What is the average cost of creating a website?
Depending on your needs and wishes, a website can be created for free or cost up to more than 50,000 euros. Or anything in between, of course.
Most of website creation tools Popular ones offer either a free plan that allows you to have a free website for as long as you want, or at least a free trial that will show you what the builder can do for you.
However, more often than not, you'll want to upgrade a free plan to one of the premium options that will add new features, allow you to use a custom domain, and remove ads from your website.
If you want flexibility, you'll want to Building a site with WordPress. The initial costs may be higher, but the possibilities are endless as WordPress comes with over 50,000 plugins that will help you extend the functionality of your site with ease.
The final option is to build a custom website. These are generally reserved for professional projects and can easily cost over €10,000 per site.
Website domain cost
Cost: Starting from €10 per year
The cost of a domain for a website depends on several factors.
If you're buying website hosting at the same time, be aware that most popular hosting services offer a free domain for the first year. These domains are generally limited to multiple top-level domains (like.com, .net, and others) and you can choose any available name you want (for example, www.yourbusinessname.com).
The price you will have to pay for a domain after the first year is generally around 10 to 50 euros per year.
If you only want to buy a domain name without hosting, you can get one in the same price range as listed above. However, in this case (and depending on the domain registrar that you use to buy your domain), you'll have a wider selection of top-level domains to choose from. Some will cost you less, while others will be much more expensive simply because they are new (for example, the.app domain, which has recently become very popular in the online world).
Cost of hosting the website
Cost: Starting at €2.75 per month
Depending on how you plan to launch your website, hosting services can be free or cost you starting at €2.75/month.
If you're building your website using one of the free website builders like WordPress.com or Wix, you can use their free hosting services and get your site up and running easily. However, you should be aware that these free plans are quite restrictive and that in addition to hosting, they limit publisher functionality and display ads on your web pages.
When it comes to hosting a WordPress site, you can get a full service for only €2.75 per month if you choose Bluehost.
Depending on your needs, hosting services can go up to around €40-50/month or even up to a few hundred euros if you choose managed WordPress hosting services.
Theme/template cost
Cost: €0 - €200 and more
Most modern website builders, as well as WordPress, come with free templates and themes that you can use to Start a blog or create your new WordPress site.
There is nothing wrong with having a free site. But most of the time, these types of free themes lack features. Furthermore, without technical expertise, it is very difficult to modify an existing free model and make it unique.
That's why premium models have become so popular. For a one-time payment of 50 to 100 euros, you can buy a premium theme that comes with all the options that will allow you to import demo content and edit the parts you want to change.
When it comes to WordPress, you can even improve your experience by installing a popular page builder that can further improve a premium theme, allowing even complete beginners to create a professional-looking website. However, as you might guess, these page builders also have premium versions that will cost you at least $100 extra.
Cost of e-commerce features
Cost: €20 - €20,000 and more
An e-commerce site is much more complex than a blog or a standard website. It should list hundreds, if not thousands, of products, and host a stable inventory and billing system. He needs to manage shipping, taxes, connect to a third-party payment gateway that will handle payments, subscriptions, and refunds.
The creation of an e-commerce site is not easy and may require the steady hand of a professional who can charge between 2,000 and 25,000 euros to create a site for you.
Add-on/plugin costs
Cost: 0 to 150 euros per additional module
Like themes and templates, plugins (also known as addons) are offered in free and premium versions. While it is possible to develop your website using only free plugins, you will most likely need at least one or two premium plugins that will take care of a specific task on your site. Often, people decide to buy a security or SEO plugin.
Depending on the addon, you can buy one for only €10/month, while more versatile and reputable plugins can cost you up to €100/month.
Most plugins also offer a one-time payment option, which allows you to buy the plugin for life. These prices also include all future plugin updates, as well as ongoing developer support. Sometimes support is more valuable than the plugin itself.
Logo design cost
Cost: 0 to €1,000 and more
There are a plethora of design companies that offer logo creation services, and you can buy one very quickly. However, instead of paying hundreds of euros, why not create a custom logo yourself ?
The Internet is full oftools to create a logo. These are free applications that help you create and customize a logo for your website or blog. These types of services usually ask you a few questions to get started. Then, the artificial intelligence that powers the logo creator finds the perfect logo combination that would meet your needs.
If you enter the name of your business or site and choose your favorite colors, you will receive dozens of combinations that serve as potential models that can be further customized.
Most logo creation software comes with a free version, which is usually perfect for creating a simple logo to get started.
If you need more options and details, you can always upgrade to a paid plan for 10 to 50 euros or even hire a professional who will design the logo for you.
Cost of website content
Cost: 200 to 10,000 €/month
Having a website without content would make no sense. So, even if you've finished your work and created a stunning website where you've invested in premium themes, plugins, and spent hundreds of dollars on a logo, your visitors won't like it if the site is empty.
If you are good with words, there is nothing wrong with writing your own text. However, make sure you have enough time to create content on a regular basis and check for errors using grammar checkers like Grammarly or ProWritingAid.
If you don't have the time or the skills to do it yourself, you can always bring in an expert. When it comes to writing the text of a website for a home or sales page, professionals usually charge between 1 and 2 euros per word. If you need someone to update your blog section, you'll need to pay 0.50 to a few euros per word, depending on the type of content, the writing software used, and the expertise of the content creator.
Serious blog owners also need a senior editor to keep an eye on the blog, the author, and the overall content. Depending on their language and experience, you can hire a writer for 500 to 3,000 euros per month.
Website maintenance cost
Cost: 100 to 3,000 €/month
Your website is complete. The logo you bought looks nice and there are people taking care of the content. But that doesn't mean your job is done. Any type of website requires regular maintenance.
