How much does a website cost?

It's the number one question I get asked. The answer may surprise you!

It’s the number one question I get asked. Inevitably I answer with another question: “How much does a car cost?” Not because a base model website costs the same as a base model Camry (how I wish!), but because the cost of a car, like a website, can vary.

A good, but simple, used car can cost as little as $2500, and it might be perfect for someone on a limited budget who just needs to get from point A to point B. On the other end of the scale are luxury models that will run you well into six figures. Both the clunker and the Bently may hold the same number of people — indeed the clunker may get better mileage and be cheaper to maintain. They don’t, however, have the same featuers, and let’s face it, they don’t elicit the same response; one is more ‘desirable’ than the other.

The same is true of a website. You can create a website for virtually nothing using WordPress, or have a web presence on Facebook. Both of these will take some time on your part — a fair bit of time if they’re going to be successful — but they’re not hard on the pocket book.

Most businesses and organizations need more than what Facebook or WordPress offer, however. They want a look and feel that is unique. They want to be easily found, and they want brand recognition — AKA a domain. They want to have a degree of control and ownership over the site; something they can call their own. Most of all they want a site that meets the various needs of their constituents through things like a calendar, blog, store, sign-up sheet, questionnaire, bulletin board, gallery, listing of services, document management system, search tool, classroom, etc. On top of that they want a website that is easily found and ranks highly on searcn engines. Often, they want objective advice.

So while the grouping of any of the aforementioned features will be worth a certain monetary value, the real value of a website that works, that visitors return to, that turns them into buyers, is, in the words of that now famous commercial, PRICELESS!