What's the cost of a website? A Complete Guide

If you're thinking of getting a website for your business, you may be wondering what the cost will be and more importantly, what you really get for your money?

In this article, I'll delve into the costs of getting your business online, looking in some detail at each element. I'll also share some tips to help you make the best decision for your business and your budget.

For the purposes of this article, I'll assume that your website will be built using WordPress and that it's for a small business.

The four elements of getting your business online

In order to have a website for your business, there are four elements that you absolutely must have: a domain, web hosting, an SSL Certificate and a website (duh). Let's look at the cost of each.

The cost of domain registration

Your domain is the address (or URL) that people will use to access your website. For example, my domain is "cottamweb.com". The cost of your domain can vary from ￡10.00 per year to ￡500.00 per year. The variance in cost is based on the domain extension you use (in my case "com").

A generic domain extension - for example: .com, .net or .c..uk - will usually cost around ￡12.00 per year. More specialised domain name extensions - for example: .hosting, .aero or .xxx - can cost upwards of ￡500.00 per year.

The domain extension you use will not affect SEO, but it may indirectly impact your ranking based on the trustworthiness of your site, so choose wisely.

PRO TIP: If you can, choose a domain that ends in .com as this is the most common and one that most people associate with.

The cost of web hosting

Once you've registered your domain name, you'll need to sign up for a web hosting plan. Web hosting is required because you need a location on the web to 'store' your website files, ready for retrieval when somebody wants to view your website.

Web hosting usually costs between ￡50.00 per year to more than ￡1,000.00 per year. The cost varies based on the level of plan you subscribe to.

At the lower end of the scale is what's known as 'shared web hosting' This is when your website sits on a 'server' along with hundreds of other websites. Whilst cost effective for you, it can impact on the performance of your website - by this, I mean the speed at which it loads.

Shared web hosting usually costs around ￡5.00 - ￡15.00 per month. You get space on a server and that's about it.

At the other end of the scale are advanced hosting plans that include security, premium performance and priority support. Also, your website will generally have its own server, which vastly improves performance.

PRO TIP: For small business websites (that don't have an online shop, membership or eLearning elements), shared hosting is fine, so choose the best plan that your budget will allow.

The cost of an SSL Certificate

So you've registered your domain and signed-up for web hosting, what's next?

Next you need to install an SSL certificate onto your domain. An SSL certificate provides reassurance to visitors to your site that it's safe and secure to use (especially when providing personal data or purchasing products).

It also provides reassurance to search engines that your website is secure. In fact, Google will penalise your website if it doesn't have an active SSL certificate.

Now, some web hosting plans include an SSL certificate for free. But if the plan you've signed up to doesn't include one, you'll need to purchase one.

This can usually be purchased with the web hosting company and the cost is between ￡50.00 and ￡250.00 per year.

PRO TIP: A standard SSL certificate will be fine for most cases, so budget for ￡50.00 per year.

The cost of building your website

So far, you've purchased (or budgeted for):

• Your domain (￡12.00 per year)
• Website hosting (￡100.00 per year approximately)
• An SSL certificate (￡50.00 per year)

The next cost to consider - and by far the widest ranging - is the web designers cost to build your website. Web designers charge anything from ￡100.00 to ￡100,000.00 to build a website.

I've broken this abyss of a variance down into more manageable chunks, to give you an idea of what you get for your money.

Websites that cost up to ￡500.00

These websites are generally 'off-the'shelf' templates that simply have your content loaded onto them. They are true 'cookie-cutter' type sites, built within a week or so with little regard for whether the template used is fit for the purpose of your business.

You will be restricted to the design elements of your site and will also be restricted to the number of pages your website can have.

Little thought is given to performance or SEO, so you may experience issues further down the line of your website ownership journey.

Also, expect little to no post-launch support and expect to pay as much for any changes as you did for the website itself.

The reason these types of websites are so cheap is because you, as the customer, are simply one of a number of clients that are being dealt with at the same time.

PRO TIP: If you are happy with having your website built using a template, with no thought given to SEO, design, content or post-launch support, then choose this pricing range.

Websites that cost between ￡500.00 and ￡1,500.00

Whilst still using a templated approach to building your websites, designers within this pricing range do provide a more professional service.

Thought will be given to performance, SEO, content and fitness for purpose and you will get post-launch support. There will also be more flexibility in terms of how many pages your site can have and the design of the site too.

These designers will usually only deal with one or perhaps two projects at a time, so you will get more of a personal service, with delivery times usually around 4-6 weeks.

Designers in this pricing range will have created processes and structures which mean they can keep costs down.

PRO TIP: If you're happy to have your website built using a template, but want more of a personal service and attention to detail, then budget for this pricing range.

Websites that cost ￡1,500.00 and ￡5,000.00

If your website budget is ￡1,500.00 to ￡5k, then you can expect to receive a bespoke website, tailored to your needs.

You'll work closely with the web designer, who will take their time to understand your business, your customers and the objectives for your website.

The designer may also employ the services of specialists in SEO and copywriting to ensure your site is more polished and professional.

Delivery will usually be around 6-8 weeks and you can expect to receive a good level of post-launch support.

PRO TIP: If your budget can stretch to ￡5,000.00, then you should opt for this level of cost as you will get more for your money.

Websites that cost in excess of ￡5,000.00

If your website is highly complex, and includes additional features such as ecommerce, eLearning, major interaction with site visitors or the utilisation of bespoke software, the expect to pay in excess of ￡5,000.00 for your website.

Websites within this price range are usually built by agencies, rather than a single web designer. For this reason, you 'may' not receive as personal a service as dealing with a single web designer and delivery times will be longer.

You will receive post-launch support, but given the complexities of websites of this size and cost, you'd likely have hefty ongoing support costs.

So, what's the cost of a website?

The simple answer to that is: "it depends" :-)

It depends on a number of factors, from the complexity of your requirements to, perhaps most importantly, your budget.

In my opinion, if you are a small business and you want to get your business online quickly and with little fuss, then I would recommend you budget ￡1,500.00 to ￡2,000.00 for the cost of your first years essentials (domain registration, web hosting and SSL certificate) and the cost to build the website.

If you want a website that is more performance focused and scalable, then budget for around ￡3,000.00.

But a word of warning, if you opt for a website that costs less than ￡500.00, then expect to pay much more in the long run.

I hope you found this article useful, if you did, give it a like or leave a comment :-)