UNDERSTANDING WEBSITE
COSTS
While every website is different and should be
tailored to the site's purpose, I understand the need for businesses
just starting to control costs. While a fully custom site may
be ideal, budget-wise, a start small approach with controlled costs
may suit your needs. At the end of this page I've inserted
some of my BASIC rates, which will give you an idea of how much you
can expect for your dollar.
WEBSITE COST DRIVERS
The following items are the common costs in any
website...
- Registering a domain name
- Hosting your site
- Designing your site
- Maintaining your site
- Paying search engine registration fees
Choosing and Registering a Domain
Name
Registering a domain name (www.yourname.com) is the
easiest and cheapest part of getting a website. You can register a
domain name for about $9 per year. The registration needs to be
renewed every year, or you can just register the name for several
years. For most businesses, the .com version of the domain is the
only one you'll need. If you can't get the .com domain name you
want, either create an alternative name or consider the .net, .org,
.us (or other country suffix), or .biz versions - but it's best to
have the .com.
Hosting Your Site
To get your website on the Internet, you have to
rent space on a computer that has high speed Internet access. This
is called hosting. Hosting prices typically run from $5 to $50 per
month for full service hosting. There may also be an initial set up
fee. Some firms require yearly payments in advance and others
require monthly payments. If you shop around, you can
find inexpensive hosting, but you may give up important
features.
Selecting a web host can be difficult. Careful
comparison of features, your needs, and the costs can sometimes be
frustrating. Design firms, like Wranglerweb.com, can help you
with those decisions. We have our own inexpensive hosting
plans through our sister site Wranglerhosting.com. Or if you
have hosting or another firm in mind, we'll assist in getting your
site uploaded or published.
Designing Your Site
Designing your site is usually where most of your
expense will be. Prices can vary based on what you want or
need on your site, the designer's rates, your site's size, software
or script development, artwork and copywriting.
Prices for a single page site can start at $25,
while multiple page sites, increasing in complexity and
interactivity can vary from $50 to hundreds of dollars.
Occassionaly the cost may include licensing for pre-designed
software for dynamic manipulation or custom features.
Maintaining Your
Site
Once your site is on the Internet, keeping it there
can be fairly cheap. To keep your site online, you have to pay your
monthly hosting fee and annual domain name renewal. You can keep a
site on the Internet for anywhere from $5 to $50 per month. You can
maintain your site yourself, or if you require no updates then
usually there are no site maintenance charges. You may have
the design firm update, maintain, or monitor performance, but expect
to pay for an hour or two of labor per month.
Paying Search Engine Registration
Fees
Some search engines charge to list your site. Others
charge just to review them and do not guarantee to list them after
the review. Still others list your site and rank it by how much you
pay.
It is not realistic to define search engine fees
here. Rates are constantly changing and the search engine that is
free today may charge tomorrow. Furthermore, the relationships
between search engines change frequently as well (they form
partnerships and share listings.) But to give you an estimate, you
should expect to pay about $500 in search engine registration
fees.
When you talk to your designer, be sure that search
engine fees are discussed. There is little point in getting a
beautiful site and then not listing it with the most popular search
engines.
Costs for BASIC Website Designs and
Elements:
Starter Website Design
Package: $30.00
Includes a single page, two screens long, no
more than 3 images including the header, and an email contact or
an order link for a single product. Perfect for the
site promoting a single product or service, vanity or personal
site.
Standard Website
Design Package: $50.00
Includes up to three pages, two screens
long each, internally linked, no more than 12 images for the
entire site, including any header images. One feedback
form which emails comments to owner.
Additional Website
Design Elements or Services:
Additional
Pages: $20.00
each
Stock Scripts or
Forms Installed: $5.00 per
instance (Pop Up, Pop Under, Image Enlarged from
Thumbnail, etc.)
Custom Scripts or
Forms: $15 to $50 per instance
(Price based on complexity, function, amount of hand coding, and
usage.)
Search Engine
Optimization: $50 per page
(Includes Keyword Research, Meta-Tag Population, Embedded
Content and Posting to Free Submission Engines) (Submission to
paid submit Search Engines is Price to submit plus 10%)
Other Design Services
and Site Complexities: Request Price
Quote (Full e-commerce sites, database
interactivity, content management systems, image/banner creation
or manipulation, etc.)
Web Hosting
Services:
Web Hosting Services are provided by our
partner site: WranglerHosting. Hosting
packages Start at $5.00 per month or $50.00 per year in advance
(Saves you $10). Standard site includes 50 Megabytes
storage, virtually unlimited bandwidth, 3 email addresses, 2
databases, FTP Access and a website Control Panel Interface for
starters!
THE BOTTOM
LINE
The cost will depend on what you need in your site
and how much work the designer must do to accomplish your
goals. To get a good estimate for your
site, define what you need as carefully as possible and contact
several designers for cost
estimates. |