So, you understand the importance of a digital storefront, but have no idea what designing a custom website should actually cost? When you’re looking for a quote, the wide range of numbers can feel like a big game of telephone 📱 One person says they can do it for free, while another charges an outrageous amount.
If you’ve ever wished for an honest, no-bullsh*t 👏 web design pricing guide, you’re in luck.
Our expert team at Lifted Logic is here with the “inside scoop” on web design pricing. You can trust us. We’ve been creating custom websites and writing content that ranks on Google for over a decade.
Keep reading to walk step-by-step through our web design pricing guide, or skip ahead using our table of contents:
- Pricing expectations by vendor
- Pricing expectations by project type
- Understanding exactly what you’re paying for
- Potential hidden costs
- How to budget your project
Pricing expectations by vendor
If someone offers to build your website for free, they’re likely a friend or website enthusiast. Still, professional firms may slap an extreme price tag for (what seems to be) the same project. So, what’s the middle ground—and what are the benefits of splurging?
Let’s begin this web design pricing guide by introducing potential vendors:
1. DIY platforms
Do-it-yourself platforms, such as Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify, offer the quickest entry point to web design. Designed for pre-revenue startups, hobbyists, and small businesses, these programs rely on pre-made templates and your knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
The cost of your website on these platforms ranges from completely free to a few thousand dollars—and your time ⏱️ While programs like Google Web Designer require only a Google account, Wix or WordPress entice you with premium subscriptions to unlock “advanced” features.
Pros and cons of DIY platforms
These platforms prioritize accessibility over authority. You get instant access to your content and a visually appealing site in minutes—but you’re also responsible for your own SEO, UX design, and ADA compliance.
Without professional oversight, it’s easy to build a site that looks polished but suffers from poor architecture, leading to slow load times and lower search rankings 👎 For an established brand, the “savings” of a DIY site often vanish when compared to the missed revenue from low Google SERP rankings.
2. Freelance designers
If the DIY route doesn’t seem appealing but you’re not ready to commit to a digital agency, freelancers are another option. These independent contractors—often highly skilled in website development or visual design—work on a contract-by-contract basis.
On average, freelance web designers charge anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000, with fees varying based on experience and project scale. Typically, this upfront cost does not include custom photography, professional copywriting, or a personalized SEO strategy.
Pros and cons of freelance designers
We include freelancers in our web design pricing guide due to their moderate price point and high potential for personal connection. Designing your website is no longer your responsibility, but you often have fast, direct communication with the person who is bringing your digital storefront to life.
However, if your freelancer takes on too many projects, gets sick, or decides to pivot their career, your project may remain “in progress” indefinitely 🚨 Plus, a single person is rarely an expert in everything, carrying the same risk of a beautiful but unusable website as the DIY option.
3. Digital agencies
Partnering with a full-service digital agency (like Lifted Logic 😉), unlocks the potential of a multi-disciplinary team. These businesses bring together the best strategists, UX designers, media crews, and marketing writers to ensure your site performs under pressure.
Digital agencies price web design and development at $25,000 to $150,000—or more. Similar to freelancers, cost narrows down to the scope of your project, but the higher investment includes high-level research, custom layouts, professional photography, and talented copywriters.
Want an exact quote for your new digital home? Try our Cost Calculator.
Discover the Lifted Logic difference
At Lifted Logic, we think we’re pretty great. When you partner with our digital agency, you invest in a predictable outcome. We’ve worked with hundreds of past and present clients to launch high-performing websites, so we’ve seen and solved the most common roadblocks.
We don’t just “make a site”; we create a conversion tool backed by data, custom code, and professional photos and videos 🎥 The benefit is peace of mind—you’re paying for a strategic partner that ensures your site has a competitive advantage and is not just a digital placeholder.
➡️ Ready to partner with us? Contact our team and build the site of your dreams.
Pricing expectations by project type
Found your website designer? Now it’s time to decide what you want to create. (A website, obviously.) First, you need to identify the type of digital storefront you’re bringing to life:
Identifying a type gives your designer an idea of the scope of your request or how much time to dedicate to the task. Then, they can reference their web design pricing guide to give you a clear, final estimate.
At Lifted Logic, we utilize reverse bidding to give you the most accurate website quote. You tell us your goals and budget, and we allocate our team’s hours (design, development, SEO) to get the highest return on your investment 📈
➡️ Want to learn more about reverse bidding? Explore this blog.
1. Brochure website
The price tag: $15,000 to $40,000
The most common type of business website, the primary goal of a brochure site is lead generation, or converting potential clients into paying customers. Best for lawyers, architecture firms, or med spas where products and services are not sold online, these websites entice users to click “Contact Us.”
When you entrust your brochure website to Lifted Logic, we leverage these strategic design objectives:
- SEO strategy: Strategists choose high-potential SEO keywords to optimize your service pages and blogs, transforming your site from a pretty face 🪞 to a lead-generating powerhouse 💪
- Professional copywriting: Our copywriting team works diligently to match your brand’s voice, using persuasive language that converts casual visitors into high-value leads.
- Custom designs: Our design team custom-builds your navigation and visual identity for a site that matches your vision.
➡️ Budgeting for a new website? Let us help.
2. E-commerce website
The price tag: $40,000 to $150,000+
E-commerce websites are 24/7 retail storefronts, ideal for businesses selling digital or physical products directly to consumers. These sites handle secure payments, shipping logistics, and inventory syncing, so the technical requirements—and the investment—are significantly higher.
