You are going to meet with your website developer and you are going to ask, “How much does a website cost.”
The cost of a website can be divided into two parts
The first part is the cost to construct the website. The amount of effort that you put into this part can help lower the cost. For example, you can provide photos, text for your web pages, video and anything else that you want your web developer to use in creating your website.
Without your help, the developer has to look for graphics and everything else. Wanna guess who pays for that?
Your web developer can tell you fairly accurately how much it will cost to build your website. This is done by using an hourly rate. S/he may not be 100% accurate but can be pretty close.
Or, you can ask your web developer to give you a fixed rate for constructing the website; then, that is exactly what you can expect to pay.
It is better to request a fixed rate. By having a fixed rate, you know exactly what you are paying for. But don’t expect the developer to make a lot of changes and create new pages that weren’t discussed previously. To do all this “add on” work, expect to pay an hourly rate.
A general approximation for the cost of your website begins at about $1,000 and goes up. If you have a fairly simple website without a lot of bells and whistles, the website cost will be about $2,500 to $3,000. Expect to pay more if you begin to add online shopping.
The good news is that the cost of a website is paid only once.
The second part is the cost to maintain the website. This is a cost that you can expect to pay monthly or perhaps quarterly or yearly.
There are a several items that make up this cost; here are a few:
Website Hosting Fee: this is a set cost that you will pay so that your website will have a place to live.
Modifying the Website: you can expect to pay your web developer if you ask him to make changes to your website. Or, perhaps you can ask your web developer to show you how to make changes yourself. But, be aware that if you accidentally destroy the website, you will have to pay to have your web developer fix it.
Updating the Website: every so often, the software (like WordPress) issues an update that you will want to install on your website. Sometimes, this update is automatic and it happens without the involvement of your web developer – you probably won’t pay for this. Sometimes, a plugin needs to be updated and this takes the involvement of the web developer – you can expect to pay for this.
License Renewal: you may be using software on your website that requires you to purchase a license. Frequently, the license needs to be renewed and you need to pay the renewal fee to keep your website functioning.
How much does a website cost if I use SEO?
Actually, the question should be “because” I use SEO and not “if” I use SEO. Without SEO, Search Engine Optimization, your website will begin to drop in the SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages) which is what the person searching at Google sees when Google gives him the results of a search.
The Cost of SEO: we can guide you with the cost of Search Engine Optimization and tell you what you are paying for. Take a look at our Search Engine Optimization Cost page to learn more.
And, while you probably still have questions, visit our Frequently Asked Questions to see if we have answered yours.
