

The stages of web design

Building a website is different to building a house, it's often more about quoting for time, rather than materials.  However, there are different stages to each project such as planning, design, build, testing, so we need to account for those clearly in our website estimate.

We therefore, estimate the amount of hours required for each stage and add a row for that.  The client can then see the time and cost associated with that stage and feedback if they don't think it's relevant or required.

Other website costs

One other thing that you'll need to know, is the cost of hosting, which will normally be an annual cost and the cost of ongoing maintenance. Your preference might be to pay a set monthly fee for maintenance or just pay for updates "as and when" they are required.  The size of the project and likelihood of regular updates and maintenance will determine which route is best for your new website.

How to price web design projects

Like any large task, it's much easier to break it down, into smaller, more manageable tasks.  Doing this also shows the potential client where the budget is going.  For example, 4 hours on the sitemap, and 15 hours on wireframes.  If we just quoted one large figure for the whole website project, it would be hard for us as well as the client to know if it allows enough time or not.

Involving the whole website team

We ask the planner / designer how long they need for the Home page, and for the other main page types.  We can then add pages based on these designs, so we rarely need to design every single page.  We then do the same with the developer, asking them how many hours they need to build the website.  Finally we add an allowance for final testing and amends, so everyone knows how many hours of tweaks we have allowed for.  We  add hosting on the end, making it clear that it is a once-a-year cost and a line for maintenance and updates too.

Don't forget taxes and payment details

Each line in the estimate also shows price exclusive of VAT and once the VAT has been added afterwards.  Our estimate template also includes a link to our terms and conditions, a reminder of our hourly rate and our name, address and payment details.

Template for a web design project

Here's a template you can use for pricing up website estimates. 

excel-estimate-template.png

Download [Excel format, .xlsx, 13KB]

Important: You use this template at your own discretion.  We have done our best to ensure it is virus free and you must update it with your own terms and conditions and you accept that any wording is not legally binding.  We are not held liable for any losses arising out of using this template for your website quotes.

CosMed Wellness Website

What's next?

Contact us for a friendly, no-obligation chat about your project...

Telephone 0800 111 4504

Email Email us

Chat Live Chat

Discover more about web design

Discover more...

Here are some other pages you may be interested in reading:

cyber-essentials.png concretecms-partner.png sussex-chamber-member.png sightsavers.png

95+

Happy clients

150+

Websites in our care

10+

Years trading

94%

Client retention
park-avenue.jpg
Google Reviews

We started working with David at Made Simple Media when we needed alterations and pages added to our website. He has advised us well on what we might like to add, has always been a pleasure to deal with, is reliable, and responds quickly. I would highly recommend working with David and MSM!

Ella, Park Avenue Recruitment

independant-jewellery.jpg
Google Reviews

I honestly could not of fell on my feet more with made simple media. Everything I asked for has been done, simplifying things i was unsure about and basically made what I had in my head become a reality. A big thing for me is the availability of being able to get in touch when needed to and this was no issue what so ever. I can’t thank you enough Dave

Bobby Lord, Independant Jewellery

tbz-first-tablet2.jpg
Google Reviews

We are so delighted with our business and Made Simple Media deserve huge credit for making our project come to life. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Dave and the team. We would strongly recommend them to anyone.

Dean

ihc-tablet.jpg
Google Reviews

We are delighted with the quality of our new website, which has enabled us to effectively communicate our various areas of work and build an engaged and increasingly active audience. The common-sense design and easy-to-navigate structure has also helped us establish our organisational identity following a full rebrand in 2017. The support has been excellent throughout.

Jack Dixon, Imperial Health Charity

the-performance-zone.jpg
Google Reviews

Due to business expansion I needed to make some amendments to a existing WordPress website. I asked Made Simple Media for some suggestions on the ideas I had and he was super helpful and came up with some great ideas to make the website perform and navigate better. Him and his team then did a great job in putting the ideas to practice and I was kept informed as the work was underway. Highly recommend Dave and his team!

Matthew Naylor, The Performance Zone

How can we help?

Required
Required
Required