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By TJ SoftUpdated:

Website cost in 2024

Strona internetowa koszt w 2024

How much does it cost to create a website in 2024?

The cost of creating a website in 2024 depends on many factors, such as:

  • Page complexity: the number and length of subpages, and the number of features (e.g. an online store, order forms).

  • Purpose of the website: whether it is a showcase website, a tool that directly supports the sales process, or an online store where transactions take place.

In brief:

Most websites for businesses, created by freelancers or professional agencies, cost from PLN 1,500–3,000 to around PLN 8,000. Websites costing PLN 12,000 or more are not uncommon either. However, this bare information is not particularly useful; in the remainder of the article, you will learn what determines the cost of creating a website.

It is worth paying attention to several key aspects:

  • Page structure: Number and length of subpages.

  • Functionality: Online store, order forms, social media integration.

  • SEO: Search engine optimization.

  • Design: Appearance and responsiveness across different devices.

  • Content management: Ease of updating and modifying.

  • Additional features: store, blog configuration, and writing articles

  • Support after creating the website: the possibility of making modifications and creating backups. This is a very important, often overlooked aspect. A website that is cheaper but may stop working or cannot be modified may not make sense.

  • Completion time: for a simple business card website, the default completion time is 1–2 weeks; for more extensive websites, it is 3–4 weeks. The larger the website, the more time it takes to create. Assigning the project a higher priority can cut the completion time in half, but involves additional costs.

These are only the basic aspects that should be taken into consideration. Each of these parameters may affect the final cost and functionality of your website. In the rest of the article, we will discuss each of these parameters in detail to help you make the best decision regarding your website.

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Can You Create a Website More Cheaply: Savings and Risk.

The greatest impact on a website’s price comes from choosing who will create it. We can create the website ourselves using free solutions, in which case the cost will be a round O PLN. We can find an agency that creates websites for major brands, where prices start at PLN 20,000.

There are three main ways to create a website:

  • Agencies/freelancers: By paying professionals at least PLN 1,500–3,000 for a website, we can be sure it will be completed quickly and without problems.

  • Do it yourself: You can use free options, such as creating a blog on blogging platforms, or pay only for a domain and server (PLN 20–40 per month) and use free plugins and themes. The downside is that there is no guarantee the website will look good on every device, and modifying it can be difficult. This option makes sense if you want to learn how websites work and plan to create more of them in the future.

  • Intermediate options: Commissioning a website from friends or people learning to create websites. This may be a cheaper solution (costing approximately a few hundred PLN), but it carries the risk that not all elements will be implemented correctly or that fixing errors may be problematic.

When choosing a website creation method, it is worth considering all the options and deciding what matters most to us: cost, turnaround time, or the website’s quality and functionality.

Marketing agencies often warn about the risks associated with creating websites yourself, especially when commissioning one from someone for PLN 200–400. However, sometimes such solutions can make sense if we have basic computer skills, enjoy learning how to create websites, and do not urgently need to launch a site quickly. In such cases, if we feel that we would like to take this on, it is worth giving it a try.

The same applies to commissioning a website from a friend. If having a website is not crucial to our business, such experiments can produce interesting results. In this way, we help someone develop and gain experience. However, it should be remembered that such inexpensive websites differ significantly from professional ones, and we will most likely have to spend more time explaining our needs in detail to the person creating the website, which can sometimes be frustrating.

What Is Your Website Meant to Do?

To design a website correctly so that it quickly pays for itself, you need to ask yourself one fundamentally important question: What role should the website play in sales at your company?

We have two main options:

  • Customers get to know your company outside the Internet, so the website is primarily intended to serve as a business card where customers who already know your company can find useful information such as opening hours, phone number, price list, etc.

  • Customers discover your company through your website; the website directly supports sales and encourages customers to use your company’s services by attracting them through online advertising.

If your website is intended to encourage customers to use your services and attract new customers through your online presence and advertising, its quality will directly affect your sales and profits. In this case, it is worth investing in a high-quality website that is well designed, functional, and ranks highly in search results. The cost of such a website starts at PLN 3,000–4,000, although it is most worthwhile to invest at least twice as much; such an investment often pays for itself within the first two months.

