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.
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.
What's next?
Contact us for a friendly, no-obligation chat about your project...
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Having never had the responsibility of creating a new website for the business before, Made Simple Media could not have made it a more easier and pleasurable experience. From the initial meeting to the end product, we could not have been happier. Made Simple Media quickly grasped what we were looking to achieve in both design style and function.
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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!
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I am Chief Executive of a charity. When I took over our website crashed and we lost all our data. We switched hosts to Made Simple Media, took on a brand new CMS and we have never looked back. Dave was fantastic then and remains so. Always approachable, quick to respond and great tools to help you on your way.
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Made Simple Media have made a number of websites for us and their work is always of a high standard. They are fast acting when we need help and I would happily recommend Made Simple Media to anyone looking for web development help.
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