Asking “how much is a website” is as useless as “how much is a workshop.” No scope, every quote is a guess. The dimensions below put budget and time in a checkable range, instead of following the cheapest bid or a luxury comp.
| Type | Typical timeline | Where the money goes |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure (under 10 pages, Chinese, news can change) | 3–6 weeks | IA, design, responsive, basic SEO, deploy and ICP help |
| Lead-gen (many products, forms, cases, CMS) | 6–10 weeks | Product model, inquiry flow, content entry, training |
| Bilingual / multi-brand / business-system hookup | 2–4 months | Translation review, permissions, APIs, multi-site nav |
Numbers are experience ranges, not a quote. A template can be cheaper and faster. Structural change later comes back. Compare Where Template Sites Differ From a Custom Corporate Website. Domain, hosting, and ICP is another bill. See Domain, Hosting, and ICP Filing: Traps Companies Hit First.
Why can quotes for the same “corporate website” differ by several times?
Page count, design depth, responsive, CMS, bilingual, who writes, CRM or email hookup. Hidden item: whether brand rules are clear. No VI, extra design round. No product files, build waits on images. Client prep often outlasts coding.
Can the timeline compress to one week?
What can launch is usually a template plus a logo. Nav logic, phone fit, form notices, ICP, and content entry will not finish well in a week. A site stood up before a bid is obvious to reviewers. See What a Website Does in Tenders and Due Diligence. Ship a structurally correct phase one. Do not take a one-week shell nobody can maintain.
Who writes the content? Will it slip?
Yes. Delay number one. In the plan, name which pages need client facts and which implementation can draft from interviews. No owner, the project stops on “tweak the copy again.” Upkeep needs a person too. See If Nobody Updates It, Is a Website Still Worth Building.
How do you hold budget without shipping a digital card?
Set the goal first: leads, brand, franchising, or diligence. Phase one only ships nav that supports the goal. Products start with the main line. A working inquiry path is worth more than twenty empty sections. Card vs engine: Digital Business Card vs Inquiry Engine.
After we clarify the brief, DaXi gives scope, phases, and an acceptance list — not an unchecked lump sum. Send page count, languages, and whether an old site exists to the corporate website service page. Process overview: From Brief to Launch. Still deciding whether to build? Return to Why every company needs a website.
Count hidden cost or a low price doubles later
Outside the quote: product photos, bilingual writers, certificate scans, exporting the old site, rush ICP, sales hours for interviews. Leave them out of the plan and you get “why isn’t it done.” Cut the CEO letter, empty news, and never-played video in phase one and you often save a design round without hurting leads. List yearly upkeep, hosting, and certificate renewal so year two is not a surprise expiry.
When you compare two vendors, make them quote the same nav list and say whether content entry and training are included. Compare only totals and you compare who dares to omit. Phased delivery lets you prove the inquiry path before a case library and extra languages. Less risk than signing everything at once.