Wix is a powerful website-building platform that integrates with hundreds of third-party apps. This means you can make simple DIY static sites as well as complex websites that involve a lot of programming logic. What you charge for your Wix website depends on what you want the website to achieve.
Should Wix Websites Cost Lower Than Regular Websites?
Clients typically expect a website built on Wix to be cheaper than building one from scratch. Here are a few reasons that clients cite to justify paying a lower price for Wix websites.
- Wix websites need to paid for on a monthly basis
Designing a website from scratch would mean you “own” the design and can deploy it wherever you want. Wix websites, on the other hand, need to be deployed only on the platform that charges a monthly fee. From a client’s perspective, this is not a good deal.
- AI website design tools are cheaper and equally good
The recent past has seen the rise of Generative AI tools that can help you design your websites as well as DIY tools like Wix. Some of them are cheaper and others are only as expensive as the hosting solution you serve them from. Although some users may still find Wix more seamless and easier to use than these generative AI tools, it is a subjective opinion, and you must keep the availability of such tools in mind while picking the best, and most affordable option for you.
- You don’t need real designing skills to build a website on Wix
Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder which means you do not need all the HTML and CSS styling skills to build a website.
- You don’t “own” the website
Never mind the fact that Wix is a big brand in the DIY website design industry. The fact remains that you are at the whim of someone at Wix. You never know when your website gets shut down.
Given these risks and constraints, clients may find it justified to seek a lower fee. After all, given that Wix is a DIY builder, the client is only paying for your time, not necessarily your skills.
Why Wix Is No Different From Other Website Building Frameworks
As a website designer, how much should you charge to build a Wix website? Let’s take a relook at the points above and offer justifiable counterpoints, to begin with.
- Running a website is a monthly expense
Sure, Wix charges a monthly fee that you do not incur when you build your own design from scratch. But when you run a Wix website, you save on monthly web hosting expenses.
Wix is not only a website design platform but also your hosting partner. Basic websites on Wix cost around $5/month which is on par with what shared hosting costs on a lot of popular website hosting platforms.
- Wix has a learning curve too
Although Wix is a drag and drop website builder, it has its own learning curve. You cannot build amazing websites right away. Learning how to do things on Wix takes time, and that’s a skill that the client has to pay for.
Besides, Wix also has a lot of complex modules that can be customized with scripting. So, if your website project involves anything beyond editing pre-existing templates, then it requires skills that the client ought to pay for.
How much should I charge to build a website?
The cost of building a website should NOT be based on the number of hours put in.
This is because an inexperienced developer who will take several hours to complete a project typically charges lower than an experienced developer who can do the same project in an hour. This is similar to using a professional logo maker to deliver a curated and fine design faster than hiring a designer to do the same task.
Technically speaking, the client pays more or less the same in either case.
The right way to bill a website development project is by understanding the value that it brings to a client. Higher the perceived value, the higher your fee.
If your client is a mom-and-pop store that needs a website to showcase their phone number, then the website is not a big part of their business operations. It doesn’t make sense to charge this client thousands of dollars, or even build a site that is worth so much money.
On the other hand, if your client is an eCommerce store, then the website is essentially the face of their business. Even seemingly minor formatting issues could cause a drop in sales. Such clients are generally ready to pay a higher sum for website development.
This is not to say that you charge more from a client simply because they have more on the line. The point here is that when the perceived value is higher, you tend to spend more time and energy brainstorming each element on the site, testing them, and making sure that the website absolutely delivers. So, this is the fee a client pays for perfection.
How much does it cost to run a website monthly?
The average cost of running a website can vary from $5 a month to as high as $5000 a month or more. This cost is directly proportional to the perceived value that the website brings to the client’s business. A high-value website will need a more powerful, and reliable server that costs more. It may also have paid tools for CDN, analytics, downtime detection, and other services.
How to charge for a Wix website
You may charge anywhere from $100 per project, to as high as $1000 per page to build a Wix website. The fee depends on what your website requirements are.
A static site with a generic homepage, ‘About Us’, and ‘Contact’ pages should not cost a lot, especially if your client is going to be providing you with all the content that goes into these pages and you plan to use one of the pre-made templates.
However, if you run an eCommerce store that integrates directly with your payment gateway, Amazon seller account, and has other features like referral programs, and email forms takes a lot more work. The average cost of such a project can be as high as $2000 for a mid-sized project.