New Year, new website? This is what it’ll cost you
It’s 2014, and by now,
most businesses have websites (and those that don’t, should). But just having a
site isn’t enough if it doesn’t attract the right attention. With web trends in
constant flux, staying current is key.
Whether you’re
redesigning an existing site or starting from scratch this year, the cost can
vary from virtually nothing to many thousands of dollars. Generally speaking,
the average price for a small business brochure website ranges from $300 to$1000.
The cost boils down to
three things – budget, timeline and quality. Each step can be inexpensive, or
if you do it yourself, you may not have to spend anything. It’s like building a
house – if you are a master of all the trades, you won’t need a contractor. But
most people are not in that position.
It depends on
objectives and priorities. If you aren’t sure about your first step – website,
blog, social, iPhone app – a digital consultant will save you time, money and
headache by assessing your needs, identifying your online goals, and developing
a strategy. The cost is anywhere from nothing to thousands of dollars, but
then, that can apply to each stage in the process.
However you choose to
set out about creating a new site, here are the nine things you need to
consider — and how much they’ll cost you.
1. Branding A new website is an extension of your
brand and should project the image you want. Do-it-yourself online branding
kits may cost a few hundred dollars, but a marketing firm or branding
specialist can analyze your target market, provide multiple concepts, guide youthrough the process, and create something unique. Then you’re talking
thousands.
2. Design The same is true for website design.
Good design embodies such crucial factors as flow and user experience so the
site is easy to navigate. This can also cost anywhere from nothing to
thousands, and the same is true for how you make it work on the Internet with a
Content Management System (CMS). Today most organizations want a website they
can easily update themselves rather than using a webmaster as in the past; a
ready-made CMS is available for a modest monthly fee. The cost depends on what
features you want.
3. Mobile Another point involves ‘mobile
readiness’. Today more than half of all searches are done on mobile devices, so
your website better be mobile-friendly. You can achieve that with a separate
mobile site or use an increasingly popular technology called ‘responsive
design’. This is more expensive and will resize your website automatically,
catering to whatever type of device is used.
4. Photography What about photography? Do you want to
take your own photos, use a stock photo service, or hire a professional? And
what about content writing? Many choose to write their own content, but that’s
not as good as hiring a professional who knows how to seed the copy with
phrases and key words that help search engines find your site.
5. SEO Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is also
important. What good is a website if nobody can find it? Optimizing for search
engines lets you drive traffic to your site, but as with the above steps, it
depends on objectives and budget. A good search-engine campaign – just to get
to page 1 in a popular market segment – can cost $500/month or more.
6. Content Once the site is designed and working on
the Internet, and the copy is written, content must be added. That means text,
images, documents and links for your pages. If you can do this yourself, great,
but it’s faster to hire someone like classic web designs.in.
7. Social media Social media is all the rage nowadays,
but is it for you? It’s easy to set up, but proper use of social media requires
frequent, ongoing updates. Unless you have resources to maintain, monitor and
manage your social media accounts, you may want to hire a professional.
8. Domain A domain name is your company/organization
name – .com, .in .net.co.in. It’s a good idea to include a keyword you want to be
associated with in the search engines. The cost of getting a domain name is
$10-$30/year per domain, depending on the extension and where you buy from.
9. Hosting finally, we have website hosting. Now
that the site is ready, you need to put it on a computer that serves it to the
world. Basic hosting is usually for static html files where you’re on one
server with lots of customers. If a customer does something to crash the
server, or gets hacked or blacklisted, you can be affected. Hosted applications
are for websites with content management systems or e-commerce systems, and are
often spread out over multiple machines to prevent a single point of failure.
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