How Much Does It Cost to Update My Website?

Six Steps to Updating Your Website Part 3: How Much Does It Cost to Update My Website?

Welcome to part three of our six step guide to updating your website. Congratulations! You’re halfway there.

If you need a quick refresher of the series so far, click here for part one: planning and preparation and here for part two: who and what is involved.

If you have ever been involved in the commissioning and budget process for a website, it's likely that the project has been seen as one big cost. In modern marketing, things have changed. Investments of any kind need to deliver strong financial returns and websites are no exception.

This week we really get down to the crux of the matter; how much will it cost to update my website? In this post, we aim to give you an idea of not only how far your budget can go when upgrading, redesigning or commissioning a new website.

A Note on Size…

We appreciate websites come in all shapes and sizes. Some small business websites can be created using 'self-build' services. In this post we're focusing predominantly on websites that require a level of customisation.

Are You in the Right Ballpark?

We have delivered many websites over the years, helping our clients make big investment decisions and have created this table of budgets to give you a ballpark idea of what you can expect to get for your money.

Budget Ranges

£3k - £10k:

Suitable for a new business that needs a basic website.
Appropriate also for campaign microsites.
Typically gives you a template-based website or set-up of a self build solution for you to add your own text and images.
Should provide a CMS for 1-3 administrators.
You may need to use bolt-on services to manage your analytics, email, search, social media and digital PR.

£10k - £30k:

Suitable for businesses wanting a ‘second generation’ website, having outgrown a simpler solution.
Expect no compromises when it comes to the design, look and functionality.
This budget offers room for bespoke styling perhaps e.g. an 'off the shelf' solution in WordPress or Drupal, configured to suit your needs.
CMS for around 5-10 users.

£30 - £50k:

Suitable for businesses looking for their second or third generation of website.
Enables services of a development team using a reputable technical foundation with custom coding and features.
Back office administration tools for over 20 users, reducing administration and reporting.
Full or part integration with marketing and back office tools including analytics, CRM, payment processing, order tracking, email, social media and search.
This budget could also include the creation of mobile apps.

£50 - £100k+:

Suitable for businesses with a larger workforce, multiple offices or store locations, on their second or third generation website.
Access to strategic advice.
A complete overhaul of digital activity.
Inclusion of an API to allow existing and future services to connect with your website data and services.
All common customer-facing features should be included, along with preferred experimental features.
Dedicated project management.
Custom coding supported by an enterprise-level technology framework.
Full website integration with any common marketing or back-office tools, e.g. Sage or Salesforce.

(When managing agencies, or if you are looking to employ individuals to support your long-term website goals, you can use rates and salary benchmarking tools for guidance).

Cost vs Value

Armed with this information, you should feel more comfortable justifying the cost to your board. Ask yourself how many customers you want to convert through your new website. If you know what a customer’s lifetime value is to your business, you can quickly work out the value of delivering customers through your website and correlate it back to the investment made in the upgrade.

In our view, a cost is only a cost if you haven't considered how your website will work hard to pay for itself.

Good financial planning and modern marketing processes provide real accountability to your website, making it easier to justify the investment, and demonstrate the value of any website update, redesign or build to your business.