The national average rate for web development services is $85-125 per hour. How much you'll actually spend on a developer will depend on how involved your project is, and how many hours the freelancer estimates it will take.
Having a well-built website is essential for any businesswhether you're a large ecommerce brand or a local restaurant. While there are lots of easy-to-use, drag-and-drop website builders out there to help you build and design a basic website, hiring a web developer can help you add new functionality, create a professional look, and have a trustworthy website experience for potential customers. They can also help you navigate everything from purchasing a domain name to deciding what software you need to use.
Before you a developer to build or work on your website, get an idea of common website costs and average freelancer rates to help you better estimate the cost of your business's website project.
What impacts the cost of hiring a web developer?
How much you spend to hire a freelance web developer or a full-service, web design and development agency, will depend on a few factors:
Web developer rate
This is where the bulk of your budget will likely go. Your web developer will either charge hourly or by project. If they charge a project-based rate, it will usually be based off a standard hourly rate. Your website development costs will depend on:
For example, you might need help developing an ecommerce website, personal portfolio, a basic business website, or blog. Some website types cost a little more, since you might need a specific integration, like a shopping integration for ecommerce websites, that takes more skill or time to implement. The size of your website (the number of webpages it has) can also impact project costs.
In general, front-end web development projects, like implementing a new, custom design, are more straightforward and less expensive.
If you need a lot of back-end support, like building new website from scratch or help with a large and complex website migration (i.e. you want to change the website's domain name or the content management system you use), those services tend to cost more. Some additional back-end development projects that might add to your website costs are:
There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to web development, and no two clients' needs are exactly the same. The more complex your project and website is, the higher your web development costs will be. For example, if you're using an uncommon software to run your website, or the back-end of your website is a hot mess, it will take your web developer more time to make changes or transfer your website onto an easier to use platform.
Most web developers will have a call with you to better understand your needs, and can take a look at your website to assess how complex your request will be.
You may need additional post-launch support after your new site or website redesign has launched. Most developers will charge hourly (not per-project) to fix any bugs or glitches that come up after launch or general website maintenance.
Add-ons, like design and marketing
Not every freelance web developer has the same skill set. Some front-end developers also have experience with web design or marketing, and some back-end developers might be very skilled in setting up complex integrations. If you hire a full-service web design company (versus an individual freelancer), you're more likely to have a team that can help with every aspect of your website--from web design and development to marketing, SEO, social media, and content creation.
Of course, your needs are unique as well. Here are some related jobs you might need in addition to the technical code-and-build parts of web development:
Hosting and domain name fees
Hiring a web developer to build your website isn't the only expense you'll encounter. After launching a new website, here are some ongoing costs you should consider when calculating the cost of a website:
How much does it cost to build a new website?
Having a basic website built by a professional front-end developer and/or web designer could cost about $6,760, according to Website Builder Expert.
However, the price you pay a web developer or development and web design agency to get your website up and running is very individualized.
For example, in Princeton, NJ will charge a flat-rate of $23 per hour to update or change your Wordpress site.
>Appnet New Media Studios in Atlanta, GA provides a variety of design and web development services for large and small businesses alike, like:
They've also built small websites for $500 and 'currently work with firms that spend in excess of $100,000 annually', according to their profile.
of Moonlit Media of Gilbertsville, PA has a starting per-project rate of $1,500 for website design packages.
Each freelance developer will include different elements in their pricing packages and give you various hourly rate estimates, as well as how that website will take to be completed.
What are the benefits of hiring a professional web developer?
You could build your small business's website yourself and get it up and running for less than $120 a year, according to isitwp.
Even if you consider yourself a tech-savvy individual, there's a lot that goes into building a website that you might not think about. Lots of drag-and-drop website builders make building your own website an easy to do-it-yourself project. You could probably get a simple site or blog up and running for your small business. However, if you want a one-of-a-kind, professional-looking website with e-commerce functionality, software integrationsthe worksit's worthwhile to invest in a professional back- or front-end developer.
Hiring a developer with experience building, and potentially designing, websites will help you get the project done faster, eliminate glitches, improve the user experience, and help with website optimization.
While high salary costs for developers make this a pricey investment, especially for small businesses, it's a worthwhile investment. A professional web developer and web designer can create the site and branding work you need to convert your website traffic into paying customers.
What should you look for when hiring a web developer or agency?
Before you sign a contract with a freelancer or web development agency, ask the professional about their background, clients, certifications, and experience. They should be able to discuss:
How can you save money on website costs?
High designer and web developer salaries means that your website costs might be higher than you'd like. To save money, either in the short or long-term, on your website costs, here are things to do to save:
Ask your agency or freelancer about adjustments to your package
To make sure you're getting everything you need from your web developer, but also cutting out any unnecessary costs, talk to them about where they can make adjustments in their package. This can help you cut package costs without compromising the quality of the finished product.
Have your website built on a platform you can use
To avoid ongoing costs every time you need to make a simple change on your website, like editing content, publishing blog posts, or updating images, make sure your website is built on a platform you can use after their contract ends.
Some plug-and-play website builders, like Squarespace and Weebly, have great functionality for ecommerce and business websites and are a good option for small businesses who don't need a ton of unique functionality or software integrations. A wordpress site is a good option for blogs and content-heavy websites.
Even if your developer chooses something more flexible but technical, like Drupal, make sure they leave you with instructions on how to make changes to your site yourself. While you'll likely need a developer to help with some website maintenance down the road, you don't want to pay that high hourly rate just to fix a typo.
Choose a web development company with a smaller team
If you're hiring a large web development agency, they might have a lot of people working on your website design project. Their overall fee includes paying all of those employees for their time.
If you hire an individual contractor or someone with a small agency, their fees might be lower because they have less people to employ, and possibly lower overhead to run their business. Alison's Moonlit Media company consists of three employees and her design packages start at $95.
Pay for recurring services and fees annually
You'll get a break from your domain and hosting providers if you pay for your business website's fees annually, not monthly.
Provide the content for the site
You'll save money on the overall project cost if you provide most of the content or some of it at least. The web developer may have an SEO (search engine optimization) background and be able to advise you on the best content that will improve your results in search engines, or, keywords that should be included throughout the site.
Be flexible with your project's timing
The phrases quick turnaround' and urgent' mean different things to different developers (and clients) but know that if you need a web development project done quickly, the cost will go up. Lee says that while his regular rates are $95 per hour for projects, if the client needs their branding project done urgently' (two months to him) it'll cost $125 per hour. Normally, projects take his company about six months to complete, so you're getting it in one-third of the time, but it'll cost you.
Whether you're trying to launch a beautiful, custom website, or just need some help improving your small business website to take it to new, professional level, an web developer can get you there. Start searching for the best developer to take your company's website to new heights today.