Skylark Team
As all the business owners are focusing on having a website to enhance their marketing and sales programs, website creation has also become a highly-renowned occupation. We all know that a website is the virtual representation of any business organization irrespective of its size, industry, approach, etc. But, not everyone knows about the website cost in 2017, therefore, continue reading to know about it.
In order to enter the commercial cyberspace, a business needs to establish its roots on the Internet for which it requires a website. Hence, begins the search for a website maker. While finding the most suitable and most feasible package, the question of how much does a website cost arises.
Now, creating a website requires a lot of research as in What type of a website will do justice to your idea or business? There are different kinds of websites, and each has a different cost of creation. Other than this, you must estimate your budget in order to pull out a functional website.
Required Elements and Their Cost to Create a Website
Table of Contents
1. Domain Name
The very first step towards owning a website is to purchase a Domain Name. It is also known as the address or URL of the site. The domain name must be unique as two business entities cannot share the same name. However, you may find other domain names similar to yours. A Domain generally costs from $5 to $15 per year. It has to be purchased on a yearly basis which is regarded as its maintenance cost.
2. Website Hosting
Alike purchasing space in the brick and mortar world, website hosting is buying space on the Internet to establish your website. A host provides you the authority to make your site accessible over the Internet. They accommodate you with a server, which further defines your page loading time, renders tech support in need, and much more. Depending on the features and space required, packages range from $70 to $200. While some of the hosting companies also provide it for free, but every site cannot enjoy those services.
3. Content Management System
It is a web application designed for the non-technical folks to enable them to edit, add, or manage a website without any assistance. The cost of content management system basically depends on your platform and its functions. It can be free of cost, or its annual subscription can be as expensive as $15,000 or more.
4. E-commerce Functionality
To make an E-commerce website, a lot of research and development is required. The design must cater all the needs of the business or else it would be a total wreck. Payment options, shopping carts, shipping systems must be scrutinized properly which takes time and efforts. Furthermore, to make it customer friendly, the products must be organized, posted with the right information, easy to search, etc. These things also require a lot of human efforts because of which it can add a cost of around $500 to $5000. However, it is just a pre-operative expense.
5. Web Designing
A major part of the production and development process is covered under this category. From appearance to maintenance and further advancement of the website, all remain in the hands of a website design. Hence, the better the design, the more it will cost. The services start at $200 and goes upto $25,000, all depending on the features and complexity of the site.
6. Copywriting
Copywriting is a basic necessity of a website as it helps the business expand dramatically. Therefore, to make the reach of the website healthy, the content must be unique and SEO proof. Moreover, the requirement of the content will be directly proportional to the number of web pages. Depending upon the quality and the quantity of the copywriting, the cost ranges from $50 to $500 per page.
7. SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process through which the visibility and reach of the site increase. If a website is not easily reachable, what’s the point of having it? Therefore, an SEO provider must bring their best game in order to expand their reach and traffic. In this process, the provider works for the betterment of keywords, target audience, content generation, link building, web copy, etc. Without the support of a good SEO, a website, even with the most expensive design goes in vain. The price of this service can be in between $300 to $1500 per month.
8. Flash Web Designing
Flash is the most powerful weapon when it comes to designing a website. It enhances the interactivity of the site multiple times with the incorporation of attractive multimedia. The cost of Flash web design basically depends on its input and efforts put by the service provider to make it work. Which is why the cost varies from $250 to $10,000, and can even increase according to your expectations.
9. Database Integration
Database Integration is an accumulation of data from various ends of your database and displaying it in a manner that the user feels enlightened with the knowledge provided. The main action of this element for a website is to make the search of the visitor unified. The cost of integrating a single database varies from $5,000 to $25,000.
10. Website Maintenance
Although maintenance is not an initial thing, once the site is prepared and ready to operate, it becomes highly necessary. If a site is regularly updated and modified according to the technology, the rank of the site will not be affected negatively. Even the charges for the maintenance of a site do not go above $1500 per year.
How Much Does a Website Cost?
Websites are classified into four categories which will help you understand better about variation in the pricing.
1. Informational, Small Business Website
Considered as the most simple piece of work, this type of website consists of 10-20 pages, custom graphics, minimal usage of flash, social media links, email newsletter sign-up, and other basic features. Although a project like this does not take more than a month or two, the duration can increase according to the complexity of the site. Package for such sites can be availed in $2,000 to $8,000 range.
2. Corporate Website
This kind of website can be regarded as a better and bigger composition of the one mentioned above. There are about 25-75 web pages, and you can see the healthy use of flash, superlative design work, CMS along with search box, intranet, and many other features. It takes a maximum period of 3 months to complete a website like this. Creation of such site can cost up to $25,000.
3. E-commerce Websites
E-commerce portals are a bit complex than informational sites. It requires 100 to 1000+ pages in order to display all the products individually. Product’s images & their description, customer & administrative control panel, payment gateway integration, sales tax & shipping calculator, etc. are some other basic components of a running e-commerce website. In about 4 months, this project can be completed with a minimum cost of $5,000 that can raise up to $15,000 positively, depending on the client.
4. Database Driven Websites
All the sites with dynamic web pages are database driven. Generally, there are 20-2,000 pages that extract their data from the database provided to them. The database can either be on MS SQL or MySQL server. The other requirements of the project are interactivity with the visitor, advanced programming skill sets, administrative control panel, and a time period of 3-6 months. The amount required to create this website stands between $15,000 to $40,000.
CONCLUSION
Based on the requirement and size of the business, the cost of a website differs. Moreover, the above-mentioned prices increase with the number of additions made to the web designing or any other element of the website. The manipulation of the cost of your site is mostly in your own hands.
