Website cost: what it depends on and what to ask

The cost of a website depends mainly on three things: how many different types of page you need, what features the site must have and who prepares the content. That is why two quotes for “a website” can be far apart without either of them being wrong.

Before you ask how much a site costs, it is worth knowing exactly what you are asking for. Below you will find the factors that affect the price, the questions to ask anyone who gives you a quote, and what should stay in your name, whatever happens.

What affects the cost of a site

Every quote is essentially a sum of decisions. The most common ones are these:

• Pages and templates: ten service pages with the same structure are less work than five pages that are each designed from scratch. What counts is the number of different page types, not just the total.
• Content: if the copy and photos are ready, there is less work. If copywriting, translation or photography is needed, these are separate pieces of work with their own timeline.
• Design: a ready-made theme adapted to your colours costs less than a visual system designed for your brand, with its own layouts and motion.
• Features: quote request forms, bookings, price calculators, a members' area or quizzes add design, development and testing.
• Integrations with other systems: CRM, newsletter, invoicing software or warehouse. Every integration needs testing, and someone to keep an eye on it when the other system changes.
• Languages: every extra language means translation, checking, correct markup for Google and maintaining two versions from then on.
• Migration from an old site: redirects from the old addresses to the new ones, so that you do not lose links and search rankings.

What changes when you build an e-shop

An e-shop is a different kind of project. Here the cost is driven less by the pages and more by the catalogue and the sales rules:

• How many products you have and whether they have variants, such as size and colour.
• How they will be entered: one by one, with an import file or through an integration with your warehouse software.
• Which filters are needed so customers can quickly find what they want.
• Payment methods, shipping rules, coupons and invoicing.
• Product photos in a consistent style across the whole catalogue.

Photos are often missing from the initial budget. An e-shop with inconsistent images looks careless, however well it is built. At THPAUL, photography is done in our own studio, and with the cost estimator you can see an indicative price before you ask for a quote.

The cost after launch

The build price is the first amount, not the only one. A site also has fixed costs, which are worth knowing about from the start:

• Domain and hosting, renewed every year.
• Email on your domain, if you do not already have it.
• Security updates, especially on content management systems with lots of plugins.
• Backups, and checks that they can actually be restored.
• Content changes, new pages and technical support.

Ask which of these are included and which are charged separately. A low build price with vague maintenance terms is not necessarily the economical choice.

What to ask and what to keep in your name

Whoever you are comparing, ask them all the same questions. That way you compare like with like:

1. What exactly does the quote include, in pages, features and languages?
2. Who writes the copy and who takes care of the photos?
3. How many rounds of revisions are included for the design?
4. Will I be able to change text, images and prices myself?
5. How will measurement and cookie consent be set up?
6. What does the basic SEO include: titles, sitemap, structured data, redirects?
7. What does support after handover cost, and what does it cover?

Some things should also belong to you, not to whoever builds the site. If you ever change partner, these will save you a lot of trouble:

• The domain, registered in your business's name, with access to the registrar account.
• Administrator access to the hosting and to the site's content management system.
• The texts, the photos and their usage rights, written into the agreement.
• The Google Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager and advertising accounts, in your own name, with your partner added as a user.
• A recent backup of the entire site.

Website design in Athens: how we put together a proposal

At THPAUL we prepare a separate proposal for each website, because the price depends on the pages, the features and the content. We start with the goal and the structure: who the audience is, what you want visitors to do, which pages are needed and what content each one requires. Then come design, development and a launch with solid SEO foundations.

A business website usually takes 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the content and features. Copywriting, photography and development are handled by the same team, so you do not have to coordinate three suppliers yourself. If you want to organise your ideas first, the Website Brief on the quizzes page has four short questions.