Budget is an important key factor when you are getting a website for your business. The price range varies and each website design agency has its own price set. Now, on which aspects does a website designer charge their clients in South Africa for a website project? Let’s find out with this article.
Website Designer Charges in South Africa
Getting a website would generally cost you around R1,000 to R30,000, depending on your needs and requests. For a small business, this cost usually goes from R6,000 to R12,000. However, it does not have to be that expensive if all you expect from your website is to represent your business like an advertising banner on the internet. For example, it would be unwise to pour R30,000 into a website meant for plumbing services.
Related: Website Design Costs in South Africa
Let’s talk about the website design budget and the factors that affect the quote.
Website Design and Budget
We all can agree that the customisation possibilities are endless with a website. However, pouring unnecessary budget into your design may be a bad idea as it may run you dry on resources; and we all know how important it is to manage the budget in a business, right? This is why you should understand what exactly affects the quoting for a website project. Let us break it down into a few sections.
The Purpose of Seeking the Website Design Services.
This section refers to the question: why are you seeking a website designer? Do you want to build a website from scratch, or just find a host for your website? How about refining the SEO on your website? Such services will affect your budget significantly. So, the first key to getting a proper quote from a website designer in South Africa is to exactly know what you want from your website.
The two most common types of requests website designers get are e-commerce website design and general website design. The general website design here refers to all kinds of informational or representative websites we see on the internet. E-commerce websites refer to the online stores where we can shop for a variety of products.
The Number of Pages on your Website.
The most common method to quote for a website is based on the number of pages a web designer will design. For example, take a good look at our price sheet here. We mainly charge our clients based on the number of pages they want. Of course, there are additional services mentioned in our sheet and we will be talking about them in detail as this article progresses.
Not only us, but almost all website designers in South Africa will charge you per website page basis. First, they will ask for a base price for their services. Or, you can pay them on an hourly basis, which ranges from R50 – R1000 an hour on average, depending on your expectations.
The price per age will also differ depending on how you want these pages done. For example, a simple text-only page may not cost as much as a page refurbished with multimedia content.
Hosting Services.
Getting your website designed is one part, but getting it online is another. Hosting costs in South Africa will be outside the website design costs and will be considered separately in a website project. Without finding a proper host, your business does not get its unique online identity.
However, you may choose to skip this service if your website is very basic and serves not much of a purpose. For example, if you get a website just to represent your business’ contact details (online business cards), why bother paying for a domain service when there are free services available?
But generally, you will require hosting services. In South Africa, you can get hosting at prices as low as R99/month with Xneelo. Furthermore, it will also depend on the domain you choose. Local domains (.co.za) are generally cheaper than international domains (.com). If you are a local business in South Africa, we highly recommend you go with the .co.za domain.
Related: Website Hosting in South Africa
Functions and Features of your Website.
When we talk about the functions and features of a website, we must consider the development aspect of it. Usually, getting a predefined template is way cheaper than developing/programming your website with custom features.
As a small business with a tight budget, we would highly recommend a predefined template. In this method, the designer does not have to custom code anything on the website. For a small business, generally speaking, this is sufficient enough.
However, if you are a corporate business looking for a unique corporate identity and adding custom, unique functionalities to your business, you will have to pay extra for such services. The website designer here will work alongside a website developer to make your dreams come true. They will work around languages such as Java, PHP, CSS, HTML to add and make the features and functions practical for your website.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Search Engine Optimisation is a necessary practice that indexes your website with search engines. Not only that but SEO also boosts your visibility over the internet. It is responsible for what we call ‘Organic Traffic’. Organic traffic refers to the visitors that visit your website through search engine results.
We highly recommend investing in SEO services if you are to do business online in South Africa. It is especially good for making a long-lasting identity of your brand and generating long term organic traffic on your business.
Digital Marketing.
As mentioned previously, many website design agencies provide digital marketing services as well. Digital Marketing is the quickest way to spread the word about your website on the internet. There are many digital marketing options available on the market, some popular options being Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and other social media advertising channels in South Africa.
Related: Digital Marketing in Cape Town, South Africa
These services will incur extra charges. However, they will be worth it, especially if you really want to sell a product or a service faster. What’s more? Combining ads with your SEO strategy tremendously helps with boosting the overall visibility of the website, gaining the edge over the competition.
Related: Marketing your business in South Africa
Miscellaneous Costs.
Apart from the main factors mentioned above, a website designer in South Africa would also charge you based on the following miscellaneous factors.
a. Time taken to create the website.
An agency may charge you based on an hourly basis rate. This may be advantageous or disadvantageous for you, depending on the situation. Most website design agencies will quote you a once-off cost.
b. Complexity of the website.
The more complex your website is, the more an agency will charge. This means the client has to make a budget-oriented decision and choose what they want on the website carefully.
c. Experience as a web designer.
Many veterans will industry will charge you higher than average and that is natural. Novice website designers may charge around R150-R300 per hour.
Conclusion
A website designer in South Africa, despite the price range we have mentioned here, would rather charge you a reasonable amount; and it is rather cheap for small businesses. Of course, the more you pay, the more you can get on your website. However, the line should always be drawn between what’s necessary and what’s unnecessary for your website, and only you can answer that.
Digital Lime Green is a website design agency in South Africa that deals with website design and digital marketing. To get a quote on a website project, contact us today and we will set you right!