| What costs are involved in having a website? |
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What are the initial and recurring costs involved in starting and maintaining a website?
Like many things in the high tech world over the last decade, the costs associated with owning a website have dropped to the point where any organization can afford one. In fact, it can be argued that a business can't afford not to have a presence on the Internet. The actual costs obviously will vary depending on the type of website and the needs of the organization but there are common costs that all websites share. Initial costs will include things such as registering your domain name(s), the design and development of the site, custom graphics, obtaining web hosting, etc. A good estimate of these start-up costs should be given to you up front by your web designer. Start-up costs can vary from a few hundred dollars for a simple informational website to several thousand dollars for an elaborate eCommerce site. Recurring costs will involve annually renewing the domain names that you've registered and website hosting fees. These are generally fixed costs and are not expensive. Domain renewal normally cost less than $10 per domain name. Annual hosting fees vary depending upon the type of website you have, but are generally only a few hundred dollars per year. There will also be the costs associated with keeping your site content fresh and updated. If you have the inclination and skill to do this yourself, then your only cost for content updates is your time. If you prefer to have your web developer do the work, then the cost will depend upon the hourly rate and the number of changes you need made. There are many variables that will determine what your actual cost will be, but having a presence on the web doesn't have to bust your budget. Perhaps the question to ask is, "How many customer opportunities will I miss by not having a website"? |