How much does it cost to develop a WordPress website and why?

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Introduction

Occasionally, a client is shocked to see a quote when they want someone to develop their website. An average website costs 300.000-400.000 HUF. Of course this is at the discretion of the developer. So if I want to be more (less) precise, the sky is the limit from 100.000 forints. In foreign markets it is even more expensive. But what does this offer actually consist of?

Well, there are a lot of components, some of which I will try to describe in the following lines.

Experience and knowledge:

Many people are of the opinion that they don’t pay for it, they will do it. The result is usually that the development ends up with a specialist, because the client realises that it is not that easy to do. Usually it’s already stuck at the point of how to get started. In other cases, the developer has already received a development that is bleeding from several wounds and needs to be patched up. In such cases, the simplest and most effective method is to “re-draw” the page. It’s no coincidence that those who do this have spent years, time, money and patience developing themselves and acquiring the right skills. Personally, I’ve been building WordPress websites since 2016 and to this day, every day I learn something new, follow trends, watch videos, read forums, buy courses to keep my knowledge up to date with what I’m doing.

Consultation:

Consultation is the process of assessing the client’s needs. Anyone who has done a consultation, say several times, knows that every client is different. You need to find a common voice. You need to be able to ask the right questions to find out what the client actually wants. How complex will the site be? What features will it have? What will the design be like? Meanwhile, of course, I’m already thinking about what and how I’m going to develop it, so that I can see how much work it will be and what the price is for the work. Of course, in many cases there are blind spots that I don’t know how I’m going to solve (e.g. a feature), but if I can solve the other 90% of the project, I try to allocate resources in the quote so that everyone benefits. I don’t aim to cheat the client, which is why I usually let them know if there is a “blind spot” in the project. That way, it’s clear to everyone what the sticking point is during development. Of course, the consultation is also time, during which I could also spend on development. My consultations on new projects are free of course.

Planning:

Planning is a very complex process. I need to see the menu structure in front of me. What will the pages be, what will be the unique entry types, what will be the unique fields? What other dynamic content will there be? Which parts of the page will the user want to modify in the future? What solutions should be used to create the page? What will be the layout of the different elements of the site? What colours will be used? What font will be used? Do you have hosting? If not, where should the hosting be? And these are still theoretical questions. You also need some knowledge of typography, design theory, colour theory, system design.

Quotation:

Here, a price quotation can be prepared in the meantime. This is also the time to write it, so that everything is specified in detail, avoiding later disputes.

Preparing the contract:

The contract also takes time to prepare. It should include all the elements that make the tasks transparent for the client and the contractor and protect both parties. Once it is successfully signed, the real work can begin.

Another planning process:

All of the above must be “put on paper”. Then comes a branch diagram or flowchart, where I draw the final menu structure, possible user journeys, user processes.

Then, the wireframe of the site is created. At this point, only the layout is done, with some dummie content, i.e. not the actual content yet, just placeholders. So you can see roughly what the layout of the website will look like. After that comes the prototype, which actually looks like the final site. This is why, optimally (and abroad), they charge as much as the website itself. After all, this is a prototype that the customer can click through and can be viewed in different screen sizes.

But what is the need for a prototype if you have to create the website separately? It’s a valid question, and one that I myself thought was unnecessary at the beginning. But time has proven that it is necessary. Even for small projects. Even if not the whole site is created in this form, some static pages and dynamic content are worth doing and should be done! Why? Because it’s easier to make changes to a design plan created with Figma or Adobe XD than to a site already under development. We know these. The logo should be a little bigger, this should be a little greener… That’s why it’s better to have the site in the design phase than to have to make changes on the fly. It is frustrating and counterproductive to jump back and forth between tasks on the fly. In many cases, even with a plan, you can’t avoid this 100%.

Planning should also take into account, and should include a list of extensions, themes, etc. In the light of this, the price may change, but more on that later.

As you can see, planning takes days.

Resources

During development, of course, you need resources that cost money. I am not talking about infrastructure such as computer, operating system, image editing and other software, printer, printer cartridge, petrol if you have to get out of the car for a consultation, other overheads such as telephone bills (I had a client who I spoke to on the phone for 9 hours a month), internet. But also things like a development server that you have to pay for every month, various cloud services where you have to store data, CRM systems to manage projects and related documentation, domains, monthly software, etc. These are all costs.

And then the development. Although the WordPress framework itself is free, it requires programming skills and plugins to supercharge it, since it’s basically designed for blogging. When I first started out, I tried to do everything for free with plugins, which let’s face it, either works or it doesn’t. The free plugins are usually free because someone has developed them out of sheer altruism, or because there is a premium version of them. If there is no premium version to pay for, then the plugin may either be of poor quality, or it may stop being developed after a while because it is not profitable. So why should the developer continue developing it. So, whenever I could, I bought extensions that were of good quality and that were often encountered in the development of clients’ projects. Precisely so that I could meet all the (usually) customer needs that arise, and so that I wouldn’t always have to depend on someone or something. If you like, I have reinvested part of my income in tools to increase the quality of my work and to give my clients something extra, even if they don’t know or understand what premium tools they get for their websites (which is partly why this article is written). Extensions can be annual, monthly, or so-called LTDs (lifetime licenses) which are valid for life (at least until the developer support ends).

