How much does a website design cost for a small business?

If you own a small business, there is no need to explain why a website is crucial for your company's growth. It is undoubtedly on your to-do list. Estimating the time and costs for website construction and maintenance is no less important.

Arounda design agency has completed over 133 projects, including UI/UX design for Web 3, Healthcare, Fintech, and SaaS. So we have been a while on the market. In this article, we explain the options and web design cost for small business. 

Table of Contents

• How much does it cost to build a website for a small business?

• What determines web design cost for small business?

• Costly Website Design & Development Mistakes To Avoid

• Pros & Cons: Hiring a Professional vs. DIY Approach

• Conclusion

How much does it cost to build a website for a small business?

There are two main approaches to creating a site. The cheapest way is to do it yourself (DIY). If you have enough in-house skills, there is no need to hire freelancers or agencies. Do you feel that your design won’t look professional, you won’t be able to add necessary functionality, or you don’t have enough expertise in SEO? Then, it is better to invite experts to cope with the task.  

To choose the option according to your budget, let’s look closer at the stages of website development and evaluate where you can save money with DIY and where you will require professional help. 

What determines web design cost for small business?

Entrepreneurs often focus on site development as their main expenditure. But we recommend taking into account maintenance and marketing as well. This way, you get the whole picture and don’t let these expenses take you by surprise.

Development

Development is the most sophisticated and expensive part of your business site. Let’s look closer at what is packed into this process.

Domain name, Web Builder, Hosting

• A domain name is the first thing you should think about. Fortunately, it is inexpensive, ranging from $5 to $15 annually.

• Web builders or content management systems (CMS) like Wix or WordPress are free of charge if you choose a hosting that specializes in this particular CMS. For example, DreamHost is one of the best options for WordPress, for they include a powerful website builder free in hosting plans. 

• Hosting may cost around $3 to $ 20 per month, depending on your hosting plan. Not the biggest part of website design price small business pays. But comparing prices on GoDaddy, Bluehost, and Wix is wise to get a picture of the market. 

Design and Functionality 

• Design is everything connected with your site's appearance. It includes choosing a color scheme, custom logo, artwork for icons, buttons, infographics, animations, wireframes, and more. 

• Functionality. If you need to accept online payments or process orders, this will imply programming and should be covered by the functionality of your website. 

Average cost of website design for small business

• A design agency usually delivers both design and functionality. The check for professional web development varies from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on size, code complexity, and level of professionalism. Naturally, with such a range of pricing and options, researching is the key to reducing expenses.

• A freelancer's work will be a more affordable option. Web design for a small business on Fiverr starts at around $50  on a project basis. As for an e-commerce website, the minimal price tag will be $100  because of the large number of pages. 

• You design a website yourself. If you don’t want to create a logo in Canva, use AI tools, or use a CMS logo maker, the unique design on Fiverr may cost around $5. 

Maintainance

Most Web builders don’t require a lot of learning. You may create new pages using standard templates and make minor changes yourself. But if you need to focus on more urgent tasks, maintaining a site will cost from $35 to approximately $500 monthly. 

Note that your new site is going to look fresh and up to date for 1.5 to 3 years. But as time passes, customer preferences, browser technologies, and accessibility standards change. Therefore you should consider a refresh or even a complete redesign in a long-term perspective. 

Web Marketing

Ok, now that you have a well-functioning website, how do you make sure that people see it? The three main instruments to attract traffic to your resource are search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), and content marketing. Website promotion might become a significant part of web design cost for small business. But you don’t necessarily need to invest in every web marketing area. For example, if you only need SEO, you might fit into a monthly budget of $750.    

Costly Website Design & Development Mistakes To Avoid

Mistakes are inevitable when you do something for the first time. But we hope this part will prevent you from the most common pitfalls.

Poor design

You might have noticed that people perceive attractive products as more usable. This tendency is called the Aesthetic-Usability Effect. And this is the reason why the visual appeal of your website is critical for customers to purchase products and services. 

There are some typical design mistakes that might turn users away from your web page from the very start:

• low-quality or stock images

• too many ads 

• outdated design

• weird color combinations

• wall of text

• unclear CTAs

Poor usability 

Besides visual representation, building an interface that will function like a Swiss clock and support the customer in surfing your site is vital. The common usability drawbacks are  

• sophisticated registration forms

• contact information that is hard to find

• outdated technology

• poor coding

• incompatibility across different platforms and devices

• inappropriate CMS

Both design and usability will influence website design cost for a small business.

Pros & Cons: Hiring a Professional vs. DIY Approach

Now that you better understand the site development process and expected costs, let’s wrap up the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing your site to freelancers or a design agency. 

Pros

• unique custom-designed site for your business

• robust functionality with payments and orders

• high ranks in Google thanks to professional SEO

• no need to learn Web builder unless you want to maintain a website yourself

• peace of mind when you don’t feel like a newbie struggling to cope with web-design nuances 

Cons

• quality work can get very expensive

• development takes weeks or even months 

• maintaining the site is an additional cost to count

• communication with a freelancer or agency might require more time than you expect.  

Conclusion

We have roughly estimated web design cost for small business for do-it-yourself and outsourcing approaches. DIY will include expenditures for a domain name, hosting, premium plugins and imagery, and occasional freelancer help. This is the most inexpensive way to develop and maintain your site. 

On the other hand, outsourcing website design to a Fiverr or Upwork talent starts at around $50 on a project basis. While hiring a digital agency that will deliver high-quality design and functionality varies from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on website complexity. 

If you are not sure you have enough time and expertise to design a trendy website with all the needed functionality, it’s worth it to consult an expert and eventually hire someone who can do the job right.

Arounda’s experience in UI/UX design and redesign proves that startup and SME clients who pay for professional website development see a return on their investment thanks to increased revenue and overall business growth. 

So if you need advice on how to create your site at a lower cost, just drop us a line.