Your small business needs a website. Regardless of its scale, field or your level of commitment. And, unless you are a web design guru yourself, you will require a web production service, which is specialized in small business website development.
This article concludes our series of publications on websites for small businesses topic. Here, we will finally cover the subject, which you probably consider the most important one – where to look for good web studios and how much they charge.
Think global
Web producers are everywhere nowadays. Web design is the new Klondike, where everyone wants to snatch a piece. With present-day high speed Internet and advanced communication technologies, it does not really matter if your web designer is on the opposite side of the world or a few blocks away.
And this is the problem. In the vast sea of offers thrown at you, it is often hard to discern who can actually do the job. Today, there are five distinct schools of web design, each one available to any customer:
1. United States
The cradle of web design, and, in decades past, the main trendsetter, which now makes it the most expensive one. The U.S. can be your choice if you’d like a website with a strictly “domestic” feeling, or can’t do without communicating with your project manager in person. However, keep your wallet ready – it won’t be cheap.
2. Western Europe
The Queen of Style. The works of French, Italian and especially Dutch web designers offer elegant visual and animated solutions, but for a price fairly close to the U.S. bill. Going with EU agencies can be a good idea if you favor style over flexibility, and ready to spice up your small business image with a conceptual zest.
3. Eastern Europe
Probably, the best price / quality ratio. Studios from Russia, Poland and Ukraine are firmly among the prizewinners of the world’s most prestigious web design awards. And, in the recent years, the language gap has been almost eliminated. Eastern Europe is a fair choice if you want your website to be solid both in terms of visuals and usability, while keeping your budget within reasonable boundaries.
4. India
The “fast food” of web design. Offers the cheapest prices, and – let’s be honest – solutions that look just as cheap. India has the biggest pool of offers on the market, but that also means relatively more start-uppers and people who aren’t capable of completing the task. If a slightly spiced up template is all you need, then it may be worth considering an Indian agency, otherwise – you are unlikely to get what you’ve envisioned.
5. China
It is rising. And this fact scares the heck out of the other four web design schools. From a western viewpoint, Chinese style and approach in web design are “different”, and that is why you should probably not consider Chinese small business web design services. There are not too many external offers, as the market pretty much keeps to itself for now. But soon enough the wind of design trends is likely to blow from East to West, and not vice versa like we’re used to, and when that happens, we will all have to adapt the looks of our websites to the new reality.
Average cost of website design for small business
All right, let’s talk price. What is the amount to expect on the bill when you choose among the representatives of these web design markets? Let us break it down by the types of website complexity, which we covered in our previous article.
- Template Design website.
Features: template visuals, standard outline, 5 pages, mobile adaptive, with blog.
Examples: Great Length Hair Salons, Jess Marks Photography, Fair Ivy Handmade.
This solution will account for:
- $1.000 - $5.000 in India
- up to $8.000 in Eastern Europe
- up to $10.000 in EU
- up to $15.000 in the U.S.
- Decent Custom Design website.
Features: good custom visuals and outline, animations, 5+ pages, mobile adaptive, with blog.
Examples: Les Chameaux, Urban Influence, Dishoom Cafe.
This solution will account for:
- up to $10.000 in India
- up to $15.000 in Eastern Europe
- up to $20.000 in EU
- up to $30.000 in the U.S.
- World-Class Custom Design website.
Features: one-of-a-kind custom visuals, nice and smooth animations, 10+ pages, web award winners, mobile adaptive, with blog.
Examples: Resn, Jean-Philippe Nuel, Makhno Architects.
This solution will account for:
- up to $30.000 in Eastern Europe
- up to $50.000 in EU
- up to $80.000 in the U.S.
Remember to choose your web design company for small business wisely. A well produced website will serve you for at least 2 years, and attract visitors you’d never thought possible. As a conclusion, here is the infographics with what to expect in terms of budget from various web agencies around the world. Good luck in your small business website project, and if you found this article helpful, please subscribe for more!
Want to learn how web studios operate and evaluate their work rates? Look no further:
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