A website is the first thing a customer looks for in any business. Thus, the need for a user-friendly and interactive website is immense for a business to survive in this digitization world.
Whenever it comes to website development – an important question always arises, i.e., how much does it cost to build a website? This is what this blog post will discuss.
However, it is tricky to tell the exact cost of developing a website. It depends on numerous things, including but not limited to your requirements, complexity, and type of your website. It also depends on your chosen platform and the web development company you hire.
So, the website development route you pick affects the overall cost to build a website. If we talk about the cost of developing a basic website with minimal functionalities, it will be around $10,000 to $30,000.
In addition, you could have to pay about $50,000 to $1,00,000 for a website with advanced functionalities. And a complex website like an enterprise-level site, or an eCommerce store, can cost around $1,50,000 or more.
If you have a website development project idea, you must read this guide to see a complete insight into website development costs.
Before deeply diving into the factors, it is best to understand how investing in website development is helpful for a business owner.
Why is it beneficial to Invest in Website Development?
Investing in website development not only helps you establish an online presence but also offers a lot of significant advantages to business owners. So, let’s discuss how a website is the best medium for a business owner to grow business.
Establish Brand Identity
Establishing a brand’s identity is challenging without the channels or medium to do so. Undoubtedly, a website is the best way to let your customers know all about your business.
Many business owners consider social media for their brand promotion. No doubt, it is also the best way to establish a good brand identity.
But it can not compete with a website that presents your audience with a complete picture of your offerings. So, it is essential that the site must be developed faultlessly to create a reputable identity for your brand.
Extend Your Reach
A compelling website helps a business owner present their services and products to a wide range of audiences worldwide. It helps you engage with more customers around the globe.
Moreover, it will generate more business opportunities and help you to boost the conversion rate of your website.
Enhance Accessibility
A website visitor can easily get the essential data from your website. It makes your business accessible to customers at any time of the day. If a customer wants to know your contact details even after working hours, they can take them from the site.
24/7 Availability of Your Business
A website helps customers to find your business at any time from anywhere. It makes your brand indirectly available 24 hours, 7 days a week to your potential customers. A site provides convenience to your customers to go through your products without pressure to buy them. It will also give you a competitive advantage over competitors that stay offline after business hours.
Provide Uniqueness to Your Brand
It is one of the significant benefits that a business owner will get after investing in website development services. It provides endless customization possibilities that help you develop a unique website to remain distinctive among several other websites on the internet.
Now., let’s move toward our main topic, i.e., the cost to build a website.
Website Development Cost Based on the Type of Website
The cost of website development depends on the type of website. And the type of website you need to develop is defined by your business objectives.
It is obvious that the features required in a blogging platform are different from the features and functionalities of an eCommerce website.
Such aspects and complexity levels of website development make the website development cost different for different websites.
So, let’s go through the popular website types and their development cost.
| Type of Website | Website Development Cost |
| Personal Site or Blogging platforms | $4000 – $4500. |
| Landing Web Pages | $2,500 – $3,000 |
| Corporate Sites | $6300 – $6500 |
| eCommerce Websites | $35,000 – $40,000 |
| Educational Websites | $35,000 – $40,000 |
| Entertainment Websites | $60,000 – $65,000 |
| Online Marketplaces | $45,000 – $50,000 |
| Social Media Platforms | $75,000 – $80,000 |
Personal Website and Blog
Many businesses like to share the news and announcements with their customers and thus consider maintaining informative web pages or individual websites as personal blogs. An estimated cost required to spend for creating a blogging platform is about $4000 – $4500.
Landing Web Pages
A landing web page, aka brochure website, displays contact details, about us pages, and other relevant Call-to-Action (CTA) to draw potential customers and maximize sales. The average development cost of a landing page is between $2,500 – $3,000.
Corporate Sites
A corporate site is developed with the aim of communicating a business’s goals with clients. These types of websites usually represent the company’s portfolio to engage with maximum people. If we talk about the average cost of developing a corporate website, it could be between $6300 – $6500.
eCommerce Sites
Being one of the most popular and demanding types of websites, eCommerce websites sell goods/services online to multiple people. Amazon and eBay are examples of two top eCommerce sites. So, how much does it cost to make an eCommerce website? Well, it can vary between $35,000 – $40,000.
Educational Websites
This type of website is mainly created for educational institutions, which offer online courses and some educational (informative) content. The average development cost of an educational platform can be in the range of $35,000 – $40,000.
Entertainment Websites
These sites focus on creating high-quality content to entertain website visitors. These complex-level website development projects can include varied types of content, from news to videos, films to blog posts, and even films. The average cost to develop an entertainment website can exist between $60,000 – $65,000.
Online Marketplaces
Another complex website development project is online marketplace website development. An online marketplace is a type of eCommerce site where multiple third parties offer products or services. The cost to build a multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace can be between $45,000 – $50,000.
Social Media Platforms
This type of website builds community and connects people. The average cost to develop social websites can be between $75,000 – $80,000. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are some examples of such types of websites.
So, before you invest in website development, you first need to determine the type and purpose of your website. Having the right purpose in mind will help you attract more customers.
Cost to Build a Website Based on the Type of Development
Another major factor that impacts website development costs is the type of development you prefer. There are various ways to build a website, including using a CMS or hiring a website development company to serve your purpose.
Now, let’s see the cost of developing a website based on the selected development type.
Custom Website Development
Custom web development refers to developing a customized web development solution for your business or brand. Unlike template-based websites, customized ones are developed per your specific business needs.
Custom web development is the right approach for developing corporate websites, online stores, marketplaces, and others. Being a costlier website development medium, custom web development is well-suited for creating large-scale business websites that require complex features and functionalities.