If, on the other hand, the website is primarily intended to serve as a business card, providing information to customers who are already familiar with your company, it can be created in a simpler way. A business card website containing basic information such as opening hours, a phone number, or a price list may cost between PLN 1,500 and 2,500. Simple one-page websites, consisting of just a few paragraphs and images, can be even cheaper, costing around PLN 1,500. Most often, these are landing pages—websites created for a specific campaign, featuring a form and collecting contact details from specific target groups.

There are, of course, intermediate options: A website whose primary purpose is to serve as a showcase can attract new customers, especially if it is comprehensive and we regularly add new blog articles.

What determines the cost of creating a website?

The long list of parameters I mentioned at the beginning can be simplified by distinguishing two main components of website costs:

  1. Technical aspects, such as: Website complexity: Number of subpages, content length, type of website (static or dynamic). Functionality: Online store, contact forms, social media integrations, content management system (CMS). Security: SSL certificates, protection against attacks, backup systems. SEO optimization: Adjusting the website to meet search engine requirements.

  2. Visual aspects: Website design: The quality and uniqueness of the graphic design, text layout, color scheme, and typography. Graphic materials: Professional photographs, illustrations, and icons. UI/UX: Intuitive navigation, accessibility, and responsiveness across different devices.

Intermediate Issues

Some technical and visual aspects may overlap, affecting the cost. For example, aesthetically pleasing photo layouts may require advanced technical solutions, while adding new features may require adjustments to the website’s appearance to ensure intuitiveness and ease of use.

The cost of a website therefore depends on a combination of technical and aesthetic requirements, which often overlap.

Review of Technical Issues

Technical aspects are easier to estimate than visual aspects. In this case, we simply determine the number of subpages, specific functionalities, an online store with a specified number of products and variants, or an advanced form. This makes it possible to use a cost table and accurately summarize the expenses. Most technical aspects are immediately visible, so the client can easily check whether everything has been included.

Exceptions include elements such as SEO (search engine optimization), security, and page loading speed. Although these aspects are important and easy to check, they are not immediately visible.

It is also worth mentioning custom solutions. Websites are usually built from ready-made, proven components that need to be properly configured. However, if we need something entirely new, modifying or creating tools from scratch significantly increases costs. Adding a simple element whose code we have to write ourselves and test on various devices costs approximately PLN 1,200–2,000. If the entire website is to be based on custom solutions, costs start at PLN 5,000.

Basic Technical Issues

The size of the website and the number of subpages—that is, how complex the website is to be—are important planning considerations. By default, the homepage consists of 4–7 elements, while a subpage consists of one to three elements. A default element consists of an image, a heading, and a paragraph, although there are many different types of basic building blocks from which a website can be constructed.

Features included in the base price:

  • Safety

  • Analytics and reports

  • Backup

  • Meta descriptions

  • Add favicon

Ensuring security, analytics, visitor number reports, backups, a meta description (for search engines), and a favicon (the website icon displayed on the browser tab) are the basic elements whose cost is included in the base price of the website. A company logo is most often used as the favicon; however, if you do not have one, we can create a simple favicon.

Additional costs:

Main additional cost: online store (e-commerce)

Configuring the online store, including products and inventory levels, involves an additional cost of approximately PLN 1,200. This price includes adding up to a dozen or so products (along with their descriptions and specifications). In the case of a larger number of products, the configuration price increases (or training is provided so that the client can add items to the website independently).

Blog

A blog subpage, which allows posts to be added easily, requires more work than a standard subpage. The default blog functionality is included in every WordPress theme, but configuration is needed to make it look attractive. At least three articles should be added at the start, published one week apart. The client can set up the blog independently, minimizing additional costs, or commission us to do it. The cost of this configuration, along with writing three initial articles, is PLN 400. Speaking of articles, it should be mentioned that the price of an article depends on many factors, and estimating its cost is almost as complex as estimating the cost of a website.

Website Maintenance

A website needs a domain to function. The cost of a domain includes the purchase price and its annual maintenance. If we choose a domain that is not popular (does not consist of a single word), the cost is usually between PLN 50 and 200. Popular domains can be much more expensive. The annual cost of maintaining a domain is typically PLN 50–100 and depends on the domain extension (e.g., .com, .online).

Another cost is the server, which costs approximately PLN 35 per month, although there are many different website hosting options available on the market.

