A website is a valuable instrument for growing your business. Your website presents your brand to users. Also, it compels your prospects to become your customers.
So, how much does it cost to build a website? In this article, we will discuss the aspects that influence the total expense of creating a site.
There are two main approaches to building a website: using a pre-built template or custom development. The costs will be different for these two options.
Many platforms offer different plans for ready-made solutions. Website builders typically don’t require coding skills. Most such platforms offer ready templates and themes that are used for building specific categories of websites.
Website builders offer various plans with customization, hosting, and SEO services. The prominent examples of such platforms are Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy. The price in website builders ranges between free plans and plans of $500 per month.
The primary benefit of a custom website is that it is adapted to your business needs. As your business grows, you can make changes in architecture and design. Such a website stays consistent on all browsers and can be optimized for better SEO rankings.
The price of custom development includes several aspects. Below we discuss what they are and their influence on the website cost.
Website development costs
Custom websites require different time and effort for development depending on their functionality. Websites with many pages and complex business logic require more resources. Meanwhile, a standard site with one or several pages will be cheaper.
The price of a custom site depends on the hourly rates of web developers. They range from $15 to $150 and more. So, the price of such websites starts from $700 and reaches $75,000 and beyond.
UX/UI design costs
The design gives the first impression of a website. So, it is sensible to have a design strategy that improves the user experience of your website.
The design expenses depend on the website’s size and structure. Designing a landing page costs less than creating UI/UX for a complex website with many pages.
You can design a website yourself with ready-made templates. In this case, the website design cost varies between $6 and $50.
Meanwhile, it is helpful to hire a professional designer if you aim to present the uniqueness of your brand. In this case, the cost ranges from $100 to $3000 and more.
Website marketing costs
Besides the above costs, promoting your website is also vital. It helps to adapt your website to the recent search engine optimization standards. Thus, your website will rank higher on the internet.
Marketing of your website includes the following aspects:
By covering these aspects, you increase the chances of converting prospects into customers.
Security costs
Safety is an aspect that builds credibility in your brand. So, investing in a proper Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is beneficial for your business.
The cost of SSL certificates ranges from $1 to $125 per month or $10 to $1500 per year.
This is the address of your site on the web. It contains the name of your brand, which is a label that users can apply to find your webpage. Preferably, it should be simple and bright.
You need to pay only between $10 and $15 a year to buy a domain name. However, there are extra costs that vary depending on the following factors:
Domain registrar. This is an organization that offers and sells you a domain name. There are many such organizations, and they offer different prices and functionality.
Top level domains. These are the letters at the end of the domain name. Informative TLD domains like “.com” or “.org” cost more than simple extensions like “.site” or “.xyz”.
Contract time. Registrars offer different prices that depend on the time of contracts. It would help if you choose how long your domain contract lasts. More extended contracts cost less in the long run, and short contracts cost less in the short term.
Data privacy. When you register a domain name, you need to provide personal data. Still, you can conceal that information from public access. Registrars offer additional functionality that protects your anonymity for an extra fee.
Website maintenance and support are vital as they ensure your website’s work. Website support typically includes the following services:
Typically, qualified web agencies or developers handle those issues. In this case, the cost varies relative to website complexity.
Website hosting is a service when you get space for storing your website on a server. Web hosting needs to be unique for each business. Let’s discuss the types of hosting and how much each of them costs.
Dedicated hosting
If you run a business online only, you need to get an allocated server hosting. This helps to stand high traffic loads without server downtime. In addition, dedicated hosting provides the functionality that protects your users’ confidential data.
The average cost of renting a server for small businesses is between $100 and $200 per month. If you want to buy a server for your firm, the cost ranges from $1000 to $3000 for small businesses.
Shared hosting
On the other hand, you can use shared hosting if your website does not handle sensitive information. It is an arrangement when several websites are hosted on one server. In this case, the costs for such hosting are shared between the owners of websites. The prices vary between $3 and $14 per month. So, the plans for shared hosting are more affordable than dedicated hosting.
Virtual private server
The middle option between the dedicated and shared hosting is the virtual private server (VPS). It provides you with individual features and control but standing high traffic is challenging. The cost of VPS varies between $20 and $100 per month.
Cloud hosting
In this case, the website is made accessible online with cloud resources. It means that a solution is deployed in a bunch of virtual and physical servers. As cloud hosting requires fewer resources, it costs less than traditional hosting. The price for cloud hosting starts from $5 per month and may exceed $3000 per month.
The cost of a modern website depends on many factors. A website built with a template is cheaper than a custom solution developed by technical specialists. Also, the final price of website development includes additional costs, such as promotion, support, domain name, and hosting. So, the price will start from free plans on website builders and reach $60,000 and more for a custom solution.
By Dmitry Chekalin
