How much does it really cost you to have your beautiful constructed website up on any given day? You probably never put much thought into it after it was designed or when you started making money. However, just like anything in this world there is a cost per use ratio that you should be applying to make sure you are not over spending.
Website Design
If you are not a website designer or developer yourself, it will cost something to have your pretty space online. Most individuals do not want the free or minimum costing templates. They want a custom design that reflects their business. I won’t say be weary of scamming developers but be weary. Less and less of you are getting actual custom designs created versus a template they might have only changed the color scheme on. Which you can do yourself if you buy a theme on Template Monster. Do comparative research on how much something should cost first. A general rule of thumb for me is if it cost more than $2000 the person needs to be coding it from scratch not building off of a template.
Sites like Squarespace, Big Commerce, Shopify, and even Joomla have a nice array of templates for less than $200 that you can have customized to your needs.
Domain and Hosting
Purchasing your domain name is one of the first things you should do after getting your business legality in order. The great thing about purchasing a domain name is you can get them for super cheap however renewal cost can be very expensive. I highly suggest buying your domain for 5 years or more. It will come out cheaper in the long run.
The same thing goes for hosting. Most companies say they can get you hosting for a penny starting out but watch out when its time to renew it could cost you more than $200 for one year. Source the best company for your small business and buy your hosting in bulk also.
Host Gator has some great packages if you buy your hosting in bulk. – use “imperfectconcepts” at checkout to save 25% off.
Plugins
Most people do not realize there is a plethora of extras that don’t just magically appear when launching your online website. If you are operating on WordPress (self hosted) you need plugins to operate your business. From payment gateway plugins to using a contact form. Yes, some plugins you can get for free but if you have a particular design or want the bells and whistle be ready to spend money to purchase it.
That pretty website is a huge company expense when you break down the real cost of a business website. Factoring all these items into your yearly and monthly budget is very important, so you are not caught off guard when the expenses come up.
How much is it costing you to have your business website up? Do you think about all the other aspects that go into having a website or just the end result?
Image by The Every Girl
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