Web Design and Development Process

Website development – get to know our offer and the cost of a website

You run a business, offer services and products, and your customers keep coming back, but there are still too few of them to be able to expand your business. We know the reason – an outdated, poorly positioned, inoperative website or – worse – its lack of. So below we explain the web design and development process and how much it costs to create websites that will improve your image and sales. Read what web designing looks like – the cost of the investment depends on this process.

ESTIMATE THE CREATION OF A WEBSITE

Contents

• Websites – the price may surprise you
• Static website or CMS?
• Who to entrust website development to?
• What does it look like with us?
• How to create a website and not overpay?
• Web design – vision, concept, forecast
• Quotation of a project
• How much does a website cost in an interactive agency?
• Conclusions

Websites – the price may surprise you

How much you will pay for your own website depends on many factors. It’s more or less like buying a car. The basic version may not cost you much, but when you start adding more options, it turns out that the value of your dream car will double. In addition, the choice of the manufacturer also affects the purchase price. The costs of creating websites are similar.

The type of website, the level of its development, selected content management system (CMS), multilingualism, and finally, the “designer” itself is just a few variables that affect how much it costs to create a website. Very often, what is the most expensive is hidden in the part of the website that is invisible to the naked eye, i.e. in the code. The template design of simple websites may only take a day to set up. But it will not have many of the required functionalities needed. For example, no management by a content management system (CMS), read more below. Template pages are perfect when we plan to test our business or create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) version to research the market. However, we advise against creating pages on templates if we want the highest quality code, loading speed, or long-term support and development.

Perhaps it is enough to create a simple website that will fall in the lower price range to meet the requirements related to the development of the company. Perhaps you need an advanced web application to even appear in a group of strong competition. Leave such guesswork to the competition and get to the details with us. In this article, you will learn how we develop a website design that you do not overpay, and at the same time get all the required functionalities.

A static site or CMS?

Websites fall into two main types:

1. static sites – you cannot manage them yourself. If you have the appropriate programming knowledge, you can edit such a site, but it is much more complicated than in a CMS. Nowadays the main arguments for creating such pages are speed of loading and security.
2. CMS-based websites  – in the content management system on your website, you have access to the administration panel. After logging in, you can easily manage your own website, using a text editor and friendly, very intuitive page builders. Creating a website is best done on an open-source CMS. WordPress, which is popular in the industry, is in the lead. 

Responsive websites based on a content management system tend to be more expensive than static websites. There is a reason – we have a much wider selection of options and functionalities, which often reach the level of an advanced web application. In other words, a project focused on interaction with the user (e.g. a booking or sales application). The CMS itself is also necessary when we plan to collect data on the website. For example, the data sent from a form, data about orders, or where a login system for users is needed.

When it comes to choosing the CMS itself, in our opinion, it is not worth trusting proprietary solutions that are like a ticking bomb. Eventually, something will go wrong.

Here are a few things to consider and what we do:

• you cannot make changes to the source code, which limits the site’s editing capabilities,
• the authors of such solutions do not transfer the proprietary copyrights to the project, but only grant a license to use the website,
• there is a high risk of raising the price by the developer of such an original solution, after all, only they can introduce changes to the code,
• a group of programmers usually working on a proprietary system does not have such much experience as thousands of programming enthusiasts supporting and developing open source solutions.

Working on WordPress looks completely different, especially in the case of our agency. Thanks to the advanced knowledge of our programmers, we have our own WordPress plugins that facilitate the creation of websites and the subsequent development of the website.

The decision whether your website development is to be CMS-based, or you only need a simple static website, will determine the cost of the entire project. What to do in order not to overpay? You will find the answer in our model of cooperation with the client.

Who to entrust website development to?

Designing a website is a job for a freelancer or agency. Common sense suggests that a much better solution is to entrust the creation of websites to an agency – the best one dealing not only with web development but also website SEO. It is important that the company has a rich portfolio, trusted clients, reference letters, and everything that confirms its professionalism in designing websites.

You can find a reliable and professional freelancer who specializes in website development, but you have to look to the future – an individual contractor is not always able to design a website that meets Google’s guidelines, i.e. so that it will position itself well.

In addition, when using the services of a freelancer, you do not always get a guarantee for the proper functioning of the website or the website manual (if you decide to use a CMS). You are also not sure that in six months your freelancer will be willing to continue cooperation because he can do something completely different.

What about the price for a website at a freelancer? Does a limited budget force you to give up the offer of a professional agency? Not necessarily – at the Glenn Website Design agency, we also implement smaller projects, and the know-how is transferred to the next team members, so you can be sure that after a few years we will not refuse to help you make further changes to the website.

Interactive agency – we create websites that sell

If you decide to choose a professional interactive agency, the price includes something more than just a website at the Glenn Website Design agency, waiting for you:

• a team of specialists in various fields – graphic designer, web developers, project manager, and at a later stage of work also an SEO specialist or copywriter;
• individual graphic design of the website;
• guarantee of the proper functioning of the website;
• timely website design;
• SEO optimization for search engines;
• after-sales assistance, Internet advertising consultancy;
• website user manual;
• guarantee of cooperation in the next stages of website development.

As you can see, implementing a website with the help of a professional interactive agency brings with it a whole range of additional services and possibilities. However, it is not always colorful here as well. There are a lot of agencies on the US market, whose prices for creating a website are downright horrendous.

It is wise to compare at least a few offers and choose the one that will inspire your greatest trust, and the cost of the website itself will be reasonable in your opinion. If you find that the price definitely differs from the average, be sure to ask what it results from – quality is worth investing in.

