Why most price ranges don't help
Search for website prices and you will find ranges so wide they could describe a car or a house. That is not because agencies are hiding something. It is because "a website" covers everything from a one-page landing page to a store with hundreds of products and integrations.
A more useful question is: which variables decide my price, and what does each one add? Once you know them, you can compare quotes properly and decide where to spend and where to save.
The six variables that actually move the price
- Number of unique page designs. A page with a new layout needs design and build time. Ten blog posts that share one template count as one template, not ten designs.
- Design, development or both. If you already have approved designs, you only pay for the build. If you have a developer, you might only need design.
- Content. Writing, editing and sourcing images takes real time. It is often the thing that delays launches, so decide early who owns it.
- Search optimisation depth. Basic technical SEO should be included in any professional build. Keyword research and on-page optimisation for every page is extra work.
- Timeline. A compressed deadline means rearranging other work, so most studios charge for it.
- Functionality. Payments, bookings, logins, dashboards and integrations are priced by feature. This is why shops and web apps rarely fit a per-page model.
Our published formula, with worked examples
We publish our rates in the pricing calculator so anyone can check the maths. These are the numbers it uses (in US dollars):
| Item | Price per page |
|---|---|
| Design only | $150 |
| Development only | $200 |
| Design + development | $299 |
| Content help (add-on) | +$50 |
| SEO optimisation (add-on) | +$50 |
| Delivery within 14 days | +$25 |
| Delivery within 7 days | +$100 |
Three worked examples:
- 5-page company site, design + development, regular timeline: 5 × $299 = $1,495.
- Same site with content help and SEO: 5 × ($299 + $50 + $50) = $1,995.
- Same site, development only, needed within 7 days: 5 × ($200 + $100) = $1,500.
Why online stores and web apps are priced differently
A Shopify store or a custom dashboard has a handful of templates but a lot of behaviour: product filtering, carts, roles, integrations, edge cases. Pricing those per page would either overcharge a simple store or badly undercharge a complex one. That is why we quote Shopify store projects and custom web apps after a discovery call, once we know the features.
If you are choosing a store platform, platform fees are a separate cost. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison breaks those down.
Running costs people forget to budget for
The build is a one-off. These recur:
- Domain name: renewed every year.
- Hosting: from free tiers for small static sites to monthly plans for busy or server-backed sites.
- Platform subscriptions: for example a Shopify plan, paid apps, or premium plugins.
- Email: a professional mailbox on your own domain usually has a per-user fee.
- Maintenance: updates, fixes and content changes. See what website maintenance covers.
Ask every studio you speak to for a written list of recurring costs, and who pays each one. It avoids surprises in year two.
How to compare two quotes fairly
When quotes differ a lot, the scope usually differs. Line them up on:
- Number of unique page designs, and how many revision rounds.
- Who writes and supplies content and images.
- What "SEO" means in each quote: technical setup only, or research and on-page work.
- Who owns the domain, hosting account and code after launch.
- What happens after launch, and what support costs.
Our checklist for hiring a web design agency goes through the questions in more detail.
