Marketing campaigns and PPC strategies use landing pages to influence potential customers and drive conversions. With the search ads market having a projected spend of $279.30 billion in 2023, there’s no doubt that businesses invest in the design of their landing pages to create a positive user experience and improve their ROI. But how much does a landing page design cost?
Many believe creating a landing page design costs nothing. You can do it for free with the right amount of skill and time, but the quality may suffer as you may miss out on features that could increase conversions. The reality, however, is that landing page creation takes more resources than just a webpage as they are heavily conversion-driven and get optimized from time to time. It all depends on various factors such as complexity, visual elements, and the platform or software used for its construction.
Simply put, you have to be aware of the said factors to get the most out of your landing page design. Only then can you arrive at the right cost for your design.
We’ll walk you through all the factors and considerations in the following article; we’ll also share platforms you can use to design your landing page, from the free ones to the most expensive options. Read on as we will also help you know how to choose the best platform for your needs.
Clicking your PPC ads should cause users to land on a dedicated page, known as the ‘landing page’ – which is different from your homepage or any other navigation page. According to the [U.S. Web Design System](U.S. Web Design System), users often visit landing pages without understanding what is being offered or the service provided.
Companies create landing pages tailored to audiences and offers, providing clear info that helps convert. These pages usually focus on one goal signup (e.g., signup, download, purchase), which matches the PPC ad.
Landing pages help keep users focused on the desired action, avoiding distractions. This helps you get a higher ROI than with any other page on your website.
Knowing several factors that determine landing page design costs can help you get an estimate, and later, make a more informed decision.
Landing pages vary in design demands. Short-form ones take less time to design but need more expertise, while long-form pages need to fit all info and use interactive elements. Thus, total landing page design costs hinge on user flow, functions, and integration complexity.
Your brand’s visual identity should be visible on the landing page. With more specific guidelines on elements such as animations, illustrations, and videos, the cost could increase.
With more experience comes higher standards and knowledge of landing page elements (UI and UX) – a proven track record of these lets designers command higher prices for their services.
You’ll need a domain name (e.g., www.yourlandingpage.com) and hosting to make your landing page accessible online. Domain hosting and registration often have recurring fees, affecting your overall landing page design cost.
Some businesses invest money in analyzing user behavior and engagement through A/B testing, heat mapping, or click-through rate optimization to further improve their landing page performance. These are the usual components of conversion rate optimization (CRO), which yield higher ROI and cost more.
Discussing your needs with an agency can help you get an accurate cost estimate. Provide them with as much detail as possible for a better breakdown of landing page design costs.
Although they are the least popular, landing pages have a 23% conversation rate, which is the highest among all other sign-up forms. This makes it even more important for you to choose a platform that is easy to use and cost-effective.
You have endless choices when it comes to no-code tools for landing page creation. The drag-and-drop capabilities of these tools make the process of creating a landing page much simpler and faster. Some popular landing page-building tools include:
Unbounce
Landingi
Leadpages
Instapge
Carrd
Usually, these tools have a 14-day free trial period and then charge a monthly fee. The average landing page design cost with tools boils down to $113, so we recommend thoroughly researching the features of each tool before making a choice. Keep in mind that there could be extra add-ons you may not really need.
Develop at a Faster Pace If you don’t want to spend too much time on web dev, using a landing page builder and its template library is ideal.
Utilize Trial Offers: Make the most out of trial versions and even use that time to discover whether the landing page builder you are using is a good fit for your needs. You can test out the features and try to make versions of your pages to see which one works best.
Easy to Get Started: Installing a landing page builder is easy, and it can be used even by those who are not web developers. The tools come with step-by-step instructions to help you get started quickly.
Steep Learning Curve: The issue with many landing page builders is that they come with a steep learning curve. You may find yourself overwhelmed trying to figure out how the tools work and get familiar with all their features.
