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…
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.