If you started your site with WordPress, you can manage it yourself or hire professional maintenance services that keep an eye on your site for 19 euros per month. If you need extra care and safety, the bill can go up to a few hundred euros per month. However, you can then be sure that an expert takes care of all aspects of your site. These services include security, regular backups, and even 24/7 availability.
For more complex custom sites, maintenance can be as expensive as designing them. Prices can vary from 1,000 to 3,000 euros, or even more, per month.
SEO and marketing costs
Cost: 200 to 10,000 €/month
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that elevates your site up the Google and other search engines' visibility ladder.
If it is possible toOptimize SEO free of charge (on your own), the whole process has become quite complex over the years and may require SEO software professionals, because Google's algorithms make it more difficult for an average site to rank. That's why more and more people are turning to SEO experts.
According to Pixelcutlabs, an average SEO agency charges between 250 and 10,000 euros per month for its services, while the average plan is around 3,000 euros per month.
Marketing is something completely different from SEO, and can cost you between 100 and several thousand euros per month. That depends on the channels you decide to run your ads on, how many marketing experts you hire, and so on.
Cost of email marketing
Cost: 10 to 1,000 €/month
No, email marketing is not dead. Quite the contrary! Email marketing remains one of the most popular forms of marketing, as it's considered to be one of the most personal ways of reaching out to people.
The price of email marketing generally depends on the number of subscribers you work with. Most popular SaaS online companies offer a free plan that typically allows up to 1,000 subscribers and offers limited functionality. Their more comprehensive paid plans make it possible to manage hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
If you want to manage your email campaigns yourself, expect to pay between 100 and 500 euros per month for the software alone. If you want to hire an expert or an agency to manage your campaigns, the monthly bill can easily reach 500 to 1,000 euros.
How much does it cost to create a website with a website builder?
Cost: 0 to 45 €/month
Some people are just looking for a simple starter site that will help them present a product or service, write a simple blog, or have fun. In this case, it is possible to create a completely free website with most of tools for creating popular websites. These options are quite limited and usually involve highlighting the platform's ads. However, they are more than enough for students, or for simple website projects and blogs.
These same popular website builders offer additional options. An upgrade will cost between a few euros and around 50 euros for more comprehensive packages. High-end packages offer ad-free websites that will give you more freedom in the design process and provide you with dozens of additional useful functions.
Benefits
- You can have a free website or upgrade to a premium service for only a few euros per month.
- Accommodation is included and taken care of by professionals.
- Beginner friendly builder, so you can create a site by yourself.
Disadvantages
- Even paid plans are quite limited in terms of options and manufacturer features.
- The themes/templates are quite similar and your site is not very unique.
Read more: How to create a Wix website
How much does it cost to create a website with CMS+ hosting?
Cost: from 30 to 300 €/month
A step forward compared to using a website builder would be to use a content management system (CMS) with web hosting services of your choice. The most popular CMS is WordPress, which powers more than one a third of all websites in the world, that's why we're going to focus on him.
The WordPress content management system is completely free. However, unlike website builders, WordPress requires hosting. And, while it's not mandatory, you'll likely need a high-end WordPress theme as well as several high-end plugins that are billed monthly or available for a lifetime plan. All these costs can increase your bill from around thirty euros to several hundred euros per month.
Benefits
- Customization: There are tens of thousands of themes and plugins available.
- WordPress powers over 44% of sites, which means there are plenty of online tutorials out there so you can do most of the tasks by yourself.
- There are plenty of affordable hosting services that are dedicated to WordPress.
Disadvantages
- Higher learning curve/more time.
- A large number of WordPress themes and plugins are only available in premium versions.
Read more: 10 easy steps to create a website
How much does a tailor-made website (with professional services) cost?
Cost: 1,000 to 50,000 €/project.
If you're not interested in creating a website by yourself, or simply have special requirements that need to be customized, you'll either need to spend a few years learning web development or hire a professional web designer. This last solution will cost you a few thousand euros for a personalized website. If you need an e-commerce solution or something technically complex, be prepared to pay between 10,000 and 20,000 euros for a single project. It's not uncommon to pay over $50,000 to create a high-quality, personalized website.
Benefits
- Personalized site, adapted to your needs and wishes.
- It's unique.
- Created by professionals, which means it works fast and looks great.
- You don't spend your time building the website and fixing the problems.
Disadvantages
- It is very expensive.
- The maintenance of the site will require the intervention of a professional, which means paying even more.
FAQs
Should I create my own website or pay someone?
Building a website by yourself can be a fun process. However, even though website builders and WordPress are beginner-friendly, note that the process can take a long time. If you want to create a simple website, a personal blog or portfolio, or even a basic e-commerce site, I suggest you try it for yourself. The result will be more than satisfactory, and the costs will be minimal.
In contrast, paying a professional to create a site for you is generally recommended for more serious projects that require technical knowledge and custom coding. This option is best for people who can afford to spend thousands of dollars.
Can we create a website for free?
Yes, you can create a website without spending a cent. Most popular website builders offer free plans that allow you to create a simple website. Remember, though, that these options are quite limited. Your technical and design options will be limited, such as the number of people who can visit your site or the number of files that can be stored on your site. Another disadvantage of a free website is the domain name, which is actually a subdomain of the website builder. Also, be aware that having a free site means that you need to show ads on your site and that you are generally not allowed to run your own.
Conclusion
Free website builders have become very popular over the past few years. Even though it's technically possible to have a free website, experience has shown me that, more often than not, people end up paying for their website on a monthly basis.
The good news is that you have a choice. If your budget is limited and you want to participate in the creation of a site, you can decide to create one yourself using a website builder or use WordPress. In this case, a site could only cost you a few euros per month. If you are starting something much more serious and have a few thousand euros to invest, a tailor-made site may be the right choice.
