How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost in New Zealand?
How much does a small business website cost in New Zealand?
Annoyingly, there isn’t one useful number.
A five-page service website, an online store and a custom website connected to six different systems are all “websites” in the same way a bicycle and a freight train are both transport.
The cost depends on what you need the website to do, how much thinking needs to happen before design begins, and how much content, functionality and customisation goes into it.
So rather than asking, “What does a website cost?”, start with a better question.
What am I paying for?
Website size matters. But page count isn’t everything.
Yes, a larger website generally requires more work.
But ten straightforward pages can be simpler to create than five pages requiring complex functionality, custom layouts, detailed SEO planning and copywriting.
For a small service business, you might only need a focused website covering your key services, work, about information and contact details.
That can be plenty.
Nobody gets bonus business points for reaching 37 pages.
Good website design starts by working out what customers need to know and what the business needs them to do.
Then we build that website.
You’re paying for thinking before pixels
This is where website quotes can look wildly different.
One might cover building pages from content you provide.
Another might include website strategy, sitemap planning, UX, creative direction, copywriting, SEO, design, mobile optimisation and launch support.
Those are very different jobs.
For us, the thinking is a fairly important bit.
Who is visiting?
What are they looking for?
What should they understand immediately?
What questions are stopping them from enquiring?
What information deserves its own page?
Where should we send them next?
Skipping all of that and heading directly for the homepage design is certainly faster.
So is getting dressed without opening your eyes.
Copy changes the cost
You can provide your own website copy.
You can also spend four months staring at a Google Doc containing:
ABOUT US
Something about being solutions-focused???
Professional website copywriting adds to the project because someone has to understand the business, structure the message and write words that help customers make a decision.
It also makes the design better.
Copy determines hierarchy, page length, calls to action and how information flows. Designing first and pouring words into whatever boxes happen to be available is how websites end up saying absolutely everything while communicating strangely little.
SEO isn’t a button we switch on at launch
If organic search matters, SEO needs to be considered while the website is being planned.
Keyword research, page structure, URLs, headings, metadata, internal links and content can all affect the scope of the project.
A business targeting website design NZ, for example, needs a different content strategy from one focused primarily on website design Christchurch.
That work takes time.
But it makes considerably more sense than finishing the website and then remembering Google exists.
Then there’s functionality
This is where costs can start doing little cartwheels.
Bookings. Memberships. Ecommerce. Courses. Email integrations. Custom forms. Product catalogues. Third-party software. Special calculators that determine the exact number of alpacas required for your corporate retreat.
Every extra requirement needs to be planned, designed, configured and tested.
For many service businesses, we use Squarespace because it gives us plenty of flexibility without creating unnecessary complexity.
For ecommerce, we often use Shopify.
If a project genuinely requires custom development, we work with developers too.
The point isn’t to use the fanciest technology available.
It’s to use the right amount of technology for the job.
So... how much should you spend?
Enough to solve the problem.
Deeply unsatisfying answer. Also the useful one.
When comparing web design agencies in NZ, don’t only compare the number at the bottom of the proposal.
Look at what’s included.
Strategy? Copy? SEO? UX? Custom design? Mobile? Content loading? Integrations? Testing? Training? Support?
And most importantly, does the proposed website make sense for the size and goals of your business?
At George Design, we’d rather recommend a focused website that earns its keep than sell you seventeen pages and a complicated platform because we enjoy invoices it makes the project bigger.
If you’re trying to work out what your new website should involve, tell us about the business, what you need and where you’re heading.
We can work out the website from there.
Summary
The cost of small business website design in New Zealand depends on scope, strategy, copywriting, SEO, functionality, content and the level of customisation required. A good website quote should reflect what your business needs the website to achieve, rather than simply how many pages can be squeezed into a package.
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Our website projects typically start from $6,000 + GST, with the final investment depending on what your website needs.
That might include website strategy, copywriting, SEO, custom design, additional pages, integrations or other functionality.
We’re probably not the right fit if you’re looking for the cheapest way to get a website online. There are plenty of DIY tools that can do that very well.
We’re a better fit when your website has an important job to do for the business and you want the strategy, words, design and user experience thought through as one.
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Start with what the website needs to accomplish rather than choosing an arbitrary budget based on what another business spent. A focused service website and a larger ecommerce site with integrations are very different beasts.
The right web design agency in NZ should help you work out the scope first. What does the website need to do? How much strategy, copy, SEO and customisation is involved? What functionality will genuinely help the business, and what can stay firmly in the nice idea, nobody needs it pile?
As a guide, we recommend budgeting a minimum of $6,000 + GST for a professionally designed business website. Most of our website projects sit between $6,000 and $18,000 + GST, depending on the scope, functionality and requirements.
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It can be when the website plays an important role in generating enquiries, establishing credibility or supporting sales. Professional input becomes particularly useful when you need website strategy, UX, copy, SEO and visual design working together rather than simply getting a few pages online.
