Let’s cut it short. Two factors determine how much work your website need which are the size and the complexity of your site. This means if you are looking for a site with 10 pages with standard customization will probably cost you less as compared to a 50 pages site with all the features.
There are two ways by which you can build a site
OPTION 1: Hire a Professional
If you own a business and don’t have much time or you don’t have knowledge about anything related to sites or programming, then you should consider hiring someone to build a site for you.
You might not come across any person showing the actual price of building a site and indeed, you cannot just set a budget in creating a site as the price fluctuates on different factors.
If you don’t have time estimating a budget or don’t want to spend a lot and still want to create a good site then you should hire a Freelance Web Designer that will do the coding and designing for you.
Website development and Website designing are different things, never mix them. Now here are some factors that affect the price of building a site when you hire someone to do it:
• Page volume – For instance, you came across an agency offering a package of a 10-pages site for $2000 but you need a site with a minimum of 20 pages. How much extra you have to pay for them? A good way is to assume a $100 for each additional page over and above the standard website package. Just like if you want to add 10 more pages you have to pay $1000 which in total becomes $3000. This is just an example, every situation will vary but you can get an idea from this as it is according to the pricing in the industry nowadays.
• Custom site layout – No one nowadays code a website from scratch. Every website starts with a theme or a template. If you start coding from scratch it will probably take a lot of time and will cost you more at the same time. A template is what gets you 50-60% of the work done already but still, you have to do some customization and coding to make it look and work as you want it. The more the customization is required, the more will be the cost. Using a template can save a lot of money of yours like up-to $10000.
• Custom images & graphics – Elegant pictures and graphics can give your site a great look but that comes up with a cost. You can hire a graphic design specialist for this purpose and everyone has their price.
• Custom logo – A logo is what represents your business, a custom-built logo is a nice addition to the site. You can hire someone to make a decent logo which can cost you around $100-$1000.
• Custom programming – If you a site hosted with WordPress, a plugin might work as you wish like membership portals, payment calculators, etc. Other times you have to code and test functions on your own. You have to hire someone that will make it for you like chatbots. The price varies with different companies and freelancers. Look for the one having a good portfolio and let them handle your problem.
OPTION 2: Use DIY Platforms
If you have basic knowledge of web technology, you can create a site on your own. You can build a website using DIY platforms.
The things you will be in need aren’t expensive, let’s get into it:
• Domain name – First you need a domain for your site. A domain name can cost you around $10-$12 per year to register a new domain. You can choose a registrar and get started.
• Website hosting – For the start, you can choose a host like BlueHost or similar and the cost will range about $100 per year. In other cases, when your site is having like 100,000 visitors each month then you can upgrade to a web server with more horsepower. The cost to upgrade to a better server can cost you $300-$500 per year.
• SSL certificate – Some hosting companies offer free SSL certificates and some don’t. SSL certificates are significantly important to save your sites from hackers and scammers. If your site does not have these certificates and when a visitor comes it will show a warning to them like this site is not safe to visit which isn’t a good thing in the eye of visitors and even Google. These certificates cost starts from $10 to $300 per year.
• Premium website theme – There are a lot of themes that you can choose and apply them to your site. But if you don’t like any of the free themes you can buy a premium one as well. You should go for a premium theme that can cost you several bucks and your site will look more professional and trustworthy.
• Premium plugins – Just like themes, there are free to paid plugins available. A good way is to buy premium plugins as they are designed to help a site grow faster. Many of the people that have experience in this field use the premium ones like Envira Gallery and similar ones. There is no such thing as the free ones aren’t good, they are but some of them are not as helpful as they are advertised. Trying a lot of them can consume a lot of your time.
• Education – Keep yourself educated and acknowledged everything that a website needs. By the time you should learn different skills like graphic designing, coding, SEO, and so on. You can buy e-books, learn through some courses online or even offline, and get your work done faster and better. Become an expert so that you don’t have to rely on other people to do simple things for you.
Now it depends totally upon you how you want to build a site for your business. You can either hire someone to do all the work for you or you can use DIY platforms to get help and create a site according to your preference.
About The Author
Nicole Hinton
Nicole is a freelancer & passionate blogger. She has 4+ years of experience in digital marketing and specialize in content writing, content marketing and organic search engine optimization. She has worked with many brands from Canada as well as the USA. Currently, she manages content marketing team of freelancers and doing their business efficiently.