Summary of additional costs:

  • Online store: PLN 1,200

  • Blog: PLN 400

  • Domain: PLN 50–200 (purchase) + PLN 50–100 (annual maintenance)

  • Server: PLN 35 per month

Visual Issues

Paradoxically, although visual aspects concern a website’s appearance, the time devoted to maintaining its aesthetics is not always immediately apparent. For example, a website may make a good first impression when presented to the client who commissioned it, but in practice, its reception by people who found the website through a search engine may be much worse (and because of certain details, most users leave the website immediately).

On the other hand, a given website may not look its best when presented to a client, but it can significantly aid sales and have a low bounce rate.

The most important thing is for the website to be user-friendly, make it easy to find the necessary information, and effectively support sales. The website must be clear and attractive, but it does not always have to be exceptionally beautiful unless it operates in industries related to luxury, design, aesthetics, or architecture. In such cases, the appearance of the website is crucial, and customers expect high-quality graphic designs and attractive photos of completed projects.

For most other industries, such as language schools, the aesthetics of the images are less important, and customers pay more attention to functionality and ease of navigation.

Important Visual Aspects

First and foremost, ensure that the user does not leave the page immediately after arriving. Users often close pages after just a few seconds if they do not quickly find what they are looking for. Therefore, the page must be designed to attract and retain users’ attention.

The process of creating a website involves adding text (headings, leads, paragraphs) and images. Coming up with a good headline or marketing slogan can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Sometimes the best ideas come quickly, but it is worth considering different options to make sure the best possible solution has been chosen.

The same applies to choosing images. Finding the right images can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, especially when you need to find images suited to a specific industry and purpose. All elements must form a cohesive whole, which is why the first version of a website often requires restructuring. It may turn out that the images are too similar or fail to create the right mood. Sometimes it is necessary to use additional paid stock photo libraries or create the photos and graphics yourself.

The cost associated with a website’s visual elements depends on many factors, including the time spent creating and optimizing content and images. Although aesthetics are important, it is crucial that the website be functional and user-friendly, as this directly affects its effectiveness in achieving business goals.

Types of Websites Based on Their Appearance

In terms of website implementation, three main categories can be distinguished:

  1. Perfectly executed website: Such a website delights users with its refined design, excellent functionality, and intuitive interface. It represents the highest standard, positively influencing the company’s image and encouraging customers to interact.

  2. A Well-Executed Website: A solidly designed website that creates a positive impression on customers. It is aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, and functional. While it may not inspire awe, it is good enough to build a positive impression and support business objectives.

  3. A Website That Is Uncomfortable to Browse: A website that is uncomfortable to browse discourages customers and creates a negative impression of the company. Such a website may look untidy, outdated, and give the impression that the company does not care about maintaining a professional image. Problems here include typos and, for example, broken links.

What Not to Skimp On

For obvious reasons, pages of the latter type should be avoided. Pages that look sloppy and are difficult to use negatively affect how a company is perceived. If we are unable to devote sufficient attention and resources to creating a decent website, it is better not to have a website at all, or to rely exclusively on social media.

When we are talking about websites made as cheaply as possible, for example by a friend, the mere presence of typos, repeated paragraphs, or other errors does not mean that the website fails to serve its purpose. What matters is the overall quality of the website, how well it has been thought through, and so on. Of course, all errors should be avoided; nevertheless, a noticeable number of websites belonging to small and medium-sized companies, as well as sales representatives or financial intermediaries handling fairly large transactions, contain errors, which does not prevent them from acquiring clients.

It is important that most users do not reject a company because of the quality of its website; however, it is equally worthwhile to make an effort to win over the few percent who write off a company because of typos.

Of course, this applies to websites made independently or “on the cheap” by a friend. From professional agencies or freelancers, one should expect websites to be created without errors. I’m simply pointing out that minor errors do not necessarily have to be a reason to panic, and the reputation of, for example, a kebab stand will not be damaged if its website contains typos or buttons that do not work.

Social Media as an Alternative

Social media can be an alternative, but to be effective, they must be regularly updated and developed. Regularly publishing content, engaging in interactions with users, and maintaining a consistent brand image are crucial to success on social media.

The quality of a website is of great importance to a company’s image. Investing in professionally designed websites brings benefits, while low-quality websites can harm a company’s reputation. If it is not possible to create a decent website, focusing on well-managed social media may be a better option.

