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There are many tools that make it possible for beginners to create professional websites on WordPress. That said, if you lack the time or an eye for detail, you might prefer to hire a WordPress designer. But how much does web design cost?
Knowing more about the services provided by WordPress designers can help you better understand the costs. WordPress designers handle several tasks, including logo design and speed optimization. Therefore, prices can vary drastically.
In this post, we’ll explore the main services that WordPress designers offer and look at how much they cost. Then, we’ll help you decide whether you should hire WordPress designers or consider alternatives instead. Let’s get started!
Main WordPress design services (and estimated costs)
In this section, we list the main services offered by WordPress designers. Plus, we’ll include approximate pricing details for each service, with a particular focus on the cost to work with experienced professionals.
1. Logo design and branding
Logo design and branding are important aspects of your business, setting the tone for the user experience on your website. Additionally, they ensure consistency across all touchpoints and improve brand recognition.
If you think about well-known companies like Starbucks or Nike, you’re likely picturing the brand’s logo, colors, fonts, or slogan. This instant reaction and awareness is what good branding can do for your business.
Many people hold the misconception that branding refers to logos alone. But, that’s just a part of it. You can find WordPress designers that deliver full brand kits.
This process includes experts carefully picking out color schemes, typography, and images that represent your business identity and help you stand out from the competition. You can find freelance designers that offer more affordable costs but it’s best to stick with experienced professionals such as “Top Rated” or “Pro” contractors.
Typically, you’ll receive the work in various file formats like SVG, PDF, and JPG. However, you must agree with the designer that you’ll retain full ownership of the finished designs.
Cost range: $200-$650
2. Style guides
Consistency is important for establishing a strong brand identity and meeting users’ expectations. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to create style guides – otherwise known as brand books or brand guides.
The specifics of this service differ based on the designer you use, but generally, a style guide provides you with a range of website designs and templates that you can apply to your website, emails, social media, and more.
Some designers also include logo and brand design as part of the package. After that, you might get access to mood boards, patterns, and source files for things like business cards, letterheads, email signatures, etc.
This way, you can reuse these materials easily, so you’ll achieve professional-looking designs in a fraction of the time it would take to create them from scratch. You can also find specialists that go one step further and add brand mockups for merchandise or include usage guidelines (like do’s and don’t’s).
Cost range: $500-$3000
3. Theme customization
When you install WordPress, you have to activate a WordPress theme which defines the look and feel of your website. But you might not be happy with any of the available options, or you might want to achieve a custom website that looks like no other.
If a theme is missing features or you want to make significant adjustments, you’ll likely need a WordPress developer. But designers can help you add or edit pages, change the color and layout, update content, and more.
Additionally, some designers may offer ongoing support, which is great if you encounter bugs and other issues. You might also get access to tools that you would otherwise have to pay for.
On Fiverr, you’ll find many professionals who can customize themes like Divi (which is a paid theme builder). These options are often good for beginners because the expert will usually install the theme for you and import demo content.
Typically, pricing is based on how many pages you require. For example, if you only need five pages customized, you’ll pay less than a website owner that requires 10+ pages customizing. You might also have to pay more for ecommerce theme customization.
Cost range: $400-$1500
4. Responsive pages
Since the majority of global web traffic comes from mobile phones, it’s important to make sure that your pages are responsive. They should adjust seamlessly to different screen sizes like desktops, tablets, and mobiles.
You can either hire an expert to design your entire website and make it mobile-friendly, or you can find specialists who will deliver a responsive landing page (or even website sections).
For example, you may simply require a hamburger menu to make your site easier for mobile users to navigate. But, complete solutions will deliver adjustable layouts, responsive animations, automatic image resizing, contact forms, popup functionality, etc.
Therefore, the cost varies depending on the complexity and scale of your project. If you simply seek responsive sections or an individual landing page, this will naturally cost less than multi-page websites.
Cost range: $400-$3000
5. Speed and SEO optimization
If you want to keep visitors happy, you’ll need to optimize your website. This is crucial for getting more conversions and sales.
Slow loading times can increase bounce rates, which in turn may negatively impact your search engine rankings. Therefore, a fast website can help you perform better.
There are other techniques to help you improve search engine optimization (SEO), like sitemaps, keyword-rich metadata, and schema markup. Many website owners rely on plugins to optimize website speed and SEO, but too many plugins can slow your site down.
If you want to hire a website designer to handle these tasks, you can find all-in-one SEO packages that might include services like minification, image resizing, database optimization, lazy loading, etc. Naturally, this will cost less than hiring a designer to target specific optimization tasks like browser caching or core web vitals enhancements.
