The elephant in the room: How much does good business web design cost?

Perhaps the most common reason for delaying a professional business web design lies in the potential costs.

Business owners don't want to spend their hard-earned money, so they keep their old, outdated websites as long as possible.

However, these fears are often based in misconception.For one thing, better web design often equates to higher profits. If you can generate more revenue by improved navigation, enhanced flow, and more professional graphics, the overall cost of the redesign doesn't seem as expensive. However, there are several things you should take into consideration when evaluating business web design quotes.

Custom quotes are the only way to go

A designer needs to know exactly what you want to accomplish before he or she can issue an estimate.

Hundreds of factors go into designing a website. The number of pages, the amount of graphic content, the number of animations, and numerous other variables can drastically alter the quoted price. Consequently, there's no industry-standard price range for you to consider.

A business web development projects cost anywhere from $2,000 to $25,000 or more. It all depends on the designer's experience, the level of complexity, and the client's requests.

If you get several custom quotes for your own business web design, you'll start to get a feel for what you want and how much it will cost you. Provide your designer with as many details as possible so that he or she can issue a quote that's in line with your expectations.

Custom web design projects also give you a unique opportunity to position and stregthen your organization's identity, as we talk about in another one of our blog articles, "Why custom website design is important to your brand."

Recognize the type of price quote

Forbes contributor Ilya Pozin cautions that web designers can charge their clients in two distinct (and sometimes incomparable) ways.

Some issue a per-project bid -- in other words, the total cost of the project in one lump sum. For instance, the designer might ask about your needs, then tell you it will cost $4,000 to complete it.

Others charge by the hour. If you get a $40-per-hour quote and the designer spends 100 hours on your website, you'll get a bill for $4,000, which is equivalent to the per-project bid described above. However, if the designer takes 200 hours to finish the job, your bill doubles.

Price isn't the only -- or most important -- factor

Before you sign a contract and hand over a credit card, make sure
you're not automatically taking the lowest bid.

While you don't want to pay a web designer $50,000 to set up your new blog, you likewise don't want to pay an inexperienced designer $200 to design your business's 50-page website. Neither situation is tenable.

Going with the lowest price might yield the lowest quality work. When it comes to business web design, that's dangerous for future revenue. You want to give potential customers the best possible impression of your business.

Evaluate each company based on the quality of its previous work, its customer recommendations, its professionalism, and its attention to detail. These factors matter far more than the number at the bottom of an invoice.

If you need business web design, there's no magic number that you should expect to pay. However, understanding the industry can give you insight into best practices. 

Download our growth-driven design eBook to learn more about how our agile and data-driven web design strategy can give your organization the website you need.

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