How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website?

What is the price of building a website in 2019? It depends on a lot of factors.

First of all, the final website pricing can be very different from the initial estimate because it is influenced by factors such as website type, functionality, and design complexity. The development approach plays the main role here; if your website uses some ready-made solutions or is built from scratch.

If you develop a website the first question should be - what is the purpose of your website? Depending on the answer, it is possible to know the cost.

There are the eight main website types.

1. Personal Website & Blog

These websites are used as a personal blog or informative pages which share news and advice with the public.

2. Brochure Website (Landing)

As far as functionality is concerned it is the simplest website, which is represented as one or just a few web pages. They are used mostly to represent small businesses with their unique selling proposition (USP) or serve marketing purposes to gain the interests of potential clients. It has contact details, an ‘about us’ page, and an opportunity to send a request or other CTA (call to action).

3. Corporate Website

It represents a particular business and is used to broadcast the services or goods a company offers to the public. At present, all business should transmit their value to a client online. Such websites are closely connected with marketing purposes and they need to show the company’s portfolio.

4. E-Commerce

It goes without saying that this website type is used to get payments for a service or goods online. This can be a small retailer selling for many users or a compound platform - marketplace, a website where many merchants can sell their products online (e.g. eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress).

5. Educative Website

They include websites of educational institutions or those that offer online courses.

6. Catalog Website

This type of website represents a directory of a particular service or goods. Clients can search for real estate properties, sales, jobs, hotels, car rentals, etc. Such popular websites as Airbnb, TripAdvisor, etc. have an extensive search system, location-based features, and feedback and rating systems.

7. Web Portal

These represent websites that bring many web resources together and offer forums, emails, search engines, etc. (e.g. Yahoo, AOL). They are also used as an internal tool at universities or companies as they are perfect for keeping all important information in one place.

8. Community Building Website (Social, Forums, Sharing Website)

Such websites include the community or thematic platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

In conclusion, the website development cost depends on website type and, as a result, the features and technical aspects of the system.

Website Development Approach & Technology

The price is influenced by the development approach and the chosen tech stack. To find out how much it costs to build a website, taking these factors into account, read on:

- Drag & drop web builders

It means that DIY (do it yourself) sites which are mostly used for personal web pages or individual blogs. Such tools as Wix and Weebly have web modules which can be used to build a website easily and quickly, and no web building or designing skills are needed.

Unfortunately, the website design and functionality choices are limited to what the tool has to offer.

- Website building software

This method employs preset features which are given by ready-made solutions. The most popular ones here are Wordpress (used by 25% of all websites), Joomla, Shopify, and Drupal. You will be provided with all the necessary ingredients and you only need to put all the elements in the right order.

It takes time to learn how to build this website type with the features and design you require. You can also find an experienced developer who will assemble everything for you because some minor technical and design layout knowledge is needed.

- Custom website development

They are developed from scratch and consist of the following parts:

Web frontend includes all the elements the users interact with, and also the UX/UI design. It uses such technologies as:

• Markup languages: HTML5, CSS3
• Programming languages: JavaScript, TypeScript
• JavaScript frameworks: Angular (recommended), React, Vue, etc.

Web backend is the server side that works with information and the place where all of the main website features operate. The following tech stack is used:

• Programming languages: Ruby (recommended), Elixir, Python, PHP, Java, etc.
• Web frameworks: Ruby On Rails (recommended), Phoenix
• Database servers: PostgreSQL (preferred), MySQL
• Web servers: nginx (preferred), Apache
• Cloud server platforms: Amazon Web Services (AWS, EC2, S3, etc.)

API (Application Programming Interface) is a number of commands which connect the frontend and backend and integrate other necessary third-party services. Some of them are the following:

• Payment gateways: Braintree, Stripe, PayPal etc.
• Social media integrations: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
• Delivery services: EasyPost, FedEx, etc.
• Analytical tools: Flurry or Google Analytics; Firebase or MixPanel, etc.
• Maps & Navigation: Google Maps, etc.
• Email marketing integration: MailChimp, etc.

Here you will learn more about what influences the website cost, compare different website development options, and find out an approximate website development cost range.