Last Updated on June 13, 2023 by Guest
A website serves as your online home—no wonder why almost every brand has a website.
Whether it is for your business or will serve as your portfolio, a website allows you to expand your market reach. That said, you may have a couple of questions about starting a website.
Here’s the thing: The costs of building a website might be your biggest concern of all. Keep on reading to know how much you will need to set aside to have a website.
What Website Building Tools Do You Need?
First, you need to identify what tools you will need to build a website from scratch.
Here are three things you should think of: your domain name, website builder, and chosen web hosting provider.
These three things are the foundations of your website. Without it, building your online presence can be challenging.
These costs money, although the amount may differ depending on your preferred service provider.
Domain Name
The domain name is your website’s address, which people will type on the URL bar to get to your website.
When choosing a website’s domain name, you should go simple with it to build the website for business purposes. You want it to be recognizable and also want to pay attention to the domain name extension.
The domain name extension is the .com or .org at the end of every domain name’s URL. The domain extension you choose can also affect the costs of the domain name.
As much as possible, use a .com domain extension, which is the most recognizable.
Website Builder
Once you have a domain name, it is time to figure out what website builder you want to use.
A website builder is a platform where you can set up your website. These days, you can do this with the help of the drag-and-drop feature. Hence, you can build your website even if you do not know how to code. Nonetheless, you can also hire a web developer if you do not see yourself as tech-savvy.
At Sytian Web Design Philippines, we recommend choosing a website builder that provides flexibility. This includes determining what design elements you will add to your website and where.
Web Hosting
When you choose your domain name, some online services also help you find the web hosting service provider for you.
If you do not know what a web hosting service is, it is an online service that provides you with the tools and technologies you need to publish your website.
If you want to save money, you might want to try out the package or bundle deals, such as this example of web hosting for WooCommerce. Also, do not be afraid to shop around.
Look at what other web hosting service providers charge. However, do not forget to consider your website’s needs.
Estimated Cost of Building a Website
With all that said, how much does it cost to build a website? As mentioned before, it still all depends on your budget and what you want your website to be.
The smallest you might have to invest for your site would be somewhere around $1,000 for a small website.
Your website’s complexity can affect the website-building cost. Not to mention the other features and integrations that you want to include might also cost money. If you also hire people to help develop or design your website, that would be additional costs to your website.
As such, you must be smart in determining what features you want to add to your website.
Factors that Determine the Website Cost
If you want a more accurate understanding of how much your website will cost, here are the main factors that will determine that.
Set-up
The set-up of the website is one factor that determines a massive chunk of your website expenditures. Aside from the domain name, website builder, and web hosting, you also must consider other factors. For example, the security of your website and online storage are vital parts and investments for your website. All of these features and integrations will cost money.
Design
You can hire a web designer to work with you on your website, look for built-in design elements, or design your site yourself. However, if you do not have a huge budget and want a quick shortcut, design marketplaces can help.
Content
The website content or copy is another critical part of your website that will rack up costs. Although you can certainly do them yourself, you can consider hiring a freelance web content writer.
Aside from the copywriting on your web pages, you might need a blog set-up which will also require the content on your part.
Maintenance
The overall maintenance cost of your website will depend on the size and usage of your website. Even if you have a relatively small site, expect to spend at least $100 per year on maintenance costs, and they will only get bigger.
For large business and eCommerce sites, the annual website maintenance costs will be in the upper $1,000+ range.
How to Avoid Overpaying When Building a Website
The best way to reduce the costs and expenditures you incur from building your website is by settling for what you need. Anything else should be on the back burner so that you can save on costs.
Once your website is up and attracts online visitors, you can consider reinvesting whatever you managed to generate from your site. In the beginning, though, it would be best to start small.
To have a successful website, you need to have patience and proper website monitoring, as it is a long-term investment. You have to put in time and effort before your website starts returning the work to you. Once you launch your website, you can soon begin investing more money back into your website.
For now, take note of the essentials and the maintenance costs and ensure you can keep up with them with no problem. Once you are stable, you can start adding more features to your site that cost money.