HOW MUCH DOES A WEBSITE COST?

This is one of the most common questions we are asked, and we encourage all our clients to think differently about this question.

On average, websites cost between R35,000 and R85,000, though they can vary from much less to much, much more (all ex VAT).

Now, you may think this is too much, or very little, depending on how much you know about the internet and what you think it can do for you.

What is far more important is to determine the value of a website to your business, either directly - through sales or sales leads, or indirectly - through the impression that your website makes, or by the value it adds to your customers. The very first thing we consider when planning a website is the purpose of the website. We try to determine what the job of the website is within your business.

A successful website achieves its purpose

We judge the success of a website not by how nice it looks in our portfolio, but by how it achieves the purpose that the client has determined. The purpose of a website may be things like:

• Generating sales leads
• Generating enquiries about products and services
• Providing a central source of information to an industry
• Selling products

Each of these aims can be achieved, and each can be quantified as a valid contributor to a business's bottom line.

We'll only recommend that you spend R100,000 on a website if we can determine that it is worth R100,000 (or more) to your business, either in direct returns such as sales, or indirect returns such as raised awareness or greater interest in your industry.

And, if all you need is a basic internet presence, but you want to be in control of your site content, we have a fantastic, economical website solution: The SmallBiz Website Package.

Purpose & Potential Revenue

If your site can potentially make you a lot of money, either in direct sales or in generated leads, it’s worth spending a lot of money on. It’s that simple.

If the purpose of your site is to give information about your services, you shouldn’t spend a lot on it. It’s not very ambitious, and its potential for revenue is indirect.If the purpose of your site is to generate sales leads or booking enquiries, you’ll need a bigger budget – your site is more ambitious, and the potential for revenue is greater.If the purpose of your site is to sell more books than Amazon, you either need financing from Microsoft, or you need to re-evaluate your goals.

Guidelines

• Don’t spend less than R5000 on a website - you’ll get what you pay for.
• If you are just providing information on your site, budget up to R10,000.
• If you’re going to generate sales leads, budget from R5000 – R35,000.
• If you’re going to get direct revenue from the site budget at least R25,000 and expect it to go up from there.

We have built websites for R5000, and we’ve built them for R300,000 – it really does depend on what you want to achieve with your website.

What you need to budget for

Creating Content

You may need to pay a copywriter, and a photographer. You may need to budget for stock photography, and you may need to pay a designer to create graphics.

• A copywriter charges R250 per page – more if they’re doing the research.
• A photographer will do a half-day photoshoot – maybe 100 photos, for about R2,500.
• Stock photos cost around R35 each, and R50 with sourcing costs.
• A map illustration will cost you around R1,000 – about 3 hour’s work.

Design

You’ll need to pay a website company to design the site, and to code the HTML.You should expect to pay a minimum of R5,000 (if there is already a wireframe to work with), up to around R12,000 for this.

Special elements

If you have a special requirement, or something specific to your business –maybe a product catalogue -  you’ll need to budget for it. This really is dependent on what you need. Simple stuff can cost R1,000, complicated systems can cost R10,000’s.

Remember, if what you need is the complicated system, and you’re expecting to see rewards from it, it’s worth spending the money to have it done properly.

On a tight budget?

If you're on a tight budget and don't need custom-build functionality or design, our SmallBiz Websites package - starting from just R5000 - may be just right for you.