Average Website Design Costs 2024 & How to Estimate

A website is arguably your brand's most powerful marketing platform. The customers and clients you hope to attract and close demand web platforms to load quickly are user-friendly and fully responsive. While every business owner wants to promote their brand with quality top of mind, the elephant in the room always breaks down to website design costs.

Goldfish Code is a consumer-focused, US-based website design and development agency that creates technically savvy, robust, and fully responsive web applications at affordable pricing. Our hybrid business philosophy is designed to help keep website design prices as low as possible – without compromising quality.

Further, we customize each project to suit the needs of each customer. This helps reduce the average cost of website design for small business. We also build sites focusing on scalability, which keeps website designing prices lower than the competition.

So – if you're curious as to how much website design cost or want to determine the average cost of website design, this article is customized for you. It's also important to distinguish the difference between web development vs web design.

We'll answer some of the commonly asked questions about web design cost in the information below.

The information below will help you understand the elements that go into web design pricing, how much web designers charge for specific integrations, and other website design and development costs. We’ll also touch on DIY new website ideas, and whether that’s worth your time to consider.

How Much Does a Website Design Cost?

So, how much does it cost to design a website? That's the magic question – huh? The simple truth is that it's impossible to determine custom website design costs with the type of detail you're likely seeking. There are several reasons for this.

1. Are you going to design the website yourself? You can expect to invest at least $1,000 or more into securing a domain name, designing and building a template-based content management system (CMS) website if you're technically savvy. However, the web designing prices does not factor in your personal time – nor does it factor in the website performance. If it’s an ecommerce website - you can double that investment at the minimum.
2. Are you planning on hiring a professional website developer? If you're going to hire a professional to design and develop a custom website – that's an entirely different ball of wax. We'll explain more in the information below. The cost of professional web design by a professional company falls within the $3,000 to $75,000 price range.

When you work with an experienced website developer, they will outline all the specifics when providing you with a web design price list. We'll explore some specific details that will impact the price quote for web development in the information below.

What is the Average Cost of Website Design in 2024?

As you're looking into outlining your web design costs – several factors must be considered. We touched on the two primary questions above – are you doing this yourself or having a professional designer and developer complete the project for you.

Since it's more than likely that you're reading this article to determine how much professional web developers and designers charge for their services, we'll focus on option number two in the questions above.

Here are some of the important factors that go into determining website costs.

What is the scope of the website project?

Building a finished, fully responsive, and engaging website for a business is a complex process. There are five major sections of any website creation project. Experts complete each step in that specific specialty. Here are a few of the items that go into creating any website.

Technical Factors

The first item that impacts the overall cost of a website project is the technical factors. What type of website do you need? Do you need a single-page landing page, e-Commerce, multiple platforms, social media integration, etc.? Additionally, what technologies are required to build the website, where will it be hosted, how much maintenance or service is required – and at what level?

Design

Once you've determined the size, platform, bandwidth, and other technical factors of a website – the following item to consider is design elements. Consultation and expertise can also impact the cost beyond the actual graphic design, prototypes, and mock-ups. As each client has unique design expertise or availability, this is arguably the most diverse section of a website project.

Development

‍After a website has been mapped out, designed, and mock-ups approved, development of the finished product begins. The scope and amount of time, backend resources, apps integrations, plugins, SSL certificate requirements, and other information will impact the estimate. Additionally, copywriting will also impact the overall cost - so make sure to factor that as well.

Deployment

‍Where is the website going to be deployed? Will it be a multichannel or single platform? How much bandwidth or what type of hosting plan is required for peak performance? What’s the cost of website hosting? These are just a few of the specifics that likewise impact the cost of the website project.

Maintenance

‍Even the best online platforms require frequent updates and routine website maintenance. This will be priced out mainly based on the direction you choose with the website building elements included above.

So – let's talk business. If you're trying to determine how much does website design cost, it's best to have a range to consider. The cost of each of these specific steps is typically charged by the hour. Professional developers and web designers and a freelance web designer have their costs – but you can expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $100 per hour. Some require some upfront costs - so make sure to ask them about their pricing and payment policies.

What Do Web Design Prices Usually Include?

We touched on the factors that impact a website design project in the question above. However, with the design sector of a website project, there are some specific items to consider.

The website layout

‍The first item that goes into the average price of website design is volume, structure, and layout. How many website pages will be included in the initial design? Does each page require specific graphic design elements included – if so, what's the level of work required for each? And how technical or robust are the graphic designs required?

