This topic is actively discussed in the web development market – the price range is too wide. Let’s just look at the entire development process and, based on the standard hour, calculate the cost of the site. First, let’s see how much a developer’s standard hour should cost.

The average developer salary in Moscow is equals of 1.300 U$D. Assuming that a day is 8 hours, a week is 40 and a month is 160 hours, we divide 100.000/160 = 8.125$. On average, large companies buy an hour from 12-17$, which we see is almost 1.5-2 times more expensive. Let’s take 12$ for the cost of a standard hour.
Consider the complete process of developing a website using the example of a company from the top 10 and a typical corporate website.
Here are the stages with timing.
1. Briefing – 6 hours
2. Design (writing a technical assignment) – 40 hours.
3. Design concept – 80 hours.
4. Technical design (on average 15 – 20 page layouts, including such pages as error 404, 502, search page, search output, etc.) – 120 hours.
5. Transferring content (to an empty system, no design, technical prototype, no more than 100 printed pages) – 40 hours.
6. Layout + integration with CMS – 160 hours.
7. Testing – 8 hours.

We must not forget the percentage of account manager (sales manager) and project manager!

Simple math again:
6 + 40 + 80 + 120 + 40 + 160 + 8 = 454 hours
454 hours * 12$ = 5.448 U$D

The percentage of the project manager is on average 25% of the total project cost. The percentage of the sales manager is on average 5-7% of the total project cost. But we will put these percentages further in the coefficient.
So. At this stage, we see that the development of a simple corporate website, without programming, costs 5.448$. This does not include managers and additional. Costs.
Next, we introduce a coefficient that will include:

Margin
Sales Manager Percentage
Project manager percentage
Accounting department
Lawyers
Office
And other add. expenses.

In large companies, the coefficient is 3-4. Take the coefficient K = 4. Multiplying 454,000 * 4 = 21.792$. We just get that average check of 25.000$, for which large companies are ready to develop a simple corporate website.

 

Consider the situation of a small studio that does not always make sites according to the same process as in large companies.

1. Briefing – 2 hours
2. Design – 0 (usually it is not, everything is left to the mercy of the designer).
3. Design concept – 80 hours.
4. Technical design – 0 (again, rarely does anyone draw site pages, including 404 errors, advanced search pages, search results, etc.)
5. Transfer of content – 0 (the studio does not always fill the site).
6. Layout – 160 hours.
7. Testing – 0 (there is no tester in small companies, the maximum is the project manager himself).

Total: 2 + 80 + 160 = 242 hours
242 * 12 = 2.904$

Note, this is the cost!
Further, since in a small company there are fewer overhead settlements, there is no separate sales, then the K coefficient is approximately equal to 2 – 2.5. Let’s take the maximum option 2.5.

2.904 * 2.5 = 7.260$
See what we got.

The minimum cost of the site is 7.260$. Accordingly, if you are offered development for 250 or 700$, then you are either deceived and the price will certainly increase during development, or the site will be developed by non-professional specialists, because it is very difficult to find a professional who is ready to work for a salary of less than 1.300$
If the developer is not a professional, then the site will turn out to be not professional and will not solve all the tasks that will be assigned to him.

Regional studios are not specifically considered. In the regions, the salary is lower, but if you use the same simple logic to calculate it, you can see that even there the cost of the site is 250$. The main problem of regional studios is the lack of large clients, so more and more such studios are retraining into production companies that work on contracts with major market players.