One of the major issues from small businesses and entrepreneurs looking into getting a website is the cost. While it's true that a website can cost a lot of money, it doesn't have to. With the right consultation, research ad knowledge about what you need for your own website, the price you expect may come down significantly.
It's 2020 now, having a website for your business is a critical part of online marketing and brand building. We are going to break down what a website needs to have and all the options so you can have a better idea of what you should expect to pay for your own website.
What are the elements that a website needs:
Most people look at the website and see it as one thing while it's actually consisting of 3 different elements: a website itself, a domain and web hosting:
Website: This is what we all are familiar with as it's a viewable webpage with content, images, videos... The website itself is created by a web designer using code or is built with a website builder platform like Wix, Squarespace, Kajabi, Weebly, Thinkific...You can consider your website is like your house.
Domain name: Domain name is like an address of your house for someone to look for you. So this address is called domain name when it comes to a website, for example, hopefulbuilder.com. If someone finds your website from a link on Google, that link is associated with your domain. It will be in the form of a particular page on your website such as Home page, Shop page, What we do, Who we are...
A domain always ends with a specific suffix: .com, .net, .giv, .org, .ca...
Web hosting: This element is an extremely necessary element for your website. In order to be accessed on the internet, the website needs to be stored somewhere which means it needs to be hosted. So imagine your website is a house, a domain is an address then web hosting is a piece of land where you put your house on.
What should I look out for before building a website?
Now that you have an idea about the website's components, it's time to check out some details and things you need to know before you put your money on it.
Do your research
Why do you have to do research? Because while doing so, you will know what you are looking for. Here are a few things you can investigate your future website:
Web hosting:
You will see that hosting plans come with many extra features available. Not only do hosting plans to host your website but it also provides you with storage and bandwidth as well. Many web hosts offer different plans from very affordable to a bit of pricey side, each of them will come with different features that you can use or might not use. For example, some plans come with a one-year free domain while others don't.
Hosting is a required monthly or yearly payment that will outlive the cost of the actual website. We always suggest our clients sign up for a yearly plan which is cheaper than a monthly plan.
Get inspired by other websites:
Even you are planning to hire a web designer to build your website, you will need to get an idea of how you want your own website to look like. This part of the research is fun as it allows you to get creative and piece together small parts of different sites into one. Then when you're ready to consult with your web designer, you will be able to provide tangible ideas of what you're looking for.
What are your website needs?
After you have done your research about website hosts, design, domain, it's time to put on paper and figure out exactly what your website needs are. Writing this down will help you determine whether you want a simple website or a complex site that has multi-pages webpages.
First, start with the basics: deciding how many pages you think you will need for your website. If you're struggling to nail it down, go back to some inspiring websites you did on your research and take a look at what they have. A standard website will have these pages: Home, About, Contact pages at least.
Secondly, ask yourself that you are offering a service, physical products or online store.
Finally, hire a web designer to consult and build your website so you can focus on what you love to do most.
Why should you hire a web designer?
Hiring a web designer will take a ton of workload from you and it also has a peace of mind to know that someone handles everything for you from building it, connect to your domain, testing it, optimize it for mobile.
If you want the best for you, you could always hire a web designer like us to create your website. Then we can hand it off to you for maintenance going forward or you can keep us to maintain it for you.
Finally, how much does a website cost?
So after all of the considerations above, it's easy to see that the cost of a website can be different. As a small business, cost matters. Here is a snapshot of what we are offering:
Simple website: for an informational, straightforward website like a 1-page website can be around:
1-page website: $799 for web design.
Web hosting plan: $25-$50/month
Web domain (if you don't have one): $15/year
Custom website: it depends on the complexity of the website itself, its starting at:
Custom website: starting at $1,199 for web design.
Web hosting plan: $25-$50/month
Web domain (if you don't have one): $15/year
That’s it. It’s not that scary when it’s broken down.
A website is a critical part of your business if you want to be taken seriously in the online world. It's time to build your website!
Have a question? Drop us an email at info@hopefulbuilder.com or send us a message and we can have a chat about what you need.