Here is a proper explanation of the process of building a website along with the cost related for every phase.
WordPress.org might tell you that it is entirely free, but it is not. You must pay for added functionalities if you want your website to be a fully functioning online entity. You will have to add extra stuff. Hence, these additions that will get your website up and running will lead to the added cost.
Avoid This Process
There are freelancers and web developers who will sell an agile approach to make fast money from potential clients. Some of the reasons why such tricks fail are:
- These freelancers don’t have enough experience in business in general.
- They don’t know how to market.
- It is reducing their prices because that is the only option that will help them remain competitive while getting enough work.
Before explaining what a proper approach is, have a quick look at what is wrong with the market. Unfortunately, this has become the norm in the market.
- Even without gathering any material for the website, the client gets the advice to look for a theme. The client has to get in touch with one of the theme providers online because the themes there are cheap.
- The client looks for cheap shared hosting for around $2-3 with PHP limits.
- The client or client’s assistant will install WordPress, then set up a theme, and struggle for weeks to import data. This happens because they chose the cheap hosting option. Hence, they struggle and to come up with enough copy for filling out all those text and image placeholders.
- In comparison to a web developer or a web designer, they do not have the same level of experience. They tend to hire freelancers lacking inexperience. As a result, they modify core theme functions with frequent errors.
- After a period, they accept that their website might not look anywhere close to the theme preview website. This is the case because they do not have any relevant content and decent quality photos/videos.
- Eventually, the website will become vulnerable to hacks, as they will fail to maintain the site. They will then look for developers for support, as the theme will not work.
- Time for WordPress software update and theme update.
- After the update, the website might not work. It might even lose all the previously made custom functions made by the inexperienced freelancers. They tend to forget (because of lack of knowledge) to use a child theme for customizations. This causes the website to lose previous custom made functions. Again, the client will have to look for a theme developer to provide support for a quick solution.
These processes might not necessarily be correct in terms of order. Not every point will apply to every scenario, but they are observable numerous times. Yes, the final price in such a case might be low (say $400) and maybe it will be a day’s worth of work for one person. However, that time would increase even if the website owners decide to save some money and do it by themselves. Also, there is no guarantee that it will work every time. Your website might not bring significant value to your business or project, and your hard work will go in vain.
The Proper Approach
Ask yourself these three questions before you begin with web development project.
#1 Who according to you, is your most typical customer?
This generally helps the copywriter to write texts as if they are directly speaking the typical customers. Typical customers are those among all the visitors who are most susceptible to persuasion. You will have to persuade them into buying from your website, preferably within the first couple of seconds.
#2 What are your website’s goals and purposes?
One of the most critical factors of every website is its conversion rate. Conversion is that moment your potential visitor converts into a paying customer (by buying certain products or services from you), subscribing to your newsletter, or following you on social media.
#3 Have you spotted your target audience?
A common mistake that most website owners make is thinking that everyone is their target audience. This is not the truth in most cases. If you are planning an E-commerce website for cosmetics, then your website’s tone does not need to appeal to car lovers
Each of these points are important. These points will lay the foundation of your website-related activities. There is not a lot of technicalities involved with them, so they will not include WordPress for that matter.
Adding the layout and wireframes
After laying out the initial requirements, you will have to plan the layout for every page on your website. This is what website owners usually refer to as wireframing. The purpose of this process is to brainstorm about the different elements that need to be on particular pages. It also clarifies the purpose of each element and how low (or high) it needs to appear on the page.
Coming up with a compelling copy
Post element definition, you need to focus on the essential part of the creation of your website – the copy. While the design phase is important in boosting credibility, the copy is equally important for the site.
Agencies recommend to every website to hire a specialist copywriter. Not a lot of website owners decide to do this as they feel like they can do this on their own. This is fine, as long as they write the copy before having a design.
For writing a compelling copy, you should perform a bit of research first.
- What tone will you be using? Will it be corporate and strict, casual or funny? Always be wary if you are going for the humorous tone because not everyone will get it.
