Cost depends primarily on functional complexity, a marketing site with standard pages costs meaningfully less than a CMS-driven site with custom content types, which costs less than a web application with user accounts and business logic. The number of integrations and whether the design is custom or template-based are the two factors that move price the most within any given category.

Timeline follows the same complexity pattern as cost: a marketing site can launch fastest, a CMS-driven site takes longer due to content modeling and migration work, and a custom web application or eCommerce platform takes longest due to backend logic, integrations, and more extensive testing.

A website builder or template can work well for a simple site with standard pages and no complex functionality. Once a project needs custom data structures, specific integrations, or performance beyond what a builder’s plugin ecosystem supports, custom development avoids the ceiling that templates eventually hit.

A website primarily presents information to visitors, while a web application lets users log in, store data, and perform actions - a booking system, a dashboard, or a SaaS product are web applications, not just websites with extra pages. The distinction matters because web applications need real backend architecture, not just page templates.

Core Web Vitals are an official Google ranking signal measuring loading speed (LCP), responsiveness (INP), and visual stability (CLS) using real visitor data. A page needs to pass all three at the 75th percentile of real users to get the full ranking benefit, and pages that fail can see reduced visibility even with strong content.

Yes, this requires a defined URL mapping and redirect plan created before the old site goes offline, so search engines can transfer accumulated ranking signals to the new URLs. Skipping this step on a redesign is one of the most common, avoidable causes of a post-migration traffic drop.

 WordPress fits content-heavy sites where non-technical staff need to publish regularly and standard plugin functionality covers the site’s needs. A custom build fits projects needing specific data structures, deeper performance control, or functionality that would otherwise require stacking many plugins together.

 Ongoing maintenance covers CMS and plugin updates, SSL certificate renewal, uptime monitoring, Core Web Vitals tracking, and tested backup management — distinct, recurring tasks rather than a single generic support bucket. Falling behind on any one of these creates compounding risk, particularly security patching and SSL renewal.

 Yes, eCommerce projects commonly integrate with existing inventory, fulfillment, or ERP systems through API connections, which needs to be scoped during the initial architecture phase rather than added after the storefront is already built. The complexity of that integration is usually the biggest cost driver on an eCommerce project beyond the storefront itself.

 Design and development are typically scoped together so interface decisions account for real technical and performance constraints from the start, though the deep visual design process itself is covered on our dedicated UI/UX design page. Design and development handed off separately, without shared context, is a common source of avoidable rework.

 Performance is validated during development against specific Core Web Vitals targets  LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1  using image optimization, code splitting, and caching strategy built into the site from the start, not tested for the first time right before launch.