After reading my previous post about Starter Websites, if you wish to develop one for your business, you might need to understand the aspects (and costs) that go into making a website.
- Website hosting – Simple hosting vs additional features
- Domain name or website URL – Free vs customised and paid
- Website development – Templates vs coding
- Annual maintenance and updates - Based on developer
There are many portals out there that provide website hosting facilities on their servers, usually for a fee. Some deal directly with customers, while some act as intermediaries between their customers and website hosting sites. As such, the charges of the latter are usually a little higher. Many companies now offer multiple services as packages – website hosting + domain name + website building.
Some of the website building and hosting sites let users host their sites for free if they choose domain names which include the host website’s URL as well. E.g.:
Some of the website building and hosting sites let users host their sites for free if they choose domain names which include the host website’s URL as well. E.g.:
http://abc.weebly.com
http://abc.wordpress.com
http://abc.wix.com
http://abc.wordpress.com
http://abc.wix.com
In addition to this rather long URL, free users also have to deal with advertisements in the footer and sometimes even on the sides of their websites. For paid members, the URL can be customised to www.abc.com, and their website will display no ads of the host company or its partners. Memberships can vary from US$ 50 to US$ 200+ annually, depending on the packages and features chosen.
Domain name registrars are also thriving, but the biggest and most reliable today are still GoDaddy and Enom. Pricing varies, depending on the desired extension (.com, .org, .co.in, .net, etc.) and the duration of the subscription (1 year, 2 years, etc.). Charges can be paid upfront, monthly, quarterly or bi-annually, using credit cards or PayPal accounts.
Developing a website years ago involved only HTML. Then things became complicated as a host of technologies were introduced - Java, Flash, CSS, etc. If you are a programmer, you can develop your website from scratch using one or more of these languages / codes and software such as Adobe Dreamweaver. There are free and paid templates available online that can be tweaked as well by a website developer familiar with coding. And then there are portals like Weebly, Wix and Wordpress that offer drag and drop features for simple website development, along with an option to code so that more experienced users can customise their sites and add complex features.
Once the website has been developed and goes live, a website developer might charge an annual maintenance fee, as well as update charges. Depending on the size of the website and the kind of updates required, maintenance charges could vary from $100 to thousands of dollars per year.
These costs do not include charges for designing of company logo and stationery, editing images, using licensed images or media, content writing or maintaining social media accounts. Together, these costs can add up to a big amount, making the idea of building, maintaining and regularly updating a website quite prohibitive. But individuals and companies still build websites, regularly update them, and continuously promote them. Why?
Because a website adds a lot of credibility to the individual's or company's services and products. Potential customers can procure most of the information they require from a well-made website, and can be wooed by value add-ons such as discounts and informative blogs. Regular customers can be surprised by loyalty bonuses, updates, social media engagements and blogs as well. The website can be used as a means of marketing, communication, customer engagement, information and e-commerce. Hence, in most cases, the costs of building and maintaining a website are more than compensated by the exposure and goodwill it garners.
Domain name registrars are also thriving, but the biggest and most reliable today are still GoDaddy and Enom. Pricing varies, depending on the desired extension (.com, .org, .co.in, .net, etc.) and the duration of the subscription (1 year, 2 years, etc.). Charges can be paid upfront, monthly, quarterly or bi-annually, using credit cards or PayPal accounts.
Developing a website years ago involved only HTML. Then things became complicated as a host of technologies were introduced - Java, Flash, CSS, etc. If you are a programmer, you can develop your website from scratch using one or more of these languages / codes and software such as Adobe Dreamweaver. There are free and paid templates available online that can be tweaked as well by a website developer familiar with coding. And then there are portals like Weebly, Wix and Wordpress that offer drag and drop features for simple website development, along with an option to code so that more experienced users can customise their sites and add complex features.
Once the website has been developed and goes live, a website developer might charge an annual maintenance fee, as well as update charges. Depending on the size of the website and the kind of updates required, maintenance charges could vary from $100 to thousands of dollars per year.
These costs do not include charges for designing of company logo and stationery, editing images, using licensed images or media, content writing or maintaining social media accounts. Together, these costs can add up to a big amount, making the idea of building, maintaining and regularly updating a website quite prohibitive. But individuals and companies still build websites, regularly update them, and continuously promote them. Why?
Because a website adds a lot of credibility to the individual's or company's services and products. Potential customers can procure most of the information they require from a well-made website, and can be wooed by value add-ons such as discounts and informative blogs. Regular customers can be surprised by loyalty bonuses, updates, social media engagements and blogs as well. The website can be used as a means of marketing, communication, customer engagement, information and e-commerce. Hence, in most cases, the costs of building and maintaining a website are more than compensated by the exposure and goodwill it garners.