- How will the company talk to clients on social media, if they talk at all? What are those terms will you will often use – in terms of both the company and the customers?
- What type of questions will the visitors have? How will customer support answer back?
These questions will give you a clearer picture of how your company will speak to the customers. You can also build your word bank accordingly. Try to create a list of commonly used phrases and keywords that you will be using throughout the copy. This will help you get across a consistent tone and message.
Designing & developing
Once you prepare the wireframes and copy, the design process becomes more natural. The designer will only think about the look and feel of the website and not worry about structure and organization. Some designers can do both. However, for creative people, their right side of the brain is more dominating. Hence, they depend more on visual references rather than logic.
If you have ever developed a website, you will know how the process at this point goes. It will start to include the elements from above, meaning you cannot keep the design on its own. Additionally, you will also need to make some compromises. Sometimes, a block of text might not fit the container, or the images might not convey the message effectively.
Now comes the time when everything combines to get an output that visually appeals to the audience. Hence, every party involved with the development of the website must be collaborating to get optimal results.
After finishing the design, developing the theme becomes a priority – if you have not purchased one already. However, even the purchased themes do require modification in some form. You will have to modify the themes, and it might take a lot of time – from weeks to even months. It will depend on the complexity of the design and the associated requirements. This process is never 100% complete as the web is a technology that is evolving faster than ever.
Once you have completed the website and it is live, it will require regular maintenance because of the following functionalities:
#1 Update
With the advancement in technology, you will have to keep up with the improvement. You should update the software, themes, and third-party plugins regularly to keep up with the technology.
#2 Security
Hacking will always harm your business negatively. You will have to update your security plug-ins, WordPress themes, or even the WordPress software to make your website secure.
#3 SEO
Major search engines penalize websites for having low-quality content or outdated content. If you wish to improve your website’s business, make sure that you are regularly updating the content.
#4 Competition & Trends
Your competitors are always looking to improve; you should do the same. Humans are always looking for newer and shinier things. You should identify them before the audience and capitalize on it.
The cost breakdown for creating a website
Always get a better picture of the cost that you need to build a website. Here are some approximate numbers behind building a custom WordPress website and a premium theme based WordPress site. You should remember that the more plug-ins you add to improve the functionality, you costlier your website will get. Moreover, it will also become slower.
Custom WordPress Website
This is just a simple website having ten distinct page designs. It consists of:
- A home page
- A blog page
- An “About Us” page
- Five service pages
- A blog post
- A contact page
Since we followed the necessary WordPress website development process, the cost associated with each step is the following, the hourly rate for each person is 50 euro per hour:
- Planning stage took not more than four people (a project manager, a designer, a copywriter, and WordPress developer). It took about one full day to complete the work, and it cost roughly 1600 euro.
- Project management took about one full day to collect all the required information about the project and to make the proposal. It cost roughly 400 euro.
- Copywriting took the copywriter around one full day, and it cost roughly 400 euro.
- The design took almost three days, costing around 1200 euro.
- The development of the theme took about one week costing roughly 2000 euro.
The total cost of setting up a custom theme WordPress website amounted to around 5600 euro.
Premium Theme-based WordPress Website
- Planning stage took just three people (a copywriter, a project manager and WordPress developer). It took about half a day to finish the planning, and it cost roughly 600 euro.
- Project management took about one full day to collect all the required information about the project and to make the proposal. It cost roughly 400 euro.
- For copywriting, the copywriter took around one full day costing around 400 euro.
- The Premium WordPress theme cost 50 euro.
- The development of the website took about three full days and cost 1200 euro.
The total cost of setting up a premium theme-based WordPress website was 2650 euro.
Of course, both 2650 euros and 5600 euros are steep for someone who is looking to start an online business. Hence, you may cut a few corners and make use of premium theme-based WordPress website. We have several packages, including the Quick Start package that helps clients with a limited budget to start the process. The end-result might not be as effective, but it would be a great start.