Limited Customization: You may not have the same level of flexibility and customization that you would get if you use HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
Takes Time to Perfect: The steep learning curve requires time and patience in order to master the process of designing effective landing pages.
Doubtful CRO: As you don’t have full control over the design and coding elements, your CRO might not be as good compared to a page that is built from scratch.
No coding is required when using landing page builders, but the challenge lies with how effective the end product is. Although it may take some time to perfect, users can make the most out of trial versions to discover if it is a good fit for their needs.
These are cost-effective – or even free – solutions for businesses to quickly create quality landing pages. Templates are pre-built with design and coding, so you don’t have to start from scratch. They also come with author support, which is a great way to get help from the developer should any issues arise.
Time and Cost-saving: With a pre-designed layout, you can expect to consume less time and pay less than hiring a professional designer to create a custom landing page design from scratch.
Minimum Skills Required: Similar to landing page builders, templates allow individuals with minimal technical skills to create landing pages. All you need to do is replace the existing content with your own and customize it.
Potential for Generic Appearance: When you use a template, there’s a chance that your landing page will look very similar to other pages created with the same template.
Limited Support and Updates: Although there’s author support, it can be limited (or none for some free and low-cost templates), and you will not get the same level of service as with a custom landing page. The template may also be updated less frequently, leading to issues with compatibility with software and browsers.
The unstoppable rise of freelance professionals has been one of the most important stories in business over the past decade, and it is changing how much landing page design costs. Websites like Upwork and Fiverr have been instrumental in connecting freelance professionals with clients and have made it easier than ever to hire a talented professional at an affordable rate.
You can spend around $15 to $200 per hour on hiring talent with an average rating of 4.8 stars. The best way to find a suitable freelancer is by looking at the history of their landing page projects, which is available on their Upwork profile.
Cheaper Services: Since freelancers all over the globe can bid for your project, you can get a great deal on the landing page design cost. It might seem low in your currency, but to the freelancer, it could be more than a livable wage.
Single Point of Contact: You only need to deal with one person, who is likely to be more responsive and easier to communicate with than a large team. This also makes it easier for you to provide feedback and ask questions about landing page projects.
Hard to Find the Best Fit: It can be difficult to find the right freelancer for your project, especially since many of them may not have experience in landing page design. You might need to take a risk on a lesser-known professional or spend more money on someone with more experience.
Limited Resources: Some freelancers may have limited access to certain tools or services, meaning you’ll have to manually monitor the progress of your project or obtain such tools for them. This adds up to your landing page design costs.
You Are Not the Priority: If you want someone to dedicate full attention to your project, you might need to pay extra for that privilege. Freelancers often have multiple projects going on at the same time, so yours will not be their only priority.
If Only You Could Hire Them All: Really good freelancers usually can’t be expected to know all the tricks of the trade. If you want to get the best of all worlds, you’ll need to hire designers, developers, and marketers separately for your landing page.
The bottom line is there is no one-size-fits-all freelancer, which requires you to go through the arduous task of finding and vetting each one.
You can always build an in-house team to work on your landing page. This gives you the advantage of having a dedicated group of professionals who are familiar with your brand and understand its vision, all working together full-time to create the perfect landing page.
But as landing page design costs money, you will need to invest in the following yearly salaries of a good in-house team:
(Source: Indeed)
With a need for at least $397,438 yearly, creating an in-house team is the most expensive option.
No Communication Problems Should there be any issues, all you need to do is call a meeting, and the team will be there.
Customization at Its Peak You can have the flexibility of making changes to the design, content, and other elements of your landing page as you see fit.
Expensive Landing page design costs when hiring an in-house team can be prohibitive for some businesses. On top of the salary, you’ll also need to look at benefits, office space, equipment, software licenses, and onboarding prices.
Might Not Have the Expertise In-house teams might need additional training and guidance to create the perfect landing page. This can involve bringing in external experts for consultation, which adds to the landing page design cost.