Level of Design Input

‍Some clients have a lot of resources at their disposal – such as in-house graphic designers or contractors they trust. If they can supply a lot of the imagery and design elements to the website developer, this can reduce the cost of website design.

Revisions and Redesign

‍While the best website designers go above and beyond to ensure all clients are communicated clearly, sometimes some lapses lead to design errors. There are also situations where the client wants to shift their design after seeing a final draft. To reduce multiple expenses in this area, clearly articulating between the website’s designer and the client is critical.

What Web Design Cost to Expect for Your Project: Three Questions to Help You Estimate Cost of Website Design

If you've gotten this far into the article, you may start to understand the multiple variables that impact the average website design cost for small business. When you break it down, the website project cost is 100 percent controllable – mainly based on the needs, scope, and of course, the budget of each business.

However, there are a few questions that you should consider asking professional website developers to help them gain a better understanding of your specific project. Here are three of the top questions to ask website developers to help with the website design price list.

Question #1 – Do You Offer Branding or Logo Service?

A website is typically one of the essential tools for marketing a business. However, it's critical to start with solid brand identity – as ensuring your online presence articulates your brand is becoming more critical to closing leads.

The best website designers have in-house professional graphic designers – with expertise in brand development. If they're able to kickstart your website design by creating an engaging brand identity or logo service – you'll save time and money and ensure consistency through all design phases.

Question #2 – Are You Able to Generate Custom Icons?

Modern website branding includes more than matching colors and fonts. It's a robust process that integrates multiple design elements – including custom icons. Visual marketing with custom-designed icons helps a business connect with consumers personally.

Custom icons can articulate a critical sales message, a consumer benefit, or guide them through the purchasing and closing process. While you're collecting information about the web pages design prices – ask the website designer about custom icon design services.

Question #3 – Have You Designed User Features in the Past?

Believe it or not – not all website designers and developers have the same experience level. Some are new to designing and development, while some focus on specific aspects, technologies, platforms, and other specialties. Many website designers often skip user features, including browser consistency, mobile compatibility, fast load times, and effective navigation, simply because they don't factor those into the design aspect.

While it might cost a little more to work with an experienced website designer who infuses user features into each project, it will provide you with a more substantial ROI.

The Importance of Hiring a Good Web Design Company

The best website projects start and end with transparency. While several designers focus on making websites visually stunning, and others are technically solid – it's hard to find one who has the experience to do a thorough job.

While website design cost is always a factor in choosing a web design company, it can't be considered the only item. When you're breaking down the cost of hiring a website developer, consider a few of these specific factors.

What's the cost of redesigning or redevelopment?

Let's assume that you have three bids for designing and developing your business website. You decide to select the lowest bid. The contractor does an excellent job at building a solid website that works for you today.

However, as your business grows – and more visitors begin to arrive – your ability to close leads diminishes. Site visitors seem to leave the website without clicking through, and you can't add more pages because you are restricted on bandwidth. This leads to you having to redesign and redevelop the website from scratch. In this case, paying a little more to have a website built with scalability in mind will save you money in the long term.

The simple truth is that website redesign cost will put a dent in your online marketing budget. It's best to hire the right company to build your new website correctly the first time.

What is the cost of not engaging with your potential customers?

A website intends to connect with future clients or customers in a digital space. It's basically – your online storefront or marketing platform that educates, informs, and convinces them to contact you to learn more or make a purchase.

The best website designers factor user experience and digital marketing into their layouts, formatting, and design elements. They make it easy for your website visitors to take a course of action. This leads to higher conversions, increased sales, and a stronger return on investment.

Final Points on Website Design Pricing

In the end, you'll have to weigh the pros and cons of hiring a web developer and designer based on the cost of completing the job vs. doing the job right. Is functionality more important than flair? Is SEO optimization and capability integrated by a professional is more valuable than hiring a freelancer website builder to complete a Wix or Wordpress template for the job on the cheap?

To grow your business, you need to hit the ground running once your website has been fully deployed. And to do that - you’ll have to make an informed decision. It simply makes sense to work with a company that will set you up for success from the start.

Here are some final thoughts to consider.

1. Start with writing down five to 10 key design elements you need to have included in your website design project.
2. List 5 items you'd like to include – but are not necessarily needed to start the project.
3. Make sure to clearly articulate your vision for the website with any website designer you contact for today and the future.
4. Don't be afraid to ask them for samples of similar projects they've completed.
5. Always take advantage of consultation if it's offered, as you'll be able to clear up any confusion and ask additional questions.

Suppose you follow the tips above and consider the advice in the content above. In that case, you'll be able to determine if the website design cost provided by each developer is justified or within your budget.