In addition, the cost of investing in custom web development can vary from $25,000 to $3,00,000. However, it depends on your specific needs, business objectives, the team you hire, and the web development technology you choose for your website development project.
CMS-Based Website Development
A cost-effective alternative method for website development is using CMSs. CMS software lets you seamlessly create, edit, and manage your website content.
With so many website builder options like WordPress, Drupal, WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, OpenCart, and others, you should choose a suitable and budget-friendly platform based on your business needs.
Some CMSs are free-to-use and do not require any licensing fees. Whereas some require licensing costs, thus, enhancing the overall website development cost.
Now, let’s see some major CMS platforms and their associated cost.
WordPress
Powering over 43% of all websites, WordPress lets you create any type of website. You can use this content management system (CMS) to create websites from a small blogging platform to an eCommerce store.
To run a website for commercial purposes, you will have to subscribe to the premium plans of WordPress. The plans are available in the range of $4 – $45 per month.
| Plans | Cost | Suitable For |
| WordPress (Open-Source) | $0 | It is best for beginners, students building school projects, private bloggers, etc. |
| WordPress (Personal) | $4/month | It is best for personal use. |
| WordPress (Premium) | $8/month | It is best for Freelancers. |
| WordPress (Business) | $25/month | It is best for small businesses. |
| WordPress (eCommerce) | $45/month | It is best for online stores. |
Shopify
Another leading website builder is Shopify. It offers pricing plans you can choose from as per your requirements and budget.
If you are unsure which one to choose, you can even opt for a 14-day free trial. It will let you understand the features of Shopify. Once your trial expires, you can select the plan as per your needs.
| Shopify Plan | Associated Cost |
| Basic Shopify | $29/month |
| Shopify | $79/month |
| Advanced Shopify | $299/month |
| Shopify Plus | $2,000/month |
Magento
Magento is one of the top eCommerce platforms suitable for developing robust eCommerce websites. It is available in three editions which is the initial point and a predictable expense in website development cost.
The cost to build a Magento website also depends on the Magento edition you choose. So, let’s see a quick view of such Magento editions with their associated cost.
| Magento Edition | Associated Cost |
| Magento Open-Source | $0 |
| Magento Commerce | $22,000/yr – $1,25,000/yr |
| Magento Commerce Cloud | $40,000/yr – $1,90,000/yr |
The cost mentioned above is apart from the additional website development costs with Magento.
Drupal
If we talk about the licensing fees required to build websites with Drupal, there is no such. Drupal is an open-source CMS platform. It is free to use. But that does not mean you will not have to spend a penny on website development in Drupal. You will have to spend on additional costs derived from other factors like hosting, domain name, SSL certificate, etc.
Cost to Build a Website Based on Phases
Now you know about the types and purposes of websites and must’ve also decided on your ‘website type.’ It’s now time to step forward and understand the factors by phases.
Website development comprises two essential parts, i.e., front-end development and back-end development. Understanding the cost of both phases separately helps you identify the average cost of building a website.
So, to understand the website development cost, let’s have a quick overview of the cost associated with front-end and back-end development.
Front-End Development
A front-end of a website is what your visitors first see. It is the interface and first visual for your visitors. The influencing cost factors in this phase include the website’s responsiveness and the complexity of animations.
Developing a front-end phase might take two to six weeks or more and usually costs between $1,000 and $12,500 and more. However, it depends on the requirements and complexity of your project. The more complex your requirements will be, the more cost you will have to bear for the same.
Moreover, some popular tools used for front-end development include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ReactJS, AngularJS, Vue.js, and others.
Back-End Development
The back-end is the heart of any website and is responsible for its smooth functioning, powering all its features. The influencing cost factors in back-end development include – third-party service, complex questions, non-standard data processing tasks, and more.
Back-end development can take an average of three to eight weeks and usually costs $4,000 – $12,500 or more, depending upon the requirements.
Why Choose HTMLPanda for Website Development?
HTMLPanda is a leading website development company offering a wide range of web development services, including design to code conversion. As a proven industry expert with nearly a decade of experience, we deliver the best services to our clients.
Our professional team will help you build a robust online presence to expand your business.
Let’s shed light on the benefits you will get by opting for website development services from HTMLPanda.
On-Time Delivery
Our developers work on every project by keeping the project deadlines in mind. We never miss any deadlines, and with a well-organized process, we ensure our clients deliver their projects within the stipulated timeframe.
Standards-Compliant Coding
We follow the coding rules to build your web applications and websites. Our developers ensure you deliver a robust web development solution that meets coding standards, including W3C.
Agility
Unlike conventional approaches, HTMLPanda uses agile methodologies to deliver top-notch website development solutions to our clients. We have worked with 8k+ clients since inception and emerged as a trusted web development company.
Post-Development Support
Even after your website development contract ends, HTMLPanda helps you update your project with the latest features.
Client Satisfaction
HTMLPanda considers client requirements a top priority while developing any web development solution. Undoubtedly, we gained 98% client satisfaction with a high reputation on various reviews and rating platforms.
So, you can rely on our services to develop a feature-rich and well-performing web application or website. Do not hesitate to request a free quote to discuss any of your website development projects.
Conclusion
To conclude, many factors influence the cost of website development; you must’ve gotten the idea from the above-mentioned factors. Whether you develop a personal website/blog, landing web page, corporate site, eCommerce site, educational website, social website, or others, the web development cost depends on your website’s features.
As we have mentioned, it is not easy to tell the exact cost to build a website without knowing your specific needs. So, before hiring a web development company, you must be aware of your project requirements, including type, features, size, etc.
