Website Development Costs: Real-World Budget Breakdowns from 2021

Curious about website development costs? Here’s an insider’s look into the 2021 budgets of some thriving websites. While these figures provide a snapshot of the past, it’s essential to note that you can expect these budgets to be considerably higher in 2023 due to inflation and rising operational costs.

The budgets presented below reflect the average costs of a premium agency in Romania. If you aim to extrapolate these costs for regions like the US or Western Europe, consider multiplying the figures by 2x or 3x.

Former Dealul Cu Afine, now rebranded to The Blue Renaissance

An organic blueberry farm located in Fagaras, Romania. Founded by Ajay Naqvi, a former creative excellence executive at Coca-Cola and CMO at Airbnb, Dealul cu Afine has streamlined the online buying process for organic goods, making it just a click away for their customers.

Investment in 2021:

• Development: 8,700 Euro
• Change Requests: 1,400 Euro
• Design: 2,400 Euro
• Maintenance: 120 euros/month
• Hosting: 15 euros/month

Launch Date: April 2021

End-of-Year Results (2021):

• Sales Growth: 70% increase, from approximately 60,000 euros in 2020 to around 107,000 euros by the end of 2021.
• New User Accounts: 700 created on the website.
• Newsletter Subscribers: Approximately 1,300 new subscribers.
• Funding: 500,000 euros raised with a tech focus, leading to the expansion of the website into a marketplace and mobile app development.
• SEO Achievement: Ranked first in search results for keywords such as “bio blueberries” and “organic blueberries” without any external SEO investment, except for the allocated development budget.

Website Category: Small e-Commerce

Special Features:

• Full Order Tracking: Customers can track their orders via web, e-mail, SMS, and push notifications from the moment the blueberries are picked until delivery.
  
• Weather-Dependent Notifications: With API integration to a weather provider, the system sends automatic order delay notifications. Suppose weather conditions prevent farmworkers from picking blueberries. In that case, clients with orders for that day are notified about the situation and redirected to the website to monitor the weather in real-time.
  

CannaZip

CannaZip is a unique brand offering Cannabis/CBD-specific flexible packaging pouches. Tailored for the industry by the industry, the website emphasizes its cutting-edge ordering and production process, catering to the dynamic needs of the Cannabis and CBD markets

Investment in 2021:

• Development: 13,500 Euro (No additional costs for change requests as the initial brief was perfectly executed)
• Design: 3,200 Euro
• Maintenance: 480 euros/month
• Hosting: 20 euros/month

Total Budget Spent in 2021: 22,700 EUR

Special Features:

Onboarding Tutorial: The website offers a comprehensive tutorial for new clients, guiding them through the entire order process.

Forbes Romania

Forbes Romania operates as a bimonthly national circulation magazine under the Forbes license. Besides its regular publications, Forbes Romania annually ranks Romania’s top 500 businesses and entrepreneurs.

Investment in 2021:

• Development: 14,400 Euro
• Change Requests: 3,800 Euro (Design costs were nil due to approval from the central entity)
• Maintenance: 160 euros/month
• Hosting: 50 euros/month

Total Budget Spent in 2021: 20,720 EUR

Budget Notes:

While the specifics of other marketing activities by Forbes are not detailed, it is known that there were no paid ads in 2021 for the website. However, there were two months of paid advertising for some physical events.

Results:

• Ad Space Increase: Over 50% growth while also refreshing the design.
• Traffic Growth: There was a 30% increase in the first three months post-launch while maintaining all former Google Search Rankings.
• Ad Impressions: Over 70% increase in total ad impressions.

Website Category: Big Media Website

Special Features:

• Infinity Scroll: Allows users to continuously scroll through content without clicking on pagination.
  
• Ad-server Integration: The Forbes’ Marketing Team has complete autonomy over ad placements, including selection, location, and space occupancy.

Ready to stop guessing and start planning?

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