What affects the cost of a small business website

What moves the price

• Number of pagesA one-page site is a smaller job than a multi-page build with separate pages for services, menu, events or a gallery.
• FeaturesOnline ordering, booking and forms that send inquiries to you each add design and testing work.
• ContentIf you already have good photos, video and written copy, there is less to produce. If not, that work has to happen somewhere.
• Custom design or templateA custom design takes planning before any code is written. A template skips that, and often looks like other sites using the same one.

Fixed quote or hourly?

With hourly billing, the final price is unknown until the work is done, and every change restarts the clock. With a fixed quote, the price is agreed before work begins, and anything outside that scope is quoted separately first.

Neither is automatically cheaper. A fixed quote just means you can plan around a number.

Questions to ask any designer before you sign

• What exactly is included?Pages, features, and how much testing on phones and desktops.
• How many rounds of revisions?Ask whether extra rounds are billed and at what rate.
• Who owns the domain, hosting and code?These should be in your name, so you can move on without permission.
• What happens after launch?Ask whether bug fixes are covered and for how long.

How we handle it

Every Sacardo project gets a fixed quote after a short brief. You pay a 50% deposit to start and the other 50% before launch. Two rounds of revisions are included, we fix bugs for 30 days after launch at no charge, and extra work is quoted in writing before it starts. Your domain and hosting stay in your name.

Curious about your own project? Tell us about it and we will quote it after a short brief. See also our web design in Reading, PA page.