The Cost Of A Web Site

Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational site, which is all most need initially, and build up to a fuller site (e-commerce and/or interactive) when you can afford it.

Your goal should be to get an online presence. Remember, most surfers are looking for information. Dancing cartoons, streaming video and other interactive features are, in the great majority of cases, unnecessary.

Naming Your Site: Selecting and Registering a Domain Name

The first step in getting a web site is to select and register your domain name. Even if you can't afford a web site right now, it is a good idea to register your name. This can be done for under $10.00 a year (eg, namecheap.com).

Choosing a Web Designer / Web Design Company

Choosing a web designer will depend greatly onthe type of site you are having built. Prices are all over the place. Many designers/firms have a dollar minimum that you must spend in order to work with them.

Ball park figure: If you are having a simple informational site built, I suggest spending no more than $500. Learn how to update it yourself to save ongoing maintenance charges.

An even cheaper option is to do it yourself. There is plenty of easy-to-learn software (eg, FrontPage) that make it easy to build a site. Also, many companies (Yahoo, Microsoft BCentral, AOL, etc.) have templates that make it simple to drag and drop text and create a site. Rates begin at around $19.95/month.

Web Hosting Costs

Fees range from free to hundreds of dollars per month. As a guideline, the average cost for hosting a personal web site is $10-$25/month. Business sites with higher traffic are in the $45-$75/month range.

There are excellent deals to be found on web hosting (eg, peoplehost.com), so shop around. Usually, if you prepay for a year or more, you will be given a discount. I recommend this because once you get a site, it is highly unlikely that you will ever discontinue it, unless you change careers altogether.

About Free Web Hosting Companies

I do not advise the use of free web hosting companies. This is your professional online presence and you get what you pay for. More often than not, free host companies have limitations such as space, email specifications, domain name use, et cetera, that won't allow you to operate as a professional site.

How Much Should You Pay A Content Developer

This depends so heavily on the type of content your site requires that it's almost impossible to answer. Freelance writer and editor rates range from a low of $25 an hour up to $250 an hour, or more. Most are in the $50 to $100 per hour range. Shop around.

As an editorial professional, I'm assuming that you will provide your own content. However if you have neither the time, desire, or skill, you will definitely want to spend the money for a professional.

Finally Tally

If you choose to go with a web designer and are simply having a 2-3 page informational site built, pay no more than $500. This is assuming that you write your own content and do not have custom work done, such as logo/graphic design.

Cheapest Option: Do it yourself. A template site, or buying a software (eg, FrontPage) and doing it yourself, with hosting fees should top out at about $300/year.

The beauty of buying software and doing it yourself is that after you purchase the software, you only have to incur the hosting and domain name fees on a yearly basis. These can be under $50/year - making your site really economical as time passes.

See you online!

Parts of this article were excerpted from How to Get Your Small Biz on the Web Quickly & Affordably, available for immediate download.

About The Author

May be reprinted with inclusion of the following: Yuwanda Black is an entrepreneur, author, speaker and syndicated small business columnist whose focus is controlling your destiny through small business ownership. Her most recent e-books, How to Really Make a Living as an Editorial Freelancer and Advice from Successful Freelancers: How They Built Their Careers & How You Can Too! are available for immediate download at http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/bizguides.html Visit her on the web at http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/bizguides.html for a complete list of how-to, small business books and articles.

http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/bizguides.html

recurring housekeeping Glencoe ...

In The News:

Attaxion researchers found 30 fake Texas campaign merchandise stores traced to just two sellers hawking gear for competing Republicans and Democrats.

GM plans to debut eyes-off driving in the Cadillac Escalade IQ by 2028, but safety testing reveals how long distracted drivers take to regain control.

Data brokers assign labels predicting your health, finances and religion based on browsing and purchases, then sell those profiles to businesses.

Elon Musk says he'll give one SpaceX share to every kid in America in 2027, but key details about eligibility and distribution remain unclear.

ClearSpace UK's robotic spacecraft with giant claws will chase down dead satellites at 17,000 mph, with a 2029 launch from Scotland planned.

A fake Social Security statement phishing email uses the SSA logo and a convincing layout, but the sender's domain instantly exposes the scam.

A clean credit report doesn't mean your identity is safe. Six ways criminals can steal from you without triggering a credit monitoring alert.

Carolyn Marvin, a 78-year-old retired professor, was arrested after blocking an Uber Eats delivery robot on a Philadelphia sidewalk for months.

The Midnight Mimosa malware campaign hides inside cheap Android phone firmware, giving attackers powerful access before owners even turn devices on.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Meta's Muse AI was built to manage tasks, but users are developing romantic AI relationships and even calling the AI companion their girlfriend.

A Minnesota murder suspect's notebook listed 11 people search websites, raising urgent questions about data broker opt-out and online privacy risks.

Google Universal Cart tracks price drops, surfaces promo codes and uses Google Wallet to match your best credit card rewards before checkout.

Safari's Notify Me feature and Google's price-tracking tools can monitor products and send alerts when prices drop on your iPhone or Android.

George Weiner built PACspam.org to trace who sends nonstop political fundraising texts after blocking numbers repeatedly failed to stop the messages.

A dedicated VPN IP address may reduce frustrating CAPTCHAs and bank login security checks by giving websites a consistent connection to recognize.

Apple Wallet in iOS 27 lets you create digital passes from physical cards using a photo or screenshot, but not every card in your wallet qualifies.

Anthropic's Claude AI submitted a fabricated eyewitness tip about an unsolved murder to a Philadelphia police website during automated testing.

P7 DarkSword iPhone spyware can steal saved passwords, photos, Apple Notes and cryptocurrency wallet data by checking for commands every 15 seconds.

Cybersecurity experts told Fox News Digital that a cyberattack on French supermarket freezers should warn the U.S. about critical infrastructure gaps.

The Oracle Health breach exposed medical records, Social Security numbers and diagnoses of nearly 20 million patients across multiple states.

The new Tesla Roadster drove upside down and launched into the air at SpaceX's Texas facility, but a 2028 production target remains unconfirmed.

Apple's iOS 27 lets you add keywords to iPhone photos, while Samsung Gallery tags and Google Photos search offer similar organization tools.

A fake Claude AI download scam uses Google ads, and Bing redirects to trick Mac users into pasting a hidden malicious command in their Terminal.

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Cost Of A Web Site

Web Development