Lack of Scalability If there’s a sudden surge of work or your team needs to take on a new project, you’ll need to hire additional people as this might make it challenging for them to manage all rise in demands efficiently.
Limited Perspective Fresh ideas, concepts, and approaches need to be innovated and implemented in order to make a landing page stand out from the crowd. An in-house team may be limited to their personal perspectives, making it necessary for you to look at external resources for ideas.
Although it may be a viable option for some big businesses, an in-house team may not offer the most affordable landing page design cost.
With their comprehensive services for landing page creation and maintenance, web design and development companies provide digital design for various industries and purposes. However, their expertise with landing pages may vary as their core is only website design and development.
Rigid Systems: Due to the nature of their services, web design and development companies often have more rigid systems. This means that they may be limited in terms of customization options and approaches to design, making it more difficult for you to get exactly what you’re looking for.
Employing the Wrong Experience: There’s a reason we hire experts in all sectors; in medicine, for example, we have general practitioners, surgeons, and specialists. The same applies to web design – you need the right expertise for the job. If a company doesn’t have enough experience with landing pages specifically, it might be a challenge for them to understand your requirements properly.
Not Conversion-Focused: Web design companies tend to be more concerned with the aesthetics of web pages rather than optimizing them for better conversion rates.
Since you need plenty of knowledge of competitor research, copywriting, offer generation, etc., in making high-converting landing pages, it may be difficult for a web design company to decrease overall landing page design costs.
Similar to how a web design company specializes in its core services, a landing page design agency focuses on creating single landing pages that are bound to get results. These agencies have expert teams of experienced designers, developers, copywriters, and testers in their field who are well-versed in the back and forth of designing, developing, and implementing landing pages.
We won’t make landing page design costs a secret. At Apexure itself, creating 12 custom types of landing page design costs $36,000 - $60,000, depending on the services and support required. That’s already one landing page per month for a whole year. This amount is around 80% less than what you might spend on creating an in-house team.
But what do you get?
Relevant Expertise: Landing page design agencies have extensive knowledge of conversion optimization, A/B testing, UX best practices, and other key elements that are necessary to create an effective landing page.
A tech-Agnostic team: To ensure your landing pages benefit from the latest standards and advancements, landing page design agencies have teams that are adept at creating pages using a variety of technologies.
Scalable: No locked-in landing page design costs associated with hiring, training, and managing additional in-house employees. You can simply hire an agency and pay for their services, depending on your scaling needs.
Pertinent Experience: Conversion-focused design, principles, and objectives are easy to understand for landing page design agencies. They know how to build pages that are optimized to generate leads, increase conversions, and maximize ROI.
Reliable network of professionals: Landing page design agencies have access to a wide network of professionals, such as copywriters, designers, developers, and testers, who can help you create high-converting pages.
With such agencies, landing page design costs become more predictable and controllable. It may not be a faster option than templates or a cheaper alternative to hiring freelancers. Still, it definitely is the most reliable way to go about creating a successful landing page.
The winning platform for landing page costs totally depends on you. However, we recommend looking at these four things when hiring someone to build your landing pages:
Budget
Objective/Conversions
Deadline
Design
Using the Venn diagram below, you can align these points according to your priority, choices, and preferences.
Considering landing page design costs requires you to choose a platform that best fits your needs, budget, objective, and time. If you believe that the quality of work is more important than landing page design cost and you don’t have enough time to manage a team or learn about web design yourself, then hiring an agency is your best bet.
Look no further than Apexure, a quality landing page design agency with over 8 years of experience in the field. With our expertise in conversion-focused design, industry best practices, and a reliable network of professionals, you can ensure that your investment in landing page design yields a strong ROI and positions your business for success in the digital landscape.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help you create high-converting landing pages.
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Founder & CEO of Apexure, Waseem worked in London’s Financial Industry. He has worked on trading floors in BNP Paribas and Trafigura, developing complex business systems. Waseem loves working with Startups and combines data and design to create improved User Experiences.
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