The real answer is ... too much. Or at least that's what everyone I talk to seems to feel.
But you must understand before proceeding further, this is not a "buy", it is an investment.
This is not like buying a donut, where once you eat the donut you are left with nothing. With your newly created website, you should have a long-term opportunity to earn money and promote your business.
For large corporations, like Apple, Best Buy, and Amazon, they can afford to spend money on a flashy site. But for most people and businesses (like you and me), the most important thing is not the wiz bangs, but a clean direct message that people can easily read and a site that turns visitors into buyers. Read more here about this article.
The less wiz blows up, and the costs of a website go down. Where a full-featured wiz-bang website could cost you thousands, maybe even tens of thousands ... a more basic, high-converting, well-designed and written site without the wiz-bags will cost significantly less.
Don't let anyone tell you something different. Depending on the number of pages, you shouldn't expect to pay more than a thousand dollars. In most cases, your investment in a web design should be even less.
You generally have two options: pay per page or a flat rate for the entire site. This will depend on the designer you work with.
Remember that the good guys don't just want to get paid, they want to make sure you're happy, so they can get more business with you in the future. For example, I generally charge $ 700 for an informational site and a minimum of $ 1200 for e-commerce sites. Now these prices vary, they depend on the number of pages and they work for me. And the same will happen with most designers.
But ultimately, I'm motivated to cultivate good customer relationships, so I could do a little more.
Things like search engine optimization (vital to your success), graphic design, and content creation can drive up the price of the project.
As a trained copywriter, writing is something I am good at and love to do. So I will include some content writing in my pricing, especially if the client helps me with research and I anticipate a relationship beyond web design.
Search engine optimization can cost more, but most designers should be willing to do at least a minimum of SEO included in the price of their website.
If there isn't, find someone else.
Just remember 4 things ...
1.) Magic-filled websites cost a lot of money ... find out if you really need them or not.
2.) Your web designer will charge you per page or per project ... too many will want half from and half upon completion.
3.) Content writing is additional, and so is SEO unless discussed in advance. Make sure he agrees to the terms before not only in design but also in content writing and SEO. Without SEO, your website may have all the wiz-bangs, but no one will see it
4.) You are the boss, don't ruin your designer ... but if you don't feel comfortable with him, don't work with him. Remember this should be a long working relationship, you don't want to work with someone you can't stand or trust. The good guys want to work with you and get more business from you ... treat them well and they will do a great job for you.