There is a lot to take in count when you are building a website. Making a beautiful design is relatively simple. The functionality from your site is important. Click-to-call buttons, social media buttons, linking and the overall layout off your text will all have an impact of how visitors will interact with your site. On & offsite optimization is a key factor because you want that your site is easily accessible, easy to use and attractive. The sites speed is determent wether or not a customer is going to stay on your site. If your site is too slow to load, you will more than likely lose that customer, since the attention span off a person online is about 7 seconds. You need a optimized sites that loads within those 7 precious seconds! You want to implement sales psychology as you are building/optimizing a site. What should a web design cost? Well, that all depends on your needs. For small, local companies that require a simple, functional, clean and professional looking site, the cost is overall very reasonable. It gets more expensive when working with national companies wanting more complex sites with tons of content, multiple plugins etc.