How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Website Designer?

01  NUMBER OF PAGES

More pages mean more work. But they do not tell the whole story.

A simple landing page is one thing.
A five page business website with multiple content sections is another.
And a ten page website with multiple languages, animations, integrations and custom functionality is something else entirely.
That is why pricing a website simply by the number of pages does not tell you very much.
A single page can require hours of work depending on its complexity.
The number of pages is only the starting point.

02  DESIGN COMPLEXITY

A website can have very few pages and still require a lot of design work.

Some websites need a simple and functional structure.
Others need more art direction. This could mean movement, animations, different layouts, micro interactions, image composition and much more attention to detail.
The more visual decisions there are to make, the more time goes into creating, testing and refining each element.
And the goal is not simply to make the website look better.
It is to make every element, from typography and imagery to colour, spacing and movement, feel like part of the same brand.

03 IMAGES & VISUAL DIRECTION

A good image is not just a good looking image.

One of the parts of the process clients see the least is image selection.
The first stock photograph you find is not necessarily the right one.

You need to consider:

• Does it represent the brand?
• Does it speak to the right customer?
• Does it work with the other imagery?
• Does the colour and lighting make sense?
• Does it communicate the level of professionalism we want?

Sometimes finding the right image means going through dozens of options.
And when every image needs to work together, we are talking about visual direction, not simply choosing photographs.

04 FUNCTIONALITY

What does your website actually need to do?

A website that presents information is very different from a website that needs to perform specific actions.
Forms, payments, bookings, online shops, integrations, filters, client areas and other functionality all add different levels of complexity to a project.
A simple contact form is relatively straightforward.
A system that collects specific information, sends it to other platforms and follows different conditions requires considerably more development and testing.
The more your website needs to do, the more work exists behind it.

05 CUSTOMISATION

Not everything can be solved with a plugin.

Many website features can be implemented using existing tools.
But sometimes a client needs something very specific.
It might be a custom interaction, functionality that does not exist natively or a feature that needs to work in a particular way.
That is where custom development comes in.
It is also one of the reasons two websites that look relatively similar can have completely different prices.
What happens behind the design is part of the website too.

06 SEO & TECHNICAL SETUP

A website does not end when it looks finished.

There is a part of the work that is not immediately visible.

Depending on the project, this can include:

• SEO setup
• Meta information
• XML sitemap
• Google Analytics
• Technical structure
• Responsive behaviour
• Performance
• Integrations

None of these things may be the reason someone chooses a website.
But they are important for making sure the website is properly set up once it goes live.

07 CONTENT & STRATEGY

Before designing the website, we need to understand who we are designing it for.

One of the biggest mistakes is starting with the design.

Before that, we need to understand:

• • Who is the customer?
  • What are they looking for?
  • Why would they choose this company?
  • How should the brand speak to them?

This is where things like tone of voice, content structure, testimonials, imagery and calls to action come in.
A website should not simply explain who the company is.
It should speak to the people the company wants to reach.

08 REDESIGN ≠ JUST CHANGING THE LOOK

Sometimes rebuilding is easier than trying to save what is already there.

It is easy to assume a redesign will always cost less.
It does not necessarily.
When working with an existing website, we first need to understand what is underneath it.
What can stay?
What needs to go?
Are there technical limitations?
Should the existing SEO structure be preserved?
Does the current structure still make sense?
Does the mobile version work?
Is the brand being used consistently?
A redesign can end up requiring just as much work, or more, than building something new.

09 WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY PAYING FOR?

You are not just paying for the number of pages.

When comparing proposals, it is easy to look at the final number.

But two proposals can say exactly the same thing:
“Five page business website.”
And be completely different projects.
One might simply involve implementing a template.
Another might include strategy, visual direction, image selection, custom design, SEO, analytics, development, assets, animation and support.

So before choosing the cheapest proposal, ask:
What is actually included?

10 A REAL EXAMPLE

EventConcept

EventConcept is an events company with a premium positioning.
The challenge was not simply to create a website with around eight pages.
We needed to understand the brand completely.
Who are they
What do they sell?
Who are they speaking to?
How should they be perceived?
The website needed to communicate that positioning through its structure, imagery, content and overall experience.
The project had approximately eight pages, in both Portuguese and English.
If we were pricing that project today, we would charge around €2,300.
The number looks different when you only think about eight pages.
But once you understand the work required to properly represent a premium brand, the price makes much more sense.

11 €300 VS €2,000

The question is not just how much it costs. It is what is included.

You can absolutely find someone who will build a website for €300.

But before comparing that price with a €2,000 proposal, ask a few questions.

• Is customisation included?
• Who chooses the imagery?
• Has the website been designed around your customer?
• Is there content strategy?
• Is SEO included?
• What about mobile?
• How many revisions do you get?
• Can specific functionality be added?
• Who handles the technical setup?

The cheapest option might be exactly what you need.
But you can only know that when you understand what you are actually buying.

12 YOUR WEBSITE IS THE DIGITAL VERSION OF YOUR COMPANY

People form an opinion before they ever speak to you.

Social media plays an important role.
But when someone wants to properly investigate a company, they often go to Google.
Imagine searching for a service and finding ten different companies.
You are going to compare them.
And within seconds, you will start forming an opinion.
The website does not need to be the most expensive one in the industry.
But it needs to be consistent with the company it represents.
The imagery.
The messaging.
The identity.
The experience.
Everything communicates.
Your website is an extension of your brand.

13 BEFORE YOU ASK FOR A QUOTE

The better you know your brand, the better we can build with you.

You do not need to arrive at the project with everything figured out.

But it helps to know:

• Your colours.
• Your tone.
• Your brand personality.
• Who you want to reach.
• What you want the website to communicate.
• And if there are websites you love, save them.

You do not need to know exactly how you want your website to work.
Show us the references.
We can look at what you like about them, combine different ideas and turn them into a structure that makes sense for your business.

You bring the vision. We help give it shape.

FINAL

So, how much does it cost to hire a website designer?

The answer depends on the project.
A one page website might cost €1,000.
A five page business website might start at €1,500.
An e commerce website might be around €2,700 or more.
But the price should not be determined by the number of pages alone.
It should reflect the work required to create a website that represents your brand properly, speaks to the right people and does what your business needs it to do.
So the next time you receive three completely different proposals, do not just compare the final number.

Look at what is behind it.