Launching a website?
Before you take one more step forward, first consider how much you need for a good web design, hosting, and other services.
A great website design is not only about the looks but also about the function and efficiency. With that said, building a website isn’t as simple as choosing the right images, graphics, font, and colors.
That’s why many rely on a professional instead to build a website. They’ll only have to say what they want, and a web designer will be able to bring their ideas to life – at a cost.
If you’re thinking of launching a website, you might be wondering how much does a website cost. Well, you’ll have to prepare for it to eat your budget. Read on to find out how much you’ll need to prepare.
How Much Does a Website Cost?
The average website cost is about $5,000 to $10,000 for a custom design, and you’ll even have to prepare more if you want something of higher quality by a more talented web designer.
What makes it so expensive, anyway? Take a look at the basic factors that add up to the total cost of a website.
Registering and Hosting Your Website
The first step in building a website is to register your domain and find a host, but thanks to web hosting companies, you can do both in one easy step. They can do both for you and the only thing you have to do is pay a certain fee.
The prices vary among companies and packages, and which one you should get depends on your needs. For example, a shared hosting plan is always the cheapest option, but it has its drawbacks. A dedicated server would cost a lot more, but you won’t have to share resources with other websites.
You can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to over $1,000 in this step alone, depending on your plan.
Designing Your Website
What drives up the website design cost is the creation of the design itself. In this step, you’ll have to learn how to do it yourself or have a professional do it for you. The latter option is always the best choice if you can afford it, which allows you to focus on your business.
A professional will have a great eye for design, colors, typography, and such. Moreover, he/she will also be able to keep the backend design neat and efficient. However, hiring a professional web designer alone will cost you thousands of dollars.
You’ll have to think more than twice if you want to hire a web designer to build a custom website for you. Assess your needs and decide according to them.
Maintaining Your Website
Once you’ve set up and built your website, you’ll need to maintain it. It can set you back hundreds of dollars, and it’s an ongoing cost. This includes your domain name fees, the hosting service, and the webmaster fees.
The webmaster is usually the one who designed it, which is the perfect set-up since he/she will have the knowledge on how it operates. His/her tasks include making sure the website is functioning as normal and make changes or updates if necessary.
How to Save on Web Design
Want to know how much does it cost to build a website? Why not figure out how to save on web design, instead? Follow the tips below if you’re on a shoestring budget.
Know What You Want
Having a clear understanding of your website needs will allow you to control the cost better. You’ll be able to communicate the priorities to the web designer, eliminating inessential web elements that will only drive up the cost.
Giving the web designer an idea of your budget helps, too. They can communicate which will fit your budget and which ones won’t.
Research some ideas and looks that you want to achieve with your website. Then, ask the designer if they’re visible.
Choose Affordable Hosting Sites
There are tons of cheap hosting websites out there, but you’ll have to be careful. You need one with reliable performance as you don’t want your website to be going down at every slight inconvenience.
You may choose to start at one of the cheapest plans, even if you have to share resources. If you find that it’s enough for you, then that’s great. If not, you can always upgrade your plan.
However, if you’ll run an e-commerce website, you might want to have a dedicated server at the get-go.
Use a Template
You don’t always have to build a website from the ground up. You can do that by using a template, which can be free or with a price tag.
Of course, there’s a chance that you’ll be sharing the same template as another website. If the thought scares you, you can have a web designer customize it.
This is still cheaper than ordering for a custom web design, which can cost thousands of dollars. You can expect to pay about $300 to $1,000 for a template customization.
Use Free Photos
Professional photos are a must in every website, but they’re rather expensive to obtain. Even a subscription to a stock photo service will put a huge dent on your budget.
Before doing so, why not try looking for free stock photos on websites like Flickr? There are a lot of photos there that are free to use for your website or content.
Do note, however, that you need to pay attention to the copyright restrictions. There are images that are free to use in any medium, while there are some images that the contributor prohibits you from using it in an editorial content, for example. Some photos also require an attribution to the source.
Make sure you follow these requirements to avoid any legal issues.
Take Advantage of Free Web Builders
Are you okay with doing everything yourself? Try some free website builders, which usually have simple instructions. In most of them, you only have to drag and drop elements to customize the look of your website.
You’ll have to learn more about these things, though, so that you can be more confident about creating your own website. It’s not always the best route, but it sure is cheap.
Want to Know More?
How much does a website cost? Following this guide, it can cost as little as $100 to over $1,000 depending on your needs.
It’s time to decide on a way to approach it without breaking the bank. We hope the tips above help you build an affordable yet functional website.
If you want to learn more about how to save, visit our blog today. Learn some tips on how to save on other things, such as throwing a wedding.