When you partner with a digital agency for an e-commerce build, they focus on these transactional design features:
- Conversion-first UX design: Designers build intuitive product filtering and one-click checkouts to reduce cart abandonment and increase your average order value 🛒
- Secure payments: Developers integrate trusted payment platforms and essential 3rd-party tools to keep your digital operations running smoothly.
- Product-specific SEO: Strategists optimize your entire product catalog, ensuring your items appear exactly when and where your customers are ready to spend their cash 💸
➡️ Looking for an e-commerce developer? Here’s 14 questions they should ask you.
3. Custom web applications
The price tag: $60,000 to $250,000+
Unlike e-commerce or brochure websites, a web application is a custom tool designed for specific tasks. Think: secure client portals, a custom ROI (return on investment) calculator, or internal systems. Web applications use custom logic through back-end engineering—attached to the highest price tags.
When a digital agency gives a quote for a custom application, their web design pricing guide factors in these variables:
- Custom logic: As the project’s brain 🧠, web developers build specialized features from data interaction to subscription management that off-the-shelf software can’t handle.
- User authentication & safety: Developers build secure login systems and encrypt data to protect your information from external threats.
- Seamless integration: Once approved, developers connect your application to your existing software before taking the tool live ⚡
4. Website redesign
The price tag: $20,000 to $70,000
A website redesign transforms an existing digital storefront that no longer reflects your brand identity into a website that fits like a glove. At Lifted Logic, we gather data from your existing site and leverage it to optimize your new site.
When you trust our team with a redesign, we follow these steps:
- Conversion data analysis: Our strategists audit your current site to identify where and when users click off, redesigning navigation to streamline conversion.
- Infrastructure overhaul: Our developers build your site on modern WordPress frameworks, minimizing load times and optimizing your content for mobile.
- Re-establishing brand identity: Our copywriters extract information from your existing site and rework it to better align with your current voice and tone.
Understand exactly what you’re paying for
When you see a $30,000+ price tag, it can feel like you’re burning money or throwing it into a sinkhole 😅 Understanding exactly what your developer factors into their web design pricing guide keeps you confident and informed, so you can accurately track your ROI.
At Lifted Logic, we allocate your budget for each department and explain any potential additional fees up-front, so you never feel blindsided by an invoice.
SEO strategy
Our strategists are some of the first Lifted Logic employees to join your team. They analyze your existing site (if you have one) and identify any pitfalls and correct them in our new build. Then, they perform deep–dive keyword research that optimizes your content for traditional search engines and AI tools to improve your search engine ranking.
Content creation
Our copywriting team simplifies complex ideas and “vibes” into clear, persuasive text on your blogs and site pages. They transform industry jargon into accessible text, while throwing in some flair so you still sound like you ✨
Web design
Our web design team partners with our writers to craft your site’s aesthetics around our text. This includes custom graphics, professional photography, fonts, colors, and navigation layouts.
Technical development
Our developers transform these ideals into a living, breathing site. From improving page load time to crafting custom WordPress components and linking your site to our server, they keep your site as fit as a fiddle 🎻
Potential hidden costs
Raise your hand if you like hidden fees… 🙋♂️ Just kidding! No one enjoys when their bill or invoice is higher than what they expected. Unfortunately, “hidden” costs are part of the design process.
At Lifted Logic, we like to frame them as “add-ons” in our web design pricing guide because your site can still generate leads or handle e-commerce without them. Instead, you’re paying a premium for consistent maintenance, high-resolution photography, or ongoing content creation.
Here’s a list of add-ons that may increase your total investment:
- Hosting your website on our secure server with routine software updates
- Annual subscriptions for your website platform or e-commerce tools
- On-site photos and videos to replace stock
- Ongoing SEO strategy and content creation
How to budget your project
Deciding your budget shouldn’t feel like pulling a number out of thin air. Instead of asking, “What is the cheapest I can get a website for?” ask yourself, “What is the lifetime value of my clients?” If each customer is worth $5,000 for your business, you only need 10 new clients to break even on your new website.
At Lifted Logic, we recommend following these general guidelines:
- Determine exactly how many sales or new leads you need each month to consider your site a successful investment 🎯
- Decide exactly how much you want to invest and share that number with our team. We then reverse bid, allocating our hours to give you the best possible “bang-for-your-buck.”
- Set aside 10-15% of your total project cost annually for maintenance and refreshes. Buying a high-end site without an upkeep budget is like buying a luxury car and realizing you can’t afford the oil changes.
Instead of viewing web design as a large down payment, try a cost-per-wear approach: If you buy a shirt for $50 and wear it 10 times, it costs $5 per wear. If your website costs $100,000 but new clients bring in $5,000, you only need 21 new clients to make a profit. (#girlmath 💅)
Trust your web design to the Lifted Logic team
Now that you’ve seen behind the curtain of the web design pricing guide, it’s time to take advantage of your newfound geniuses. Explore our cost calculator, or learn more about our web design capabilities.
As always, ask any of our Lifted Logic team members if you need further clarification on our web design pricing guide.
Lifted Logic is the premier, full-service digital agency of the Midwest. We’re hard-working thinkers and doers who let our work speak for itself. For over a decade, Lifted Logic has transformed thousands of companies in the KC area, across the nation, and internationally.
Lifted Logic
Lifted Logic is a team of creative writers, designers, developers, and photographers who specialize in digital storytelling. As a leading web design company in Kansas City, Lifted Logic works with hundreds of small, medium, and large businesses across the country every year.