In the following list, I include a general list of some of the extensions I use frequently in my projects, and their current prices in dollars and forints. This is just for illustrative purposes. If you break these down for each project and subtract them from the quote, you can see how much the client actually gets in addition to the above (since you would have to buy them for every project anyway if you want to build your website with quality materials).

• Meta Box (3-page LTD (you pay for the rest every year, so this is the cheapest LTD)) $299 – 102,610 HUF (https://metabox.io/pricing/)
• Automatic css – (only available with annual fee) $149 – 51.133 HUF / year (https://automaticcss.com/pricing/)
• Happy Files Pro – $59 – 20.247 HUF (https://happyfiles.io/#download)
• Piotnet Forms Pro – (available with annual subscription only) – $59 – $20,247 (https://piotnetforms.com/)
• WPCode Box – $59 – HUF 20,247 (https://wpcodebox.com/pricing/)
• Oxygen Builder – $179 – HUF 61,429 (https://oxygenbuilder.com/pricing/)
• OxyExtras – $149 – $51,133 (https://oxyextras.com/get-started/)
• WP GridBuilder $104.30 – HUF 35,793 (https://wpgridbuilder.com/pricing/)
• 301 Redirects Pro – $49 – 16,815.- Forint (https://wp301redirects.com/)
• Swis performance (available with annual fee only) $30 – HUF 10,295 (https://ewww.io/swis/)
• Ewww Image Optimizer (only available for a monthly fee) $7 – 2,402 HUF ([https://ewww.io/plans/](https://ewww.io/))
• Squirrly SEO – (available for monthly fee only) $21 – $7,206 (https://plugin.squirrly.co/wordpress-seo-pricing/)

Total: 399.557.- HUF

Of course, the list will vary from time to time, but broadly speaking, these are the general plugins I use for a “basic” website. I’ve looked at the lowest package for each, and for the smallest number of websites (1-3-7) where the package allows it.

Prices are of course subject to change, but I have fixed this as of today’s date: 2023-06-28.

As a parenthesis, it is also possible for the customer to buy a template, which can be obtained relatively cheaply. However, these templates have predefined features and design elements. Modifying these later, improving them and adding additional features is cumbersome and time-consuming. So in the long run, it is possible that the soup will be more expensive than the meat.

There are exceptions when the client wants something that is just an add-on that I don’t use. In that case, the client has to buy it, but we always agree on this beforehand and you can make the decision.

Development

Then I finally start the actual development, when I create the local and online development environment, install WordPress, plugins, theme and everything else needed for the project.

For the websites, I need to create the global colour palette, install the fonts for the site locally. In this case, I need to get the fonts and integrate them into the website using the right tools. The use of fonts imported with the previous embedded solution is in some places already GDPR objectionable.

I create the pages, posts, layouts, menus and everything else needed for the site. I create the Custom Post Types (CPT – Custom Post Type) and the associated Custom Fields. I integrate these into the layout so that the content can be managed dynamically.

You need to be able to set up permalinks (direct links) etc. These are also important for custom post types.

The site needs to be optimized not only for desktop view but also for additional breakpoints (display sizes), so there is a lot more work to do with a layout than you might first think.

In the case of localisation (multilinguality), the above needs to be done in multiple languages.

The client can monitor the development of their site in the online development environment.

Testing

During and at the end of the development phase, we test the site to make sure everything works properly, followed by the final testing phase, when the site is put in its final place.

After that, there are a number of little things that need to be done to bring the site to life. For example, the various integrations:

Google Analytics – where the client can track the number of visitors, behaviour, conversions. So you may also need to set conversion targets if it’s this kind of site. This means that a specific action of a visitor is counted as a conversion by Analytics. For example, if the customer made an enquiry to us via the contact form on the website, that is a conversion.

Meta Pixel integration – Integration of Facebook / Instagram tracking code into the page

Google Search Console integration

Technical and On-Site SEO settings – Keyword research, Meta data upload, Placement of ALT tags for images etc. (I will write more about this later)

Local SEO settings (I will write more about this later)

Site security related settings and installing and configuring site security related plugins.

Then comes the billing and closing of the project. Of course, in order to provide the right service, the billing software also has some overhead.

It is also worth noting that running a business also involves other costs such as accountant, social security contributions, social contribution tax, local business tax, Chamber of Commerce contributions, etc. I only include these here because in order to write a contract and invoice the client, so to be insured on this front, it is necessary to run a business.

In addition, there are marketing costs, because it is worth advertising to attract new customers, and there are many marketing activities that are time-consuming but do not directly generate revenue, but which also require software.

Well, very simply put, these are the components that make up a quote. The list is not exhaustive, but I think it gives you some idea of why a website costs so much.

Final thought

As a final thought, we recently had a gas fitter come to our house and charge us 20,000 HUF for a 40-minute job. Personally, I spend 2-3 weeks on an average website for which I usually charge around 3-400.000.- HUF (depending on complexity and features). I think that knowing these things, it is already possible to re-evaluate a website development quote.

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