How much to charge for website redesign? Find the right cost of website redesign
There are billions of websites on the internet (Tech Jury). Given the competition, it’s imperative for businesses to have websites that stand out, are modern and up to date, and provide a great user experience. An outdated website with a lack of functionality and a poor user experience may cause web visitors to hesitate. They might not trust the company behind the site. After all, if the company can’t invest in their website, they might wonder how good their products or services are. Whether you primarily provide managed IT services, ads, or digital marketing, you might be asked from time to time how much to charge for website redesign. Clients may look to you as their local expert to improve their websites.
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Need a quick answer for how much to charge for website redesign?
Website redesign costs can range from $10,000 for less complex sites to $75,000 or more for more complex sites with many pages and functionality.
Keep reading to learn all the factors to consider when setting a website redesign price.
What’s going into the website redesign cost?
The first question to ask to determine the price is how much work is going into the website redesign project. A simple website will require less time for a lift from your team than a website with dozens of pages to update.
The more pages you need to design, the more work the website redesign is going to be. As a result, you'll need to increase the website redesign cost.
Next, you’ll also want to think about functionality. What needs to go into the backend so the site functions properly? Sites that have client portals or ecommerce functions, for instance, are more complex.
Finally, when determining the cost of website redesign, you might want to think about the client’s current website as a whole. In some cases, it's easier to build something new than to work with the existing website. In other cases, redesigning the current website might save some time, effort, and money.
Survey the client’s needs
Your next step when setting a website redesign price is to think about the client’s needs. While you may have a range for the web redesign cost, you’ll want to assess each project on an individual basis.
You’ll want to take the following factors into account when thinking about the cost to redesign a website:
- Number of pages
- SEO opportunities
- Ecommerce functionality
- Client portals
- Other features, like integrated chatbots
- Migration of existing content
- New content needed
- Hosting needs
- Domain name needs
- Future maintenance
You’ll charge for ongoing hosting and maintenance of a site separately from the redesign itself. Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to think about that while you and the client are designing the new site in order to set expectations. You should know how much to charge for website design and maintenance ahead of time.
Setting the website redesign price
Now that you have a better understanding of what the client needs, it’s easier to figure out how much to charge for website redesign.
Most companies have a price range for website redesign projects. The more complex the redesign project, the higher the website redesign pricing.
So, how much should you be charging?
For more complex sites with many pages and a lot of functionality, the cost can range around $75,000 or more. At the lower end, agencies might charge around $40,000 for this type of site (Systran Box).
Less complex sites with fewer functions may start around $10,000 and up (Tech.co).
Can’t your clients get lower website redesign pricing elsewhere?
One concern is that pricing a website redesign cost of $30,000 or $40,000 or even higher may be out of reach for your small and medium-sized business (SMB) clients. Some clients may seek out cheaper options, like hiring a freelancer or trying their hand at a do-it-yourself (DIY) website. These options can be quite attractive to those with smaller budgets. However, working with a freelancer can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands (Smashing Magazine).
DIY-ing it is attractive from a budget perspective. It can cost as little as a few hundred dollars. Of course, your client may have other concerns with the DIY approach. In this case, there are some questions to consider when determining how much to charge for website redesign:
- Are they tech-savvy enough to be building their own client portal from scratch?
- Do they have the team members or the time to spare on this project?
- Do they have the experience required to update the user experience, SEO content, and functionality?
As you can see, website redesign pricing isn’t the only pain point for your clients. Other resources—like time, knowledge, and people—can also factor into a decision.
Think about website ROI when determining how much to charge for website redesign
One of the reasons clients are leery about the cost of website redesign is that they’re not thinking of their website as a 24/7 salesperson. Yet, that’s often how a website functions.
A good website converts more often. It’s, in effect, a better salesperson. If that salesperson wanted an upfront salary of $40,000, would you not invest in them?
A DIY website can be more affordable, but will it have the same conversion rates? Get your clients thinking about their return on investment on the cost of website redesign. A high-conversion, functional, and attractive website is a key selling tool in this digital era, so investing in it makes sense.
