Whether for searching for a suitable service provider, purchasing products or researching contact details, opening hours and directions: With the smartphone as a constant companion, the omnipresence of the Internet is constantly being harnessed - also by the Target group of your company!
Therefore, it is necessary with a professional website arouse the interest of potential customers from the first moment and finally convince them of the offer with the well-considered communication of the corporate message.
To thereby long-term goalsIn order to achieve the goals of a company, first and foremost an increase in sales, its digital flagship must fulfill the following criteria, among others:
In the long term, the operation of a website that meets these criteria with a high added value which, of course, initially requires a corresponding investment. However, this cannot be named so simply, since the creation of a website is not a standardized process and depends on many factors - such as the number of subpages, possible interfaces with databases or the integration of a store system. If you are planning to create or redesign an existing website, it is of course still necessary to find out how much it will cost in order to include this in your financial planning.
For this reason, instead of the "it all depends" answer often given to the price question, this article aims to explore possible Cost centers along the creation and maintenance process of websites to enable a rough price classification of one's own project. However, before the cost centers during the Conception, implementation as well as maintenance and support of a website are shown and summarized in a price range, it is necessary to take a brief look at important basics of website creation. You would like to have a very individual information? Get in touch with us.
The selection of the technology to be used in the run-up to a project implementation can represent a central condition for success and is particularly important in the digital area. In order to facilitate this as well as to prevent wrong decisions, some underlying aspects of website creation should be understood, among which first of all HTML (abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language) falls. The markup language enables the structured description of content by means of a source code, which is interpreted by browsers and displayed as a familiar web page. Thus, text-based HTML files, consisting of various characters, form the basis of the Internet, whereby CSS - Cascading Style Sheets - can be used for the design or also, for example, Javascript for the integration of further functions. Against this background, it is basically possible to build and "code" a website completely by oneself, which, however, is associated with enormous effort and also does not allow flexible changes to the website afterwards - e.g. in case of updates.
It is therefore advisable to rely on a user-friendly Content Management System with which - without any interaction with the source code - even complex websites can be created and edits can be made flexibly. These systems make it possible to design websites by creating, editing, organizing and publishing the required digital content - such as images, texts or videos. Numerous content management systems are available for this purpose, and modular solutions such as Jimdo or WIX have become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to their ease of use.
However, since the resulting Internet presence leaves little scope for the implementation of personal and target group-oriented design ideas due to prefabricated modules and appears interchangeable due to the fixed structure, its use for the creation of professional corporate websites is not recommended. In contrast, the systems most frequently used in Germany - Typo 3, Joomla, Drupal, Contao and above all - by far the most popular worldwide - offer more scope for individual adaptation. WordPress. The latter also receives a clear recommendation from us, since the large distribution is also accompanied by an equally large ecosystem, which for the use means above all many free plugins, numerous templates, comprehensive technical support and networking opportunities within a huge community. For this reason, we will also look at the cost centers with regard to the creation with the help of this content management system.
The price of a website depends on depending on many factors and depends largely on the individual requirements - among other things, the scope, the effort for the design and the required functionalities play an important role in the cost calculation. In order to enable this nevertheless and to give reference points for one's own project, the following Website types the occurrence of a price range can be shown:
In order to avoid a wrong orientation and delays in the creation of the website, a basis should be created in advance, on which all the following activities can be based. For this purpose a detailed Analysis of the initial situation, with the following questions in particular needing clarification:
Against the background of the answers found, the conception phase concludes with the definition, important for website implementation, of Design and structure. The first step is to define the site architecture and thus the navigation as a whole, before determining the content and its arrangement on individual subpages - carefully considered according to the desired direction of attention. In addition, design guidelines for implementation on all subpages should be drawn up in accordance with the existing or to be created corporate design specifications - such as the logo, the color or the font.
For the types of websites listed above, the following costs can be expected in the conception phase:
Aligned with the aspects established at the time of conception, good web design pays attention to the Creation The main focus is on the user experience, with carefully chosen design elements, functions, and content designed to draw the visitor's attention in a targeted manner. In order to convey a clear message, it is particularly important to emphasize ease of use and user-friendliness. The selection of suitable images that convey authenticity also plays an important role in this regard. Depending on budget and skills, these can be shot free of charge, taken from a database - some of which are subject to a charge - or produced by a professional photographer. The same applies in principle to the text units to be included on the page: Texts designed for search engine optimization are more cost-intensive than texts created in-house. It should be noted here that the quality of the website content always allows potential customers to draw direct conclusions about the way the company works, which is why professional, more expensive alternatives should be preferred with regard to the added value to be generated. In addition to the optimal presentation of selected content, aspects such as fast loading time, legal security - this also includes encrypted data transmission via HTTPS including SSL certificate - and mobile optimization must also be taken into account. Depending on further, individual functions, such as programming activities or also the availability of different languages, the costs can vary greatly.
Before the website can be put into operation, it is essential that a Test run to identify and correct possible problems. For this purpose, the website is tested on all common browsers and respective versions and checked for the correct display of all content. In the course of this, optimization on all end devices - especially smartphones - is also ensured.
During the implementation, the following cost points arise for the different website types:
To publish a website, it is necessary to register a domain and place the website content on a server that also meets high security standards. A large number of providers make storage space available for this purpose, whereby different scopes of services of the Hostings equally variable, mostly monthly costs arise.
A further cost item is the regular Update which initially includes changes to content - such as the addition of new employees or the expansion of information. In addition, the constant progress in the digital area ensures that updates or the addition of new functions should be made at certain intervals to ensure security.
For the individual website types, the following monthly costs are incurred for maintenance and care in this context:
In order for more potential customers to become aware of a company and find their way to the corresponding website, good visibility on the Internet is essential. In order to appear as high as possible in Google's results for this purpose, many companies therefore plan continuous expenditure for the Search engine optimization one. Depending on the scope, this results in highly variable costs amounting to 200 to 1.500 € per month.
In summary, the costs for the conception, implementation, maintenance and support of the defined website types are as follows:
However, it is important to keep in mind that a website is not a standardized mass product due to its very individual requirements, which means that it should not be based on a generally applicable price.
As mentioned at the beginning, the Internet presence of companies is essential, especially in this day and age. In order to achieve goals such as the acquisition of new customers, a professional website is of particular importance, which is why attention should be paid not to the lowest possible costs, but to the added value associated with the investment. Instead of making savings, it is necessary to include qualitative content and high technology standards, which will pay off in any case due to the effect that can be expected in the long term.
Which brings us to the question of whether a website project - instead of hiring professional web designers - can also be carried out by a company itself. The first thing to say about this is that, given sufficient capacity and a sometimes time-consuming training phase, it is certainly possible, but the cost of one's own labor should not be lost sight of. In addition, the creation of a website should not be based purely on visual criteria, but should take into account important aspects of web design such as user experience - knowledge that companies can easily access by working with an expert who specializes in this area.
We at Lead Anker, a Online marketing agency based in Schwäbisch Gmünd, have exactly this know-how and can support you in optimally building up or improving your web presence. To improve your Achieve corporate goalsTo communicate your message to customers in a memorable way and thus generate the best possible results in general, we combine an economic perspective with principles from psychology as well as with current technologies and creative design ideas. You can also benefit from our fast working method and, most importantly, our fixed price guarantee! Interested? Then contact us now without any obligation!
