The price of a website: what it really costs (no small print)

When someone looks up the price of a website, they almost always find two things: ranges so wide that they are useless («between €300 and €30,000») or quotes that don't include half of what you will need.

Let's be specific here.

There is no fixed price because not all websites are the same. The final cost depends on several factors:

• The kind of website you need: a landing page is not the same as an online shop with 500 products.

• Who makes it: agency, freelance or yourself with a platform like Wix.

• The platform: WordPress, Shopify, PrestaShop or custom development have very different costs.

• What is included in the price: design, texts, basic SEO, domain, hosting, maintenance... or just the design.

• The level of personalisation: an adapted template is not the same as a design from scratch.

Before you ask for a quote, be clear about what kind of website you need. It will save you time and misunderstandings.

This is the real cost of a website in Spain, depending on the project:

Corporate or service website

This is the most common type. It presents your company, your services and how to contact you.

• With staff and little content: between 600€ and 1.500€.

• With personalised design and various sections: between 1.500€ and 4.000€.

• With specific functionalities (reservations, advanced forms, multi-language): from 4.000€.

Landing page

A single page oriented to convert. Ideal for specific campaigns or products.

• Standard design: between 400€ and 900€.

• With customised design and copywriting: between 900€ and 2.000€.

Online shop (ecommerce)

Here the price of a website with an online shop rises considerably because there is more logic behind it.

• Basic Shopify or WooCommerce shop: between 1.500€ and 3.500€.

• Shop with extensive catalogue, payment gateway and synchronisation with ERP: from 5.000€ and above

• PrestaShop or custom development: from €8,000

Tailor-made website or with specific development

If you need something that does not exist as a standard product - a portal, a web app, a platform with users - the price starts at €10,000 and can go as high as the project can go.

This is the comparison that no one honestly makes to you:

Wix type builders make sense if you have a very small business and zero budget. But if your website is a sales tool, the technical limitation and lack of control over SEO will cost you money in the long run.

The price of a website does not end when it is delivered to you. This is what often gets left out of the initial budget:

• Domain: between €10 and €20/year. It sounds small, but if it's not included in the budget, it's yours.

• Hosting: between 5€ and 50€/month depending on the plan. A cheap hosting can sink the speed of your website.

• SSL Certificate: is included in most hostings, but not always. Without it, Google marks your website as «not secure».

• Maintenance: WordPress updates, plugins, backups, monitoring. Between €50 and €200/month depending on what is included.

• Texts and photographs: If you don't have them, someone has to write them down or look for them. There is a cost for that.

• SEO positioning: Having your website done does not mean that Google will find you. SEO is continuous work.

A budget of €1,000 can turn into €2,500 if this is not discussed from the beginning.

An experienced freelancer will charge between €600 and €3,000 for a standard corporate website. This can be a great option if you have clear references from previous projects and someone to recommend them.

The usual problem is not price. It is the long-term availability. If in six months you have a technical problem or you want to add functionalities, that person may no longer be available or may have changed activity.

Before talking to an agency or freelancer, have this ready:

1. What your business does and who you sell to.

2. What do you want the website for? lead capture, online sales, information provision, all three.

3. How many pages or sections you need approximately.

4. If you have content (text, photos, logo) or you need it to be developed.

5. Your real budget, even if it is a range. It helps to make the proposal tighter.

And when you receive the quote, ask explicitly: is maintenance included? What about hosting? What about texts? That way there are no surprises.