What is the website development cost in Canada? Are you getting a fair deal in 2023?

All business owners and entrepreneurs have been through this phase where they are looking to develop a website and have no idea on what is website development cost in Canada? Either it is the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey or looking to add another revenue stream, it is a step in the right direction.

So now that you have decided that you need a website, you are worried if you are getting a fair deal? It is important to understand what factors contribute to website development cost, before we get into the numbers.

So, what factors affect website development cost in Canada?

What Features you need developed for your website will affect the cost

Here it is important to understand why you need a website? Is it just for awareness and to grow a secondary source of leads? Well then you just need a simple 4 page website to provide information and a contact form that customers can fill out.

 

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If you have a unique business or a new product entering the market, you will need a custom design that can tell your story and highlight the product features.

If you are already in business and want to elevate your customer experience then go for a custom website design. Discuss what all you need with your website developer. Let him draw wireframes that you can ask for tweaks, make sure your branding resonates with the web design. Add more features like customer login, download invoices, view order history, virtual try on, micro moments.

Your selection of Technology will affect website development cost in Canada

There are many content management systems that can be used to build you a website. WordPress, Drupal, GoDaddy, Wix, Shopify to name a few or simply PHP stack web development. Depending on what you need to build, each comes with their own set of pros and cons. What sort of user-friendly backend you need will also drive the technology.  This is a difficult decision and trust your developer on the selection, hire a reputed company. If you have a preference let the web developer know, none of the choices should limit you in building a functional or user experience of your liking. Laravel and PHP can also give you the custom solution you are looking for. 

Though keep in mind, hourly rate of developers may differ slightly based on the technology selection.

Are you getting website developed locally or offshore is an important factor contributing to website development cost in Canada

Here comes the most important factor, hiring locally in Canada comes at a higher hourly billing rate. If you are good at receiving services remotely then website development costs can come down.

There are both good and bad stories associated with hiring a freelance web developer. Our advice would be to go with a company rather than a freelancer as you would get a team of developers with a skill set of different programming languages. There would be quality assurance and some warranty associated with the website development service.

Should I go with template based or custom website?

Most common analogy I use is renting vs owning a house. They both are viable options based on what is your objective. When you are launching a new business and exploring what works best, have a smaller budget, want to go to market as soon as possible then a template based website is your best option. Once you have some revenue, understand what’s working well for your business and what your customers prefer then the time is right to design a website that will take you to the next level.

So, how much should I pay for a custom website development in 2023?

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for! If you have a budget of less than $1000 then ask for a template based web design. There are many WordPress themes or website builders that you or your developer can use. This may mean some compromise on features, functions or the website of your dreams. You may have to buy a license or pay a nominal monthly fee as well.

If you are looking for an e-commerce website then Shopify or WordPress with woocommerce can also be configured in a short span of time to support your products. There are endless plugins available for both management systems to support all functions. Again the cost grows as you need more and more plugins but could start as low as $2000. Make sure to check out Leading WordPress Website Development company in Canada

A custom website would span across $3000 to $15000 or even more. Depending on technology and your wish list of website features. Something with no payment on website or customer login can start at the lower end of the range and grow as you add more features.

Lock your quote for website development and let a technical expert guide you on the features and technology

How long does a website take to build?

A custom design means each page would be designed in Adobe XD and go through iterations of feedback. Development and quality assurance will follow the design. Custom websites with minimal functionality could take a couple of months while a template based website can be done in a few weeks.

What does the website development cost include? Do I need to budget for other recurring costs?

So, what you really need to know is website maintain cost in Canada?

You can get self managed hosting at very competitive rates. That should do it as long as you are tech savvy enough to add new content, keep your products updated and take regular back ups. If you rarely update your website then you do not need regular backups. But then, why even have a website, if you are not planning to update. If no new content is added regularly, you start losing on Google rankings.

You definitely need on and off page optimization to start getting organic traffic. SEO is a separate service and not included in website development cost.

Website development costs do not include the cost of the server. You can easily hire an agency to take care of website maintenance and services could start as low as $29 a month. That’s less than a dollar a day!! Don’t believe it check out the packages offered Website Maintainence Services