Cost of Building a Website

Building a website is as complex as building a house. How much it costs will depend on your requirements, objectives, as well as your needs.

In building a house, the objective of one will depend on the objective of others. One may need more space, while others are okay with compact living. Others may want a modern design but some prefer a simple one. You see, your objectives will define your website and the total cost will entirely depend on how simple or complex it is.

To make your website online, the following steps are essential:

 

Plan

Whether you are creating your website yourself or working with a website developer, it is best to lay out your objectives, expectations, website requirements, site architectures, timelines and most all your budget. Most web developers do not charge potential clients for this. The planning stage is extremely important because when everything is well thought of and planned out, it will save you money (and heart/headaches) in the future.

• Website from a Template – A website made out of a template won’t take so much time and can easily be done for a couple of hours or so. Building doesn’t take so much time either and would normally be based on predetermined questions.
• Custom Made Website – Things are dealt with differently with a custom site. The client and the web developer alike will most likely spend so many hours in meeting to know requirements and features. The cost of planning for complex websites is high, yes, but it is very crucial because starting a website project without it is like building a house without a blueprint.

Design

Your website will carry your brand so it has to convey your mission and vision. It also has to be easy to navigate and is pleasing to the eye to keep potentials from leaving. Yes there are pre-built templates costing only $100 or less but since it is pre-built, functionality and design are limited.

A custom design on the other hand is more costly, and it is tough to determine the exact cost during this stage. The good side of this is that a custom made website will let you and your brand stand out from the rest. Your chosen web developers will work closely with you in determining what your website needs in order to meet your requirements. This information will be carried out to come up with a website that speaks to your customers about your brand and what you have to offer. Normally, a custom website costs around $4000, it gets higher as your requirements get bigger.

Development

The design of your website will come to life during this stage. Even the simplest pre-made website with pre-built functionality still go through this stage but the waiting time and cost will only be a fraction of a custom made website.

The custom made website, expensive as it already is will require custom development and would normally start at $6000. This includes basic website features such as pages, text and photos, simple photo gallery, contact form, and responsive design. Add-on features like dynamic pages, e-commerce, etc will cost the client more.

Content

You can do this yourself but it is always suggested to hire someone who can do the content writing for you. The content of your website has to be compelling, SEO friendly and written in the write tone. Put effort in creating professionally-taken photos and the best content.

Quality Assurance

Certain websites can go live without going through rigid quality assurance, however with business websites, this process should not be skipped as there may be features and functionalities that are not compatible with the certain browsers and screen sizes. You can have this tested by colleagues or professionals.

Hosting and Maintenance

Finally, there’s hosting and maintenance which needs to be paid monthly. Hosting costs around $10 a month and maintenance starts around $50.

As you can see, you can make your website online cheaply or more costly. The bottom line is your requirements and how much you are willing to spend. Always remember that for a business to succeed nowadays, a website is an essential tool that shouldn’t be missed.