Of course, when comparing offers, other factors besides the price should be taken into account, such as:

• knowledge of your industry by the agency that is to carry out the project,
• experience and the number of completed projects,
• reviews on Google,
• common language – this is an extremely important aspect because work on the website sometimes takes several months, and each of us would like to work in nice conditions – a good atmosphere promotes creativity!

How to create a website and not overpay?

Imagine this situation. You have adopted a dog and want to take it for a walk. You need a lanyard, of course. Everyone knows what a leash looks like – there is a collar, a string, and something to hold in your hand. However, do you think – it’s worth asking a specialist? After all, I want my pet to feel safe and pleasant on a walk.

Talking to the seller at the pet store makes you realize that your pet will grow into a strong dog – the leash must be made of a solid material. Do you want to go to training with him? In addition to the collar, also buy a harness. Your estimated cost below $10 increases, but with it the functionality of the leash increases, the comfort of the pet, and the pleasure of walking for you.

A simple example shows that consulting a specialist from a specific industry is not aimed at increasing the price of a service or product, but at making your expenditure not wasted. A website that will not allow you to achieve your goal is useless You need to research the market, develop your business, reach the right target group, or expand conversions. During such planning consultations at Glenn Website Design agency, it may even turn out that you do not need the website. Such conclusions can only be drawn after a careful analysis of the niche and competition, which a freelancer will not do for you.

At Glenn Website Design, we have a proven way to design websites in accordance with the client’s needs and the requirements set by the industry (workshops).

Web design – vision, concept, forecast

The above-mentioned analysis of the market, competition, and, above all, the needs of our clients allows us to choose one of the methods of developing a website design. A shorter briefing conversation with the project manager or extensive planning focused on creating a web application.

Creating websites – planning for entrepreneurs

One of the goals of the planning for our clients is to answer the usually most important question. How much will it cost? Also to realistically estimate the project’s possibilities and indicate potential risks that could prevent the project from completion. Creating websites is creative work, so it is impossible to predict the exact number of man-hours spent on a project. What’s more, it would be detrimental to the quality and expected results. The workshop allows you to roughly estimate the encoding process and cost range.

In practice, it looks like this:

• determine whether you need an individual project or a template page;
• verify your visions and needs;
• give a lot of our suggestions and practical solutions;
• prepare functional mockups of the website and layouts – we show what the internet user will be able to do on the website;
• predict user stories, i.e. user stories on the home page and other elements of the website;
• study the behavior and needs of the target group, creating brand personas;
• define project risks;
• we define non-functional requirements, such as page loading speed, the need to create regulations or legal consultations related to the project;
• draw sample subpages.

You get not only a wide range of advice on solutions for your website, but also unique industry knowledge that will allow you to make the best decisions.

Along with our skills, we bundle our intellectual resources.

Naturally, we become your business partner, not an ordinary service contractor – we analyze the competition, and advise in terms of SEO, server, or domain selection.

How much does a website cost – project appraisal

After our initial planning meeting, you will have a broad view of the programming process of your website, we can prepare an initial project valuation. The more complicated the website (functionalities, interactions, graphic designs), the more man-hours you will have to spend on it.

Creating websites is not about producing mass products, packing them into boxes, and giving them to buyers. It is an advanced process of creative work that turns into hours of coding, testing, and continuous improvement under your supervision. We report the work performed all the time because transparent activities are the basis of our cooperation with clients. We consult with you on the next elements, so you have a real impact on the appearance and operation of the website.

Simply put a fixed price, is possible to determine only when we are 100% sure about the solutions developed. We give you a price range that will be clear with the implementation of your and our ideas.

How much does a website cost in an interactive agency?

These are some of the questions that have to be answered before exact pricing can be accomplished.

• a static website, graphic template
• a static website, individual graphic design
• CMS WordPress, graphic template
• CMS WordPress, individual graphic design

The price depends on:

• the number of subpages to be designed and coded;
• expected functionalities, such as login system, event calendars, product catalogs, etc .;
• multilingual options;
• a choice between a template and an individual project;
• need to design additional infographics/icons;
• integration with external systems;
• selected technology (e.g. Headless WordPress + React).

Price list of websites – conclusions

As you may have already guessed, there is no definite answer to the question of how much web design and development costs. You can say “sky is the limit” and that would be the correct answer. However, if you have specific requirements for your website, this article should at least help you price your website. Or maybe you don’t know what you need? We will gently introduce you to the process of creating a website and filling it with content.

You already know how much the website costs approximately. In other articles available on our website, we also answer questions about the approximate prices of online stores and website SEO. Check how much the online store costs, and how much it costs positioning. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with our offer for positioning online stores.

If you want to get an initial website quote and don’t bother asking how much a website cost, our questionnaire we will send you the cost of creating the website in 48 hours. Our quotes are completely non-binding and free of charge.
Web Design and Development Process

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much does a website cost?

The cost of a website depends largely on the volume (number of subpages) and the requirements related to its operation. A CMS site will be cheaper than a site written from scratch in HTML. A store that has 100,000 products will be more expensive than one that has several items on offer (of course, this is a big simplification and each valuation in our agency is individual!).

2. Interactive agency vs freelancer – who should be entrusted with the website?

An interactive agency is a much wider range of services thanks to the cooperation of developers and graphic designers. Before coding, we conduct studies, during which we consult the client’s vision and needs. We also examine the competition, look after the website after the project is completed, and position websites. In short – comprehensive service.

3. How much does a web design and development with SEO cost?

Choosing a website + SEO package is usually associated with a lower monthly SEO price. It is profitable for both parties. The agency (which includes SEO in the process of website design), and the client (top positions in search results).

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