Costs to Consider When Building a Web Site

Domain Registration

This is an annual fee, paid to your domain registrar, which may or may not be your web design company. Some companies resell domain registrations for larger registrars and can manage the entire registration process, while others do not. If you want to be a little more hands on, you can register the domain yourself. This ensures that you’ll have full control over your domain. Costs range from FREE with some hosting companies to $25/year.

Web Site Hosting

Web site hosting actually places your web site on a web server and makes it readily available 24/7 on the Internet. Many web design firms offer web hosting services, others resell web hosting through other companies, while others even maintain their own data-centers with many web servers. It is recommended to work with a company that provides there own web hosting services, and not a reseller through a separate web hosting company. If you’re web company resells hosting from another company, they won’t necessarily be able to support you in the event of a hosting issue, and will have to refer you to their reselling web host. Costs can be either monthly, quarterly, or annually and range from as low as $5 for basic reseller hosting to over $100/month for larger sites in need of high bandwidth and disk space.

Secure Sockets Layer Certificate

Should you require credit card payments on your web site, or have sensitive information made available through a secure area. You’ll want a secure sockets layer setup on your web server. There is no cost for this, however to have a third-part certify your identity, you must pay an annual fee. Some SSL certificate providers charge as little as $49/year, while others are over $300.

Logo Design

Do you already have a professionally designed logo for your company? If so, then that’s one step out of the way in designing your web site. Because your web site is an integral part of your business image it is imperative that it is professionally done, and the core of your business image is your logo. A professionally designed logo is the first step in any branding or marketing initiative. Costs for logos are to variable to mention, however, don’t go for the cheapest designer you find, as you often only get what you pay for.

Fonts

If a special font was used in your logo, or will be used in the design of your web site, you may have to purchase fonts. This is generally a good idea, as you don’t want to use simple common fonts for headings, and graphics. Using professional fonts will distinguish your web site and company from the rest. Fonts can be found for free online, however high-quality commercial fonts are the way to go. Fonts can be found for free, or as high as $150 or more.

Copy Writers

If you don’t want to write the content for your web site, then you’ll have to outsource the writing to a separate company. Freelance writers will help write the actual content that will be placed on your web site, and is also recommended as part of your project. Once you have a professionally designed web site, you want to have equally well-written content. Typically writers charge depending on the amount of content necessary.

Photography 

Photography adds to the image of your web site, and using amateur or low-quality photography will significantly detract from the design of your web site. Because having a professional web site and business image is imperative, you will want to use the best possible imagery. This means purchasing commercial stock photography or, if the budget allows, hiring a professional photographer. Stock photography can range from $10-15 per photo or well over $300. Professional photographers’ fees range depending on the photographer.

Web Site Design

Finally, once you have your logo, content, photography and other collateral material, you can begin designing your web site. This is the most crucial step in your web site because the designer must take each element of your web site and then put them together to achieve your design and communication goals. Design fees vary as well, take a look at each of your potential designer’s portfolio to decide on the best designer for your project.

Content Management

Content management systems allow you to maintain your content yourself, without the need of contacting your web developer. Depending on the scope of your web site your content management system may allow you to manage one or two areas within your site such as news releases or a photo gallery. Other systems allow you to maintain the entire content on your web site. Fees for content management systems range depending on the size and scope of the system.

E-commerce

Should you want to sell your products online you will be in need of some sort of e-commerce system. At the least you’ll need some method of displaying your products, create and manage a shopping cart, and a checkout system. E-commerce systems can be quite complex, or relatively simple. Deciding whether you want to accept payments and process them dynamically online or process them offline yourself is another option you have. Depending on your budget, and anticipated order volume, either method may work for you.

Professionalism

Almost everyone is on the Internet in some form today. The most important aspect to consider is how your web site will stand out from the rest. You may want to use your own photos and scan them, write your own content, and use a dated amateur-looking logo, however if you want to stand out from your competition, you’ll want to set a budget that can develop an appropriate site for your company and business image.