How can you make website redesign pricing more affordable for clients while still profitable for you?
Your local business clients likely understand the need for an updated website, but they might still have smaller budgets to contend with. This can limit your ability to charge higher website redesign costs. A little creative problem-solving by your agency team can help you deliver functional websites to your clients for lower website redesign costs.
Use a template
Many agencies provide their website redesign pricing based on custom builds. That means they’re building (almost) every page—and the code behind it—from scratch.
The issue with this is most of your clients don’t need a custom design and build. Yes, they need a website that stands out, but they do not need you to reinvent the wheel.
Instead, lean on website templates for the page build and put your focus on the content of the site. There are website builders available with varying levels of customization. Some use customizable templates that allow you to drag and drop. Others will let web designers do much more on the backend.
The result of using one of these tools is a beautiful site—with less time and effort. That, in turn, means you can tame the costs of any web development or website redesign project. It also allows you to focus on the content of the site, rather than building code from the ground up.
Resell white-label websites to reduce website redesign costs
Alternatively, you can work with a white-label digital marketing agency to get website redesign projects up and running quickly. A white-label digital agency can create the websites for you, complete with development, design, and copy, and you can simply resell these websites to your clients at a profit. Reselling white-label websites makes it easier for you to keep website redesign costs low and increase your profit margins because you’re not using your costly in-house resources.
It also makes determining how much to charge for website redesign easier on you. The white-label digital agency will give you their website redesign pricing, and you just have to add in your preferred profit margin to come up with the final cost.
Add functionality with chatbots and more without increasing website redesign costs
Other aspects of web development that can drive up costs are integrations like chatbots. The more functions a site needs, the more work it’s going to need too.
When you’re trying to decide how much to charge for website redesign, you have to take these factors into account.
Again, agencies charging clients $75,000 or more are likely trying to reinvent the wheel. They’re building custom-made chatbots from scratch. They’re writing new code for client portals when there’s perfectly functional code available.
Instead of charging for the time and effort that goes into an AI-powered chatbot, why not offer one that’s tried and true? The same is true of ecommerce functionality and forms. Why write code from scratch when you can offer your client great code that you already know works?
With the Vendasta Marketplace, you can do just that. There are trusted vendors with more than 250 solutions that you can offer to your clients. They get the functionality they need—at a price point they’ll love.
Forward thinking: Website maintenance
How much to charge for website redesign isn’t the only consideration for your clients. Website maintenance can cost thousands of dollars per month (BikeHike). If a client is feeling pinched by the cost of the redesign itself, they might struggle with the maintenance costs too.
This is another reason to think about customizable code and templates. It can impact the maintenance costs of the site. Using templates and customizable code can help tame maintenance costs. First, the vendor who supplies the chatbot or API is often improving their product in the background. That means they’re taking care of upgrades—automatically.
Templates and other customizable code are usually easier for your team to maintain and update. They’re designed to be simple to tweak.
Custom sites with built-from-scratch code may be more difficult to maintain. What happens if the person who wrote the code leaves and doesn’t provide any notes? Code can be difficult to decipher, which makes it tougher for your team to update and maintain it.
Custom code can also become bloated, which slows down websites. That, in turn, can hurt your SEO efforts. Code bloat happens over time, especially if your client is growing quickly. They may need a tweak here, a tweak there. They may need to add new functionality ASAP, which can lead to your team slapping in code that’s functional but not necessarily beautiful.
Custom-built sites and code also take time to develop. That can be detrimental if the client is growing fast. Prebuilt forms, ecommerce stores, chatbots, and other features can help them get the website functionality they need right now.
Website redesign the right way
It’s easy to see why there’s such a wide range of answers when it comes to how much to charge for website redesign. There are many factors involved in setting website redesign costs, including the client’s needs and the complexity of the site.
The solutions you use also play a key role in determining website redesign costs. Save yourself time and your clients money by considering a website builder or reselling white-label websites. With the right solutions, you can build sleek, functional, and beautiful sites for your clients—even if they are on a tight budget.