How Much Does a Website Cost?
How much does a website cost? It depends on you.
We hear it all the time, from many of our customers: “How much does a website cost?” We know what they’re looking for -- a number that falls within their budget -- but often the clients are not aware of the many facets of creating a website that can be used to its full potential. There is no one answer for how much a website costs, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re company is located in Gainesville, other parts of Florida, or across the country. But the steps to figuring out how much it will cost to implement a website that provides your business with the best results (and hopefully the highest profits) is the same across the board.
Step 1: Determine the Needs of Your Business
Anyone can have a website, but we can all spot the difference between a great website and one that is just kind of there, probably published a decade or more ago, and that hasn’t been updated in years. As consumers rely on the Internet more and more for commerce, shopping, banking and communication, businesses need to be able to respond by providing high-functioning websites that provide consumers with what they want or need.
If you don’t know where to start in determining the online needs of your business, don’t fret. At Gainesville Marketing, we help all of our clients find a starting point by doing a simple analysis or audit of their company, their current website, and the goals they have for growing their business. Here are the features you’ll want to consider when deciding how much a website will cost your business:
- Number of web pages: How many pages will your website need? A simplified website with 10 pages is going to cost less than an in-depth site that needs 100 pages or more. You should also consider whether you want to start with a set number of pages, say 20, and then slowly add to your content on a weekly basis.
- Design style: Do you want your website’s style of design to reflect your business? Are you looking for simple yet sophisticated? Or are you competing on a national level and need a website that is better than anything out there? The more advanced you need your website to look, the more it will cost due to the amount of time spent on the design.
- Pages of content: Internet marketing companies like Gainesville Marketing employ writers who create unique, original content for clients. This content can include the information found on your website, blogging articles, online press releases and more. Businesses can choose to use current content or have an in-house writer create content to save money.
- SEO & placement: SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s a technique that allows users to find your website more easily through keywords and key phrases. At Gainesville Marketing, we can guarantee placement on search engine rankings, but ranking ahead of the competition takes time and a lot of work. It’s up to the business owner to determine whether they want to place ahead of the competition or even make it to the first page of search engine results.
- Responsive design: A responsive website design automatically adjusts the placement of graphics, logos, pictures, videos and text-based content to fit the size of the screen. This is most useful for websites that are viewed on desktops and mobile devices. An alternative to this high-functioning website feature is to create a desktop-ready website and a website that works better on mobile devices.
- eCommerce functionality: Not all businesses will need a shopping cart feature, or ways for consumers to make purchases online. But if your business plans to sell products or services through your website, then you’ll need to choose between basic and more advanced features to best suit the needs of your business.
- Content Management System (CMS): A CMS is a web-based service that allows quick and easy maintenance of the website along with upgrades and updates to the content. Businesses can choose between different features and whether or not they need Gainesville Marketing to manage their accounts for them.
This is just the starting point. As a business owner, you’ll need to determine which of these website features will suit your needs and whether you can afford to take shortcuts in the process.
Step 2: Choose a Domain Name
A domain name is everything that comes after “ http:// ” or “www”, and choosing the right domain name can be instrumental in supporting your brand or online image of your business. One thing that many business owners do not realize until they need a new website is that domain names are usually rented annually. This means that you won’t own your domain name, and if you forget to pay your fees, you could lose your domain name to another business.
Domain names generally cost around $15 per year to rent. However, some organizations offer additional services with a heftier price tag. If you’re spending more than $25 a year, you should be getting e-mail services or other valuable web-based perks.
Step 3: Find a Web Hosting Service
Websites need to be hosted somewhere in virtual space, and there are many services that provide space on their servers for web pages, files, images, videos and other content. Most businesses should find a web hosting service that provides tools to monitor websites, website traffic, which links are clicked, and so on. These tools can help you improve your website after analysis, and it can also provide valuable insight into consumer behaviors.
You can find cheap web hosting services, but we don’t recommend it skimping on this step. Your business will benefit much more from a competent, hands-on experience from a professional service like Gainesville Marketing. You’ll find prices of web hosting services can fluctuate greatly depending on the size of server space you require and the additional features you want, and you should budget between $100 and $250 a year for it.
Step 4: Designing a Website
Experienced business owners will likely excel in this step and be able to save a few bucks simply by being precise and communicative about your expectations for the website’s design. If this is your first website, and you don’t have a strong brand presence, then this step might be a bit more difficult.
Plainly put, designers get paid for the amount of time they spend on your project. So, if you give precise expectations, already have a logo created or one in mind, and are clear in the direction you want the design to go, then designers can create a website more quickly. The number of pages in your website, and whether you need graphics, logos and infographics created, will affect the price of the website. This is also the step where content is usually created, so if you have current content that is usable (and not more than 5 years dated), or you have an in-house writer who can create the content, then you will be able to save some money. However, a website is basically online marketing, so it isn’t wise to put content creation in the hands of an amateur. Consumers will skip your poorly worded homepage in a heartbeat and move on to more coherent website.
Step 5: Website Maintenance
Once you have a website up and running, you’ll want to keep it working efficiently for your business. This means regular site maintenance and content updates to keep consumers happy and returning often. If your site will require frequent updates, then you should consider using a content management system or CMS. These platforms allow for real time updates, and you can even schedule when you want certain content to publish.
Both consumers and search engines view outdated content unfavorably. Although search engines don’t place as much importance on frequent updates as they used to, they still favor sites that are updated more frequently than others because it shows the site is active and maintained. Consumers won’t stay on your website if you’re content is outdated or no longer correct, and if there are page errors that make interacting with the website difficult, there’s little chance consumers will stick around.
A website’s quality can make or break your online business. So don’t skimp on the things that matter, or you’ll find that no matter how new your site is, it won’t help your business grow.
Take Control of Your Website Expenses
So, now that you know what’s involved in creating a website, you can better determine the costs you’ll face. An important piece to the website cost equation is to choose an Internet marketing company that can push your business to results in the most effective ways. At Gainesville Marketing in Gainesville, we have several levels of services, from basic packages to world-class designs, so that your company can reach its goals on a budget.
Tips for Websites on a Budget
- Start with the big content and add more features later. You’ll want a homepage, category pages and pages that discuss your products and services to begin with, and you can add blogs, press releases, videos and other features on a weekly basis. Not only will this help offset initial website costs, but it will keep your website updated for several weeks.
- Shop around. Ask different online marketing and website design companies for quotes before you dive in. You want to make sure you’re going to receive high-quality work. Companies like Gainesville Marketing are happy to provide a free quote for website design costs.
- Trust a professional. You might be tempted to save some money by hiring an intern or employee’s nephew to build your website, but in the long run, you’ll be better off hiring a professional website design company.
How Gainesville Marketing Can Grow Your Business
At Gainesville Marketing, we offer many website design and Internet marketing services aimed at growing your business. We monitor website performance and site traffic so that we can increase site traffic and bring more potential consumers to your site. We also create high-quality content and high-functioning websites so that when consumers land on your pages, they’re compelled to stay and more likely to purchase. And we implement best practices throughout the industry so that your site is always on the cutting edge, beating the competition and ranking highly on search engine results pages. If you’re ready to grow your business with a new or redesigned website, contact Gainesville Marketing.