#homecaremarketing How Much Does a Home Care Website Cost?

Great question! We have some great answers.

Home Care Agency Owners are obviously confused by the wide difference in cost estimates provided by web development agencies, ranging widely from as little as $3,000 to over $20,000.

LTC Expert Publications has put together a list of items below that home care businesses should consider, and the corresponding pricing for our marketplace.

Let’s get a very basic question out of the way: Should you use WIX, or Godaddy Site Builder, or 1and1 Free Site Builder, or buy a template from an overseas company for $250? (The short answer is NO, NEVER, NOT in a MILLION YEARS)

The best way to answer this question is with this analogy:

Have you heard of the Fast, Good and Cheap analogy where you are asked to pick any two?

• The Fast (Time),
• Good (Quality) and
• Cheap (Price/Resources)

This triangle suggests all three parts of a project are interrelated, and it is not possible to optimize all three – one will always suffer.

In other words, you have three options:

• Design something quickly and to a high standard, but then it will not be cheap.
• Design something quickly and cheaply, but it will not be of high quality.
• Design something with high quality and cheaply, but it will take a long time.

So keep this in mind – if you shop on price alone, you will most likely sacrifice quality and/or time. If you shop for value, you will get quality work that is adequately timed and for the right price.

In our information below we assume the following to be true:

• Pricing estimates are based on our hourly rate.
• Pricing estimates include planning, design, programming, marketing setup and launch.
• All home care websites will be mobile/tablet-responsive.
• All home care websites are built on a WordPress platform to empower non-technical staff to edit most content themselves.
• Clients will provide all text content (body copy, product/ team images).

Clarification: custom databases, and 3rd-party integration

Custom Database: All the websites we create use a database to hold your content so it can be displayed on your website pages. For these estimates we are assuming you need an out-of-the-box database and don’t require any special customizations of a standard database.

3rd-party Integrations: A “3rd-party” is any outside application or service you need to include within your website. We do include Google Analytics and some standard plug-ins in our estimates but we do not include integrating outside applications, systems and other complex outside services.

Costs for first-time home care websites:

“Small home care business, first-time home care website” is a website consisting of up to five main sections with a total of 10 pages. No custom plug-ins or databases.

A home care website budget is determined by the estimated number of hours required to design and build it. Website developers have different rates depending on their overhead. An offshore web company  (India or the Philippines) may charge anywhere from $10 – $40/hr while an established US web agency may charge between $60 – $200/hr or more. You may find a solo web developer in the US charging between $25 – $100/hr.

We never recommend that any serious home care business use a one-person shop or an offshore team.

Successful home care website design involves several distinct disciplines (marketing, user experience design, visual design, programming, and project management) and these are very hard to find in one person. With offshore agencies, communication can be challenging:  Do they understand your business goals or your home care market? Do their design sensibilities match your market? Do they understand your instructions? The time difference can prove a difficulty as well.

So how much will your website cost?  

Home Care Website Breakdown:

• Planning – $0 – $600
• UX (sitemap, wireframes) – $800 – $1200
• Visual Design – $500-$1200
• Programming – $300-$1200
• Content Support – $300 – $600
• Client Training / Documentation – $0 – $600
• Testing and Launch – $1000 – $1200

Total Cost: $2,900 – $6,600  *and up, depending on Requirements

This also assumes a short, streamlined approval process without too many revisions or additional requests thrown in there.

Post-launch we definitely recommend a minimum of $500 per month for ongoing, proactive marketing efforts and SEO.

Home Care Website Re-Designs

If you have an existing home care website, you are in a good position to improve your online presence with a re-design and the addition of functionality to keep you competitive. Since you already have a website and some knowledge of its effectiveness, we can use that experience and your new website will be much more effective at meeting your home care business goals.

Our definition of “small home care business website” is a website consisting of up to seven main sections with 20 total pages. No custom plug-ins or databases.

90% of our re-design projects require new programming. Web standards change frequently and home care websites that are over two years old will likely need a newer framework that supports newer functionality and design specs, such as wider pages, mobile-responsive design (tablet & phone) and the latest plug-ins.

If we don’t need to rebuild your home care website then you can deduct about 50% from the estimates below.

So how much will my website cost?  

Home Care Website Breakdown:

• Planning – $0 – $600
• UX (sitemap, wireframes) – $800 – $1200
• Visual Design – $500-$1200
• Programming – $300-$1200
• Content Support – $300 – $600
• Client Training / Documentation – $0 – $600
• Testing and Launch – $1000 – $1200

Total Cost: $2,900 – $6,600   *and up, depending on Requirements

Post-launch we definitely recommend a minimum of $500 per month for ongoing, proactive marketing efforts.

Mid-Size Home Care Agency Website Enhancements/Upgrades

“Mid-Size Home Care Agency Website” is a website consisting of up to seven main sections with a total of 30 pages.  No custom plug-ins or databases. 3rd-party integration is minimal. 

If you are the marketing or website manager in your home care company and you have been given the task of upgrading your website then you know how important it is to have an online partner you can work with to achieve your business goals. We talk with many companies who lost their website support person and are searching for a reliable agency to enhance and maintain their online presence.   If you need enhancements to your current website we first have to see if your existing website framework can be modified to achieve your goals. These days, most business owners want their website to be mobile-responsive (tablet/phone) and unfortunately this can only be accomplished by rebuilding the whole website. In a perfect world, we can migrate the current database into a newer, responsive framework this will reduce the costs, especially if the website structure is relatively unchanged.

