"How much does a website cost?" The honest answer is: it depends on what it needs to do. But an order of magnitude helps you plan. Here are our real prices, what makes them vary, what a good project should include and what still costs money after launch.
Key Takeaways
- Our websites start at $3,000 before taxes, with managed hosting and maintenance included
- Our projects range from $3,000 for a site of a few pages to over $20,000 with a full brand identity or several brands
- The price depends mostly on the number of pages, the content to produce, the French version, integrations and moving the old site
- Compare quotes deliverable by deliverable, not just the total
- After launch, plan for the domain name, maintenance and, if you want it, SEO
What Our Projects Cost
Our prices are set by deliverable, after a free diagnostic, in a detailed quote. To give you an idea:
- From $3,000: a site of a few pages, custom designed, fast and ready for search.
- Over $20,000: a project that includes a full brand identity (logo, colours, usage rules) or several brands, each with its own site.
In between, the price follows the scope of the project. Our prices are in Canadian dollars, before taxes: GST (5%) and QST (9.975%) are added.
What Changes the Price
- The number of pages and templates: five pages that follow the same template cost less than five pages that are all different.
- The content: text to write, revise or carry over from the old site, and photos to find or produce.
- The French version: more pages, a translation and a separate URL for each language, so Google indexes both.
- Integrations: a form connected to your management software, online booking, conversion measurement.
- Moving the old site: an inventory of existing pages and a redirect for each old URL, so you don't lose the search visibility you have built. Our redesign guide explains this step.
- Brand identity: a logo and visual identity to create, or only to follow.
- E-commerce: a catalogue, payment and shipping add a whole layer to the project.
What a Project Should Include
Whatever the provider, check that the quote covers:
- a design fitted to your brand and built mobile first;
- speed and basic SEO structure (headings, structured data, sitemap);
- forms protected from bots that reach the right place;
- cookie consent and a privacy policy, as Quebec's Law 25 requires;
- request measurement, with your visitors' consent;
- ownership of the domain name, the content and the site, in your name;
- hosting and maintenance after launch, or at least their price.
At Expert Local, these are part of our websites, and managed hosting and maintenance are included. The technology also affects the price: our article on CMS or custom code compares the options.
Costs After Launch
A website has a few recurring costs worth knowing before you sign:
- The domain name: renewed every year, in your name.
- Hosting and maintenance: included with our websites; elsewhere, ask the price after the first year and what it covers.
- Changes: a new service, a new page or a reworked section, billed by the work.
- SEO, if you want it: our SEO support starts at $500 a month, before taxes.
How to Compare Two Quotes
A $4,000 quote and a $9,000 quote can describe two different projects. To compare them:
- List the deliverables in each: pages, content, French version, integrations, moving the old site, hosting.
- Check who owns the domain name, the content and the site.
- Ask what happens to your old URLs and your search visibility during the move.
- Ask who hosts the site, who monitors it and what it costs after the first year.
For a precise price, start with our free diagnostic, or see our web design service.