Website building cost: What is it for 2024?

September 3, 2020

 

Building and maintaining a website can sound scary, it is common to associate it with massive investment, for those who are not sure of the costs associate. The good news is, website building doesn’t cost a lot if you plan on having a basic website. The price can range anywhere between free to thousands of dollars. In a few instances, higher than ten thousand dollars but generally within a few hundred is what you can expect.

The costs incurred are towards acquiring a domain name, hosting server, security certifications, website creation, plugins, and content. If you are building an e-commerce website, the costs are different and are comparatively higher.

 

Domain name

A domain name is the name of the website. It is the address where the website can be accessed. Every domain name is unique. While choosing a domain name select one that’s same as your business name. Domain names with special characters are also offered, do not buy them. It makes the name very confusing and difficult for potential visitors to remember.

A domain name is cheap, it usually ranges from $10 to $30 yearly. It can be a little higher if it is a popular word. Many buy and resell domain names as a business if your desired name is with someone else, it can cost much higher than what it would be sold for usually.

There are possibilities to get your desired domain name for cheap. Check different domain registrars as prices vary. Also, do look for special promotional offers or bundle offers.

 

Hosting server

If you want to build a low-cost website, acquiring a hosting server would be bulk of the cost. Businesses who own servers offer web host services by leasing out space to host your website. It is the service that makes the website accessible on the internet. There are two main types of web hosting, shared and dedicated. The costs vary for both.

Shared web hosting is when you share your server with multiple other websites and is the cheapest option. The price starts from $5, Yes you read it right $5 (monthly)! and increases based on additional features. Therefore, this option is ideal for those with a simple website without much traffic expectations. There are limitations to shared hosting such as this.

With a dedicated hosting server, you gain complete control of the hosting server because only your website will be hosted. This option offers a lot of perks but comes at a cost. The price starts at about $80 (monthly) and increases based on your website needs. This option is ideal for big businesses or e-commerce websites with a large inventory.

 

SSL certificate

 

An SSL certificate stands for secure sockets layer certificate, it is a standard technology that keeps an internet connection secure. It scrambles data with the help of an encryption algorithm.

The SSL safeguards any sensitive information transferred between the website user and the hosting server. In addition to preventing criminals from reading, acquiring and modifying sensitive information. SSL is an essential certificate to have if payment gateways are part of the website.

The ‘S’ at the end of ‘HTTPS’ tells that the website has an SSL certificate and is secure.

There are three types of SSL available. Domain validated SSL (DV SSL), organisation validated SSL (OV SSL) and extended validation SSL (EV SSL). Choose any based cost and websites needs. For extensive websites, this could prove to be a huge cost during website building.

 

DV SSL

DV SSL is a basic SSL that validates the e-mail associated with a particular domain because of the simplicity it is the quickest to be acquired. It cost about $ 10 per year. The cost increase based on the addition of extra features.

 

OV SSL

This is required for websites that deal with sensitive information like credit cards. The certification validates the organisation that owns it. The costs start at $30 annually.

 

EV SSL

EV SSL validates the same as OV SSL but has higher and stricter standards. Naturally, this is the most expensive of all starting at $150 annually.

 

Website Interface

The good news is that it is free, in case you are building a basic website. You can either choose a website builder or a CMS. Free website building platforms advertise on your website to make a profit, so choose according to your needs. A minimal monthly cost should be paid if you want to get rid of ads on the website. On the other hand, if you opt for CMS, many themes and templates are free. Some themes incur a cost. You can decide suitable themes based on your preference and budget.

If you desire a custom website, the options are either hiring a dedicated developer or a freelancer. Website intensive startups prefer to partner with a developer to minimize costs.

The price to hire a developer varies drastically and entirely depends on your needs. In the US it starts from $60 up to $200 an hour based on complexity. To reduce costs you could outsource it to a different country, this can bring down the costs to about $25 an hour. To know more about costs based on region click here.

In the case of hiring a developer for the whole duration of the project, building a website will surely cost in the thousand dollar range.

 

Plugins and integrations

A piece of software added to a website is called a plugin. It is similar to an app for mobile phones. Unlike apps, a plugin integrates with the website. Plugins add functionality to your website. If you have a feature in mind for your website, there is probably a plugin that provides it.

Plugins eliminate the hassle of coding from scratch and mostly eliminating the need for a developer. Currently, WordPress has a massive collection of  20,000+ plugins. Many of which are free of cost and can be easily integrated with the website while building it.

It is tough to put a cost on a plugin as each varies in functionality and complexity. If you are after a custom plugin, it would most certainly cost upwards of $100 based on complexity.

There are few things you need to do before deciding on a free plugin click here to read more.

 

Content cost

Depending on the type and requirement of the website it can be free. If you are a blogger uploading blogs, it is at the expense of your time and nothing more. But if you are a business or an organisation you would require a professional content writer.

The costs associated would be based on the content writer. Generally, the costing is done by the hour or article based (a fixed sum for each article written) if it’s a freelancer. In the case of a full-fledged hired content writer, it will be either wages or salary.

Generally, a freelancing content writer charges $ 25 to $ 80 an hour based on experience and complexity of the topic. If its fixed sum based on an article you can expect to pay $100 for a 1000+ word article.

 

 

Workik.

 

Workik is an upcoming SAAS based service that handles all your website needs. It is another option worth considering. With workik, you can integrate our pre-built platform applications into your website. Of course, we tailor the application to your specific needs. Why Workik over the rest?

Workik offers affordable package deals to choose and customise your website. Additionally, we provide technical expertise to meet your complex website needs. We also help maintain and manage the constructed website. Similarly, we provide boilerplate applications that are easy to integrate with simple websites. We make sure to cut down the time necessary to build a complicated website to less than a week.

In a world where customer experience can make or break a business, you want to stand out as the best. We at workik, ensure this is possible.

Contact us to transform your website. To know more visit us at workik.com .