Cost range: $200-$1000
6. Integrations
Although WordPress is a powerful platform, you may need to extend its functionality or connect to third-party tools. If you’re designing a website yourself, you can often use plugins.
As we discussed earlier, you don’t want to become too dependent on plugins since they can negatively impact website performance. Therefore, you might prefer to hire WordPress designers who can offer API integrations that won’t slow down your site:
Perhaps you want to connect your website to social platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Or, if you host lots of videos, you can integrate your site with a remote file storage location like Dropbox.
Other popular integrations include Google Analytics, Zoho, HubSpot, WooCommerce, Twilio, PayPal, and Stripe. Generally, these platforms cover email marketing, CMS, analytics, and payment gateways. But as you’d expect, the complexity of APIs will impact the price.
Cost range: $200-$1000
Cost breakdown from popular freelance sites
As we’ve discussed throughout each section, there are various factors that impact the cost of a project. The size of your website, the complexity of the task, and the experience and skill of the designer are all factors that will be taken into account to generate a quote.
But to give you a more concrete idea of the cost, let’s take a look at the price of these services offered on freelancer sites. While we’ll discuss standard prices listed on these platforms, it’s important to note that designers may charge more if they’ve worked with high-profile clients or specialize in niche areas.
Fiverr
Fiverr is one of the most popular freelance websites. Although at first it may seem like you can hire WordPress designers for around $100, you’ll often find that this is limited to just one landing or sales page. Or, the cost may refer to a more simplistic website type like a portfolio.
If you click to access the specific services offered by these professionals, you’ll see that to obtain a fully responsive website design, you’ll often be paying in the region of $5000 for 8-10 pages:
This number will often be higher if you also require ecommerce functionality.
If you have a tight turnaround for the work, designers often charge more. Plus, some experts will ask you to pay extra if the project requires multiple revisions before it’s right.
Upwork
Let’s turn to Upwork which is another popular freelance site. Unlike Fiverr, Upwork professionals charge an hourly rate. If you look specifically for WordPress designers, you’ll often find rates between $85-$130 per hour which can quickly add up.
Additionally, most experts will even charge over $100 for a 30-minute consultation:
One of the main drawbacks of an hourly rate is that it also makes it difficult to find “cheaper” jobs. With Fiverr (where professionals have you pay per project), you would usually pay less for smaller tasks like speed optimization or logo design.
However, when experts work at an hourly rate, this is often the same, regardless of the work they’re doing. Naturally, a smaller job will take less time to complete, so it should still work out cheaper. But, you’re unlikely to find cheaper rates.
In fact, designers can even charge more when the service is more specialized. For example, you can find branding or design specialists that charge over $150 per hour. And, the hourly billing structure also means that you tend to pay extra if revisions are required.
Should you hire a WordPress designer?
If you’re thinking of hiring WordPress designers to enhance or customize your website, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons first.
Freelance designers often provide a very specific or niche type of expertise which can be useful. And because you can find flexible options, you’ll usually only pay for the services you need.
But since you’re working with just one professional, they may have limited resources. Additionally, some freelancers don’t provide ongoing support, so if you run into issues further down the line, you’ll need to hire a separate expert. While the initial cost may not seem too expensive, this will certainly add up if you need many things for your site.
That’s why you might prefer to partner with WordPress agencies like Freshy. This way, you’ll get the power and resources of an agency combined with the personal touch of a freelancer:
For example, you’ll be paired with a dedicated project manager, so that your unique goals and needs are properly understood and evaluated. You can also access additional services like WordPress development, maintenance, security, and support to ensure that your site runs smoothly.
Contrary to popular belief, agencies like Freshy can be a more cost-effective option as you’re paying for an all-in-one solution with no hidden costs. Plus, prices are tailored to your needs, rather than the generic one-size-fits-all approach that you’ll often find with freelance designers.
Conclusion
A stunning website can impress your audience. But your site should also be built to facilitate easy navigation, gain high search rankings, and improve brand recognition. While WordPress designers can help you with this, it’s important to educate yourself about the costs.
There are different kinds of design services, including logo design, integrations, and speed optimization. If you need the whole package, you’ll often pay around $5000 for 8-10 pages. But, designers can also handle specific tasks like theme customization which costs $400-$1500.
That said, freelancers generally don’t offer ongoing support and maintenance. Therefore, you might prefer to hire a WordPress agency like Freshy. You’ll have a dedicated project manager who’ll take care of all your design needs. Get a quote for your project today!
Featured image credit: Unsplash.