If the website is already mobile responsive or the current desktop version will suffice, then businesses are usually looking for ways to enhance their websites with a design/brand refresh, add new content and/or improve conversions. These efforts can often be successful if there is proper planning. If we don’t need to rebuild your website then you can deduct about 50% from the estimates below. Our process is very flexible and we are happy to work with our client’s preferred designer or marketing agency if desired. 

Home Care Website Breakdown:

Conversion of a mid-size website to out-of-the-box, mobile-responsive website with no major additional enhancements:

Planning / UX (sitemap, wireframes) – $300 – $1200

Visual Design – $600 – $1200 (some visual design elements will need to be modified due to mobile responsive specifications)

Programming – $1200 – $2400 (for smaller websites)

Programming – $2400 – $4800 (for larger websites)

Content Support/ Migration – $300 – $600

Client Training / Documentation – $0 – $600

Testing and Launch – $960 – $2,400

Total Cost: $3,300 – $8,400 for smaller websites  *and up, depending on Requirements

Total Cost: $4,560 – $10,800 for larger websites  *and up, depending on Requirements

Post-launch we definitely recommend a minimum of $500 per month for ongoing, proactive marketing efforts

Large-Size Home Care Agency Website Enhancements/Upgrades

“Large-size home care business website” is a website consisting of up to eight main sections with a total of 40 pages.  No custom plug-ins or databases. 3rd-party integrations are minimal. 

If you are the marketing or website manager in a larger business and you have been tasked with upgrading or enhancing your website then you know how important it is to have a reliable, full-service, online partner. We talk with many companies who want to outsource their website design and maintenance tasks because their internal team is too busy or not up-to-date with contemporary web trends and standards.

Larger companies with multiple branches or divisions typically have more complex websites with multiple sections and sub-sections of content. This means that the database and page templates can require more effort to build. If you need website enhancements, we need to determine if your existing website framework can be modified to achieve your goals. These days, most business owners want their website to be mobile-responsive. In most cases, we can only implement this functionality by rebuilding the website using newer framework. In a perfect scenario, we would be able to migrate the current database into a newer, responsive framework. If that’s possible, it will help to reduce the costs, especially if we’re not radically modifying website structure in the new version.

If the website is already mobile responsive or the current desktop version will suffice, then businesses are usually looking for ways to enhance their websites with a design refresh, add new content and/or improve conversions. These efforts can be successful if there is proper planning and adherence to the company style guide and coding best-practices. If we don’t need to rebuild your website then you can deduct about 50% from the estimates below. Our process is also very flexible and we are happy to work with our client’s preferred designer, marketing agency and internal tech team, if desired.

Home Care Website Breakdown:

Large website conversions to an out-of-the-box, mobile-responsive website with no additional enhancements:

Planning / UX – $600 – $2,400 *and up

Visual Design – $1,200 – $3,600 (some visual design elements will need to be modified due to mobile responsive specifications)

Content Support/ Migration – $300 – $1800

Programming – $3,500 – $15,500

Client Training / Documentation – $300 – $1800

Testing and Launch – $1,200 – $4,800

Total Cost: $7,100 – $29,900  *and up, depending on Requirements

Post-launch we definitely recommend a minimum of $500 per month for ongoing, proactive marketing efforts

Other Home Care Website Costs

Besides the main cost of designing and building a website, there are other costs that can impact your budget during development and on an ongoing maintenance basis. 

• Domain name – $10/year (or less)
• Hosting – $50 to $1000+ a year depending on traffic and hosting services. For example you may want to pay extra for regular website backups and extra security features.
• Continued website maintenance and upgrades: $1,000+ per year, depending on level of support and updates required.
• Stock art: Royalty-free stock art photos and graphics can range from $15 – $100+ each depending on license fees and usage.
• Marketing Your Website Online / SEO – $500 a month and up to proactively market your website. (Content, E-Newsletters, Social Media etc)

Questions? Contact us at 888-404-1513 or email George@ltcep.com

• About
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Valerie VanBooven RN BSN

Co-Owner, Author at LTC Expert Publications

Valerie VanBooven, Managing Partner/ Co-Owner of LTC Expert Publications

Valerie’s motto and favorite saying is: “Impact is not created by big budgets, impact is created by innovative marketing ideas!”

Valerie is a Registered Nurse and the author of three books, Aging Answers (2003), The Senior Solution (2007) and Priceless Caregiving (2009). Her adventure in internet marketing began as a self-promotion experiment and ended up becoming a full time marketing consulting business for the elder care market.

Valerie has appeared on national television (Today Show), has hosted her own local radio show, and has been interviewed for dozens of publications and radio shows across the country regarding her business and the business of elder care.

She fast became the foremost authority in driving sales via the internet, seminars, and e-mail for senior service providers and elder care entrepreneurs.While Valerie’s best known for her expertise in marketing, her students share that her biggest impact comes from her ability to make things happen quickly, even on a small budget.

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Latest posts by Valerie VanBooven RN BSN (see all)

• How Much Does a Home Care Website Cost? - April 24, 2015
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