Custom Web Design Pricing. A cost guideline for custom CMS web design projects.

The true cost of web design isn’t something you can easily find online. There aren’t a lot of open discussions about it – probably because design companies are afraid of scaring off clients upfront.

Nonetheless, it’s an important question, because many companies find it hard to even guess at what they should be budgeting.

So here, I’m going to bare all and break down the cost of custom web design for you. What you learn may surprise you!

The following post walks you through the stages of consideration needed to determine the cost of your new website.

Step 1: Establish a realistic marketing budget. Learn the standard benchmarks that should be used to set aside an overall amount for the promotion of your business through marketing and branding – within which your website plays a key role.

Step 2: Determine web design pricing for your industry. Take a look at your competitors’ websites from every angle – from design quality and depth of information to usability and range of featured tools – and assess what you need to do to compete effectively against them.

Step 3: Understand the full scope of your true needs. Consider the costs of the foundational elements that need to be developed along the way, to build a website that is optimally designed to attract prospects and drive conversions.

Step 4: Discover the power of your new brand. Experience the difference that a well-executed branding and marketing campaign can make – by returning on your investment through a variety of improved metrics.

Let’s examine all of the facts and figures behind the cost of your next website design....

Step 1: Web Design Guideline: Establish a realistic marketing budget.

Your marketing budget will vary depending on your size of your business and industry – but experts agree it should be between 4% and 12% of gross sales for your business.

For brand-building and brand rejuvenations projects most small businesses will spend between $20,000 to over $75,000 for agency like results and strategies. (Average from our historic records and reported sales from other small agencies) Some companies will spend a LOT more…some a little bit less…but to do a high quality job from the items listed below, this is an accurate range.

Note: This does NOT include any ongoing marketing. Large companies spend millions in branding, so this example is focused on small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) not the big boys.

When I say “key components,” I’m referring to the essential branding elements that most companies need to establish themselves:

• Strategy & Planning Naming / Logo
• Custom Website
• Collateral
• Messaging / Copywriting
• Online Brochures
• Presentations / Videos (Complex videos alone can drive the range beyond what’s cited above)
• Blog Design
• Landing Pages
• E-mail Templates & Designs
• Social Media Optimization
• Exhibit Design
• Ads & Direct Mail

This cost logically adjusts to how many (and which) of the above brand assets are budgeted for the initial branding or rebranding efforts.

You will need to add a monthly budget for ongoing advertising and marketing, also consistent with your budget.

Step 2: Web Design Guideline: Determine web design pricing for your industry.

Your website is not a stand-alone marketing tool. It is, in many cases, a prospect’s first impression of your brand. It is also the place your prospects go to either form or validate an opinion about your company – before they decide whether to take the next step. It’s the most important element of your brand image, and it sets the pace for your conversion process. So you need to budget for the full scope of the branding you need – not “just” for “a website.”

To do this, you’ll first have to assess your industry and look at what your top competitors are doing. Just getting to the “design phase” requires going through an in-depth marketing discovery process, and then formulating a web marketing plan. Trying to build a site without this initial investigation and planning is like trying to build a house without surveying the land or creating any blueprints. It's going to fall apart.

This is often hard to do as most competitors won’t want to share this with you. A place to start is through your professional and industry associations, vendors, employees who may have work experience elsewhere, etc. to get a range or even a percentage of revenue as a starting point.

Step 3: Web Design Guideline: Understand the full scope of your true needs.

To be successful, your website will need to include most of the following components and media. To build a site without them is like going big game hunting with a pocket knife. Equip your campaign with all of the strategic tools needed to nail your target audiences, including:

• A discovery process, including the production of a well-articulated creative brief – the essence of your marketing and sales strategies.
• A sitemap, an outline of your website which shows all the navigation and pages. This should be completely centered around your customer’s needs.
• Visual direction and messaging, aligned with your marketing objectives.
• A design and layout for your homepage, based on an agreed-upon visual direction and messaging.
• A design and layout for an interactive subpage / interior page template, which will inform your visitors, and guide them through your site while maintaining your own brand identity.
• Professional copywriting or content optimization, which will allow prospects to scan the text efficiently, while offering compelling information to pique their interest and drive them toward your calls to action.
• Animations or scenes, to stimulate interest and communicate key points without crowding the page.
• A custom-designed blog, a critical component for the modern marketer, as a free PR machine and a SEO staple.
• E-mail templates, which match your new online brand. Email marketing offers the best ROI in marketing, making it a must-have!
• A downloadable PDF brochure or content piece with easily-digestible information—so your prospects can share it, print it, and/or archive it, turning it into viral media.
• Online conversion forms. Why make it difficult for someone to contact you? Interactive forms make inquiries a breeze, and data capture automatic.
• Search engine optimization. Your site should be designed in a way that’s search-engine-friendly. By thinking ahead, you’ll be well-positioned to appear high on search engine results pages (SERPs) for phrases associated with your products and services.
• Calls to action through dedicated landing pages, destination pages that lead customers to act on the specific conversion goals established in your creative brief.

This list could easily go on, but you get the idea. There’s a ton of foundational work needed to construct a website that is effectively built to sell what you have to offer.

Most of these items cost between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each – so you can quickly see that building a successful online brand via your custom website is going to take a serious investment.

Of course, a site that is built correctly will grow revenues and awareness of your brand more than you can imagine! Our clients have experienced revenue growth that has paid back their investment hundreds of times over! It's not so much what you spend, it’s about how your expenditure affects revenue growth.

Client Successes:

• One client in the Contracting business sold more in one month, 6 months after re-branding then they ever had done in total for a fiscal year. And this customers has been in business for 50 years!
• Another Telecom client had a record year the year after launch…this from an industry leader for 20 plus years!
• A small local business increased their organic unique visitors 5x over and more than doubled their inbound conversions online. Sales have steadily increased each year after re-branding and marketing with ImageWorks.

The Bottom Line

If you want a professional online brand that will recoup its value, you need to invest and hire a firm that is talented and passionate.

Somewhat related to you web development cost is your ongoing marketing efforts. Things like: Landing page promotions, email marketing, lead nurturing, advertising, search & social marketing, etc. These are usually based on your approved marketing budget using the range above. Most are monthly recurring. I recommend your spend about half of you total marketing budget on these advertising and marketing tactics. The goal here is to bring in enough qualified leads to build your business and grow you client base.

Step 4: Discover the power of your new online brand.

By now, you probably realize what it takes – and thus, what it costs – to build an effective and conversion-oriented online brand. The rewards will be tremendous.

Here is what you can expect from a website done right:

• Increased confidence in your brand from employees, prospects, and clients.
• Substantially greater numbers of prospects who visit your site.
• Considerably more positive first impressions on your visitors.
• Increased interest and conversion for your products and services.
• Measurable results, which can be used to further improve your online brand and customer conversions.
• The ability to "nurture" the 90%+ of prospects that have a "buy later" mentality, through a system that nudges customers all the way through the sales funnel.
• Increased referrals.
• More repeat visitors, fueling even more conversions.
• Multiple return on your investment, resulting in substantial revenue growth.

Scott C. Margenau is the founder and CEO of ImageWorks Studio, an award-winning web design and branding firm. Visit www.imageworksstudio.com or call 800-308-8573 for more information.

We’d love to hear your views on this topic. Why not let us know what you think in the comment section below?