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“I know someone who will do it for me quite cheaply!”
Apart from the fact that this statement can be misperceived, it is also out of place when creating professional WordPress websites.
Having a company’s website created by a reputable agency has several advantages. What these advantages are, why cheap is not always good and what you should look for in an agency, is what you will learn in this article.
Why Have a Professional WordPress Website Created in the First Place?
Especially new companies that do not have a lot of budget wonder why they should have a WordPress website built at all. After all, the content management system is not rocket science and with various pagebuilder plugins, any amateur can build their own website. There is, of course, a lot to it.
But whether the result looks as professional as it would with an agency that does nothing else every day and brings a lot of experience is another matter.
Anyone who has a website created will increase the chance of selling more increases quite massively! A dedicated company website should ultimately only serve the purpose of bringing more money to your company (hobby blogs are excluded from this, of course).
Phrased differently: In the Bundesliga, you won’t win much with an amateur soccer team. And it’s the same in business if your web presence isn’t convincing.
Since our own background is in web design and we created countless websites for small and very large companies with our agency, we know exactly what we are talking about here.
Of course, the content management system of the website does not necessarily have to be WordPress. But since WP is still the best CMS for web designers in our opinion, this article will not be about any other system.
The Costs you have to Expect when Having Someone Create a WordPress Website for You
Creating a small WordPress website usually costs between 400 and 5,000 Euro – there is no upper limit of course.
The price depends largely on what your needs are and who is implementing the project. A young freelancer who has just started his own business will certainly charge less than a large established agency.
On freelancer portals like Fiverr, Upwork or eBay classifieds you can find countless providers who would build WordPress websites for ridiculous prices.
In contrast, a higher price does not automatically mean better performance. Nevertheless, we clearly recommend you to stay away from cheap providers. Offers of less than 1,500 euros for a powerful WordPress website with multiple sub-sites are rarely serious.
This immediately raises the question, what are you actually paying for when you have someone build a professional WordPress website?
The workflow of a new website project usually looks like this:
- Collective consultation/workshop to define goals and needs
- Setup of systems in the backend (hosting, themes, plugins etc.)
- Building the structure of the website (varies according to the number of subpages)
- Website design
- Implementing the content of the website
- Ongoing support if necessary
The creation of website content – including images, videos and texts – is charged extra by most service providers. Either the agencies themselves have a network of photographers and copywriters or you bring your own specialists on board.
If you hire copywriters for a new website on your own, don’t be too frugal either. Professional copywriters calculate with hourly rates between 60 and 100 Euros. Flat-rate prices can range from 200 to 500 Euros per subpage.
When it comes to providing emotional copy for sales pages, the price can even be significantly higher.
Those prices are often not clearly communicated from the beginning, but should be included in the budget.
Extra Costs More
The more subsites you need, because you need contact pages and/or product pages in addition to the homepage, for example, the more expensive it gets.
While a simple one-pager as a digital business card is quite inexpensive, setting up an online store with WooCommerce and a custom programmed theme can get pretty darn costly.
Example of a complex website.
One-pager example.
You can assume that any extra request will result in a higher price.
In addition, there are ongoing costs for subsequent care. This can start at 50 Euros per month. You don’t have to worry about updates or backups. Through the service, your WordPress website is always kept up to date and remains secure.
You can recognize here very quickly how important it is to discuss all these little things in advance to avoid being unpleasantly surprised later on.
This is What you Should Keep in Mind when Working with Agencies
Not all websites are created equal. And not all agencies are created equal.
The barrier to entry to service as a professional web designer has plummeted in recent years. As a result, numerous hobby designers and black sheep have entered the market and sell crappy WordPress websites to unsuspecting customers.
We collected a checklist for you, with which you can separate the wheat from the chaff in the twinkling of an eye and recognize really reputable providers.
- References
The first and decisive point is to distinguish experienced agencies from blenders. If references from previous customers, preferably in a similar industry, can be shown, this is definitely a green light.
In general, there is nothing wrong with a web designer who is just starting out and does not yet have any great references to show. However, this should be communicated clearly and transparently. - Strategy
An experienced agency must know exactly what to implement. The question “How does it work with you, if I want to create a WordPress website?” should be followed by a clear answer with the individual steps.
Who stutters here or prints too much around it does not make a good impression and has not necessarily earned the project. - Transparency
An agency should be open about the way they work and explain transparently what the implementation looks like. Where is the website hosted, which theme is used and what about regular backups?
Even if you are not interested in all this as a customer, you would at least like to have the possibility to be informed about it. Unfortunately, in practice it is common that customers are sold expensive custom themes, but then actually fall back on free basic themes. - Industry expertise
Is the service provider in question familiar with your industry? That would also be a big plus. Nowadays, there is an agency for almost every industry that specializes only in companies in this area.
Industry knowledge is a nice-to-have, because then it is easier to talk to each other at eye level. - Pricing
It is impossible for a reputable provider to give blanket answers to the question of price. However, it would be helpful to have some guidelines or a from-to scale, so that you have a rough idea of what you can expect.
After the first conversation – when the needs and challenges have been clarified – an offer with exact prices should be made. - Chemistry
A point that should not be neglected is the right chemistry. Finally, it must also fit humanly, so that the cooperation with the web designers can be really fun.
As you can see, price is not the only factor you should consider when choosing the right agency to create your WordPress site. Unless the price offer of the agency is astronomically high and unaffordable, it is even one of the less important points. Trust me!
It’s worth spending a little more money and sleeping soundly with a really good website, rather than saving in the wrong place and having to deal with a lot of unnecessary stress.
The Alternative: If you Prefer not to Have your WordPress Website Built Externally
Maybe working with an agency or a freelancer is out of the question for you. Maybe your demands are so high that only you can meet them.
In that specific case, you can still create your WordPress site yourself with the right tools – but we must point out that the results can be far weaker than with a professional agency.
The right tools are the magic word here.
To create a good WordPress site on your own, we definitely recommend a paid premium theme from WP or (if there is no other way) the premium version of a pagebuilder plugin.
The premium versions because they contain far more functions than free tools. Still, you’ll save money than when you work with service providers.
Powerful WordPress themes are available for as little as 99 Euros, which means that you are practically no longer dependent on external help. Often WordPress agencies also work with these professional tools, which already speaks for the fact that you can build much better websites with them.
One of these all-in-one tools for WordPress is our GREYD.SUITE. You can use it to build gorgeous WordPress sites that not only look good, but also impress with fast performance and accessible web design.
Have you become curious?
If so, you can now test GREYD.SUITE absolutely free of charge and without obligation. Only if you are convinced and publish your website, you have to pay for it.
Click here and you will see that you can create your own WordPress website in the blink of an eye!
Alternatively, systems like Elementor or Divi might be an option for you. Countless WP websites have already been built with these pagebuilders.
There are now more than enough free tips, tutorials and videos that help you create your WordPress website with the various pagebuilders. All you have to do is a little research and follow the instructions.
Conclusion
Unless you have too much time on your hands or just like to create elaborate websites, it may make sense to get a professional WordPress website built externally.
Agencies through their experience know exactly what is important. Moreover, with premium tools (such as GREYD.SUITE) they can conjure up much better websites than amateurs with free tools.
Use the checklist in this article to find the right agency for your new website project. If you can’t find a suitable provider for you, you can still create your website all by yourself.
Thanks to the numerous tools on the market, this can now also be done without programming knowledge.