Lead time.

When it comes to websites, the old rule from traditional industries applies: the faster it is, the more it costs. The standard creation time for a simple brochure website is around two weeks, while a complex company website consisting of many subpages takes about a month. However, this process can be sped up. This requires the person creating the website to rearrange their schedule and work under somewhat less optimal conditions, which involves higher costs; in return, the website is completed faster.

Communication

As with the price, the turnaround time is significantly influenced by the way the client communicates and by the materials the client provides. A detailed list of requirements increases both the turnaround time and the price; in such a case, the website is created with less flexibility. On the other hand, a lack of basic information about the website’s purpose and the company’s strengths means that the person creating the website has to make many assumptions. The most time-consuming situation is a combination of the two above: failing to describe the company’s needs (and being unwilling to have a longer discussion before work begins), followed by a large number of revisions after seeing the results.

A detailed description of this phenomenon requires a separate article. In brief, we can distinguish:

  • ways to speed up website creation (if the client provides photos and texts, for example, the person creating the website can add more things for the same price)

  • ways to extend the website development process and increase the price, sometimes without improving the website’s quality (very specific requirements, many rounds of revisions)

  • The default way of working together, where the client saves the most time.

What does the website creation process look like?

The best way to understand the costs of creating a website is to learn about the website development process. The website development process depends on its purpose and the client’s specific needs. The foundation is a conversation with the client, determining their needs and expectations, and estimating the project’s cost before work begins.

Customer Conversation and Needs Analysis

The first step is to talk to the client to understand their needs, expectations, and the purpose of the website. Next, we ask the client about the available promotional materials, such as company descriptions, logos, or photographs. The more materials the client provides, the easier and faster it is to create a website that will attract more customers.

Valuation and Agreement

Based on the information collected, we prepare a project estimate. Once the client accepts the estimate, a contract is signed specifying the scope of work, deadlines, and costs.

Conceptual work

Creating a website begins with conceptual work, which includes learning about the client’s industry and business specifics. Based on the information gathered, we prepare an initial concept design in a graphics program, allowing us to plan the layout of the content and headings and make a preliminary selection of images.

Creating the Preliminary Design

Next, we proceed to create the actual website. This takes some time; when creating the site, you should make sure that it looks good on multiple devices, especially smartphones, as most people browse the Internet on mobile devices.

Testing and Modifications

The next stage is testing, which makes it possible to detect any potential errors and introduce the necessary modifications. This process may be repeated multiple times, depending on the needs and purpose of the website. It is the most tedious stage of website creation.

Client Presentation and Final Revisions

After testing is complete, the website is presented to the client, who can provide feedback. If, for example, the client would like the advertising banner and CTA (call to action) button to be placed elsewhere, we make the appropriate changes.

Creation Process with a Larger Budget

With a larger budget, the website creation process looks somewhat different. It involves more extensive conceptual work and research, allowing us to create a website design with a complete vision from the very beginning (although this vision can always change as we create more detailed designs and test features). We then create a detailed graphic design, and if we need to write part of the code ourselves, we first create a clickable prototype, which enables faster testing of different layouts and features.

Transferring information from a graphic design project to a website allows the final product to be better tailored to the client’s needs (when transferring elements, we involuntarily analyze the purpose of each object, and sometimes come up with better solutions—ones that are difficult to think of simply by looking at the design).

A significant portion of the larger budget is allocated to creating different versions and testing them.

Summary

The cost of creating a website in 2024 depends on its complexity, purpose, and number of features. Simple business websites cost from PLN 1,500–3,000 to around PLN 8,000, while advanced projects can reach PLN 12,000 or more.

The price is influenced by the website’s structure, functionality, SEO, appearance, ease of content management, and additional elements such as an online store or blog. Completing the website more quickly involves higher costs.

There are three main ways to create a website: on your own, through an agency/freelancer, or by using intermediate options. The choice of method depends on the website’s role in the business—whether it is meant to serve as a showcase or as a tool supporting sales.

Additional costs include, among other things, the store, blog, and domain and server maintenance. The website must be aesthetically pleasing, intuitive, and well optimized for SEO. Social media can be an alternative to or complement the website, but they require regular updates.