How much does a website cost?

And why can quotes for a website be very different?

Let’s take a concrete example.
Mario Rossi, owner of an artisan business with good prospects, wants to make or carry out a redesign of his website.
He turns to multiple web agencies to create his website.
It brings home several quotes, which involve a similar structure (a standard website that presents the company, services offered, products, and shows contact information), the same content management software (e.g., the an open source Cms* such as WordPress or Magento ), but significantly different prices.

* An open source cms is content management software where authors make the source code public, to encourage independent programmers to make changes and extensions to it.

Why should Mr. Rossi reason and not dismiss the least economical choice out of hand?

We answer this question by explaining how it works, in a nutshell, to make a standard website:

• content architecture is defined
• cms software is installed
• the graphical theme (and the necessary plugins, i.e., those components that can modify or extend some functionality of the software) is designed and/or configured
• you set the parameters and load the content (which in technical jargon is called data entry)

While the skill of the agency can obviously affect the definition of the areas of the site, the structure of the content, and any copy, the difference in price can be determined by the choice of using a graphic template purchased from, for example, WordPress or by making a custom ad hoc template.
For the unfamiliar, a template, simplifying, is a graphic template, a structure, an outline showing the various areas of the website that are to be filled with content later.

The differences between a purchased template and a custom template

Template purchased

Open source Cms have a community of developers and designers who provide resources, content and a wide assortment of purchasable templates made to meet the needs of different businesses.

The advantages of a purchased template are first the price and the ability to choose from many different templates (by operation and graphics) while having an idea about the final result. Another advantage certainly consists in the time to make it, having already a predefined structure, which technicians and graphic designers will have to customize with corporate colors, images and texts.
A purchased template may have built-in plugins in it that will be very useful to Mr. Rossi (e.g., newsletter, a slider to emphasize images on the homepage, a particular way to present products or commercial offers). It will almost certainly have responsive graphics and will have been tested for compatibility on major browsers and devices. Of the most commonly used purchased themes, there will probably also be guides or video tutorials to explain their use and management.

Among the disadvantages of a purchased template is the fact that surely the chosen graphic will look good on dozens of other Web sites, hopefully not on a competitor or a type of company we just wouldn’t like to be ideally connected to.

It’s a bit like looking for a suit for a big occasion and relying on a franchise chain or deciding to go to your local seamstress.
The costs will be different, but probably so will the materials, finishes, and how the dress will fall on us.

Another disadvantage of the purchased template, which is not insignificant, is that if the print media is “static,” the Web has the power to constantly mutate, evolve and change its face.
But if, as Mr. Mario’s company grows, new services, needs, opportunities are added, it is not certain that the template purchased can meet this need for compatibility with the new plugins or code that one would like to include in the website.
Finally, among the disadvantages to be added to the list, we have the security issue: the operation of the purchased theme and related plugins might show issues, because the upgrade and compatibility of them is not carried out by the developers.

Custom Template

Developing a new template from scratch is definitely more challenging in terms of creativity and work. That is why the estimate has a higher cost.
But it also means making a website, conceived, designed and designed for the client and his needs. Able to change and evolve over time.
If the goal is to do communication, to tell a story, to translate a background, ignoring this stage of graphic design could be a serious mistake.
Thus, summarizing the advantages, we note exclusivity and graphic and functional customization, capable of updating over time. Disadvantages include higher cost and time for implementation.

What Neikos Digital Agency thinks

It is important that Mr. Mario knows what the possibilities are and can understand the differences in some quotes.
For some projects with budget constraints and clients who do not want further development (and who are aware that for different specific needs you will have to start over, setting aside the work done), the purchased template solution is certainly attractive.
It is a practical and cheaper choice than the custom template, allowing to have a simple, yet still efficient product that can test the company’s potential in the target market and better understand whether more customized and high-performing business solutions should be adopted.
On the other hand, if instead you have growth ambitions, if you want to a custom-shaped instrument, capable of To tell the story of the company and to follow it over time, always managing to find the suitable solution to business changes, as well as those caused by thetechnological advancement, the choice can’t help but fall toward a custom template.

Solutions should be defined according to the objective and available budget.
But if you are clear about the scenario, you can make reasoned and probably better decisions.

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