A number of factors influence the cost of establishing a website development. A domain and SSL certificate can set you back around $200 if you choose a free website builder. Expect to spend between $15 to $300 per month if you pick a more flexible platform.
Instead, a content management system (CMS) can provide you more control over your site’s content and layout. Whether you use open-source or commercial software (which we’ll go into in more detail below) determines the cost of website development and maintaining a CMS site.
We’ll go over the major costs of establishing and maintaining a website so you can have a better idea of how much the site you want to build will cost.
Software Prices
The first and most important decision you must make is whether to use free software like WordPress or paid software like CMS Hub.
Although open-source software is free to download, website development has costs associated with third-party hosting and SSL certification. You may need to purchase additional software to safeguard, maintain, and administer your website.
If you utilize proprietary software, you won’t have to worry about hosting or the security, performance, or uptime of your website. You will just have to pay a single monthly fee for the fully managed service.
The cost of proprietary software might vary greatly in website development. A proprietary website builder like Wix costs $14 per month, but CMS Hub Professional costs $300 per month. Enterprise content management systems are more expensive. CMS Hub Enterprise, for example, costs $900 per month, whereas Contently ranges from $3,000 to $25,000 per month.
The cost of software varies from $0 to $25,000 per month.
Related: What is website maintenance?
Web Hosting Prices
Because web hosting is sometimes packaged with proprietary software, you should only think about web hosting costs if you’re using an open-source solution or starting from scratch.
Shared, managed, VPS, and dedicated hosting are all available from most providers, with prices ranging from $3 to $400 per month. Shared hosting is the cheapest option since you share a server with multiple other websites, whereas dedicated hosting is the most expensive option because you have your own server in website development.
The monthly cost of web hosting varies from $3 to $400.
Domain Registration Fees
Regardless of how your website development is hosted, you’ll need a domain name. Because it’s your internet address, it’s a crucial part of your online presence. If you select a domain name that matches your company name, you’ll increase brand recognition and make the site appear more professional.
Domain registration is included in almost every hosted and self-hosted platform’s sign-up procedure. Certain platforms, such as Squarespace, and third-party hosting providers, such as Bluehost, provide a free year of domain registration when you sign up for a plan. Other hosted systems, like CMS Hub and SiteGround, require you to purchase a domain from a third-party registrar like GoDaddy or Namecheap and then link it to your account.
Let’s take a look at the typical cost of a domain name.
The Average Cost Of A Domain Name
On average, a custom domain registration and renewal costs around $12 per year, however the price can vary depending on a variety of factors, including:
Prices for domain registrars vary depending on the amount of available domain names, privacy, reputation, and expiration costs. Domain.com, for example, offers domain registration for $2.99 per year and most.com domains for $9.99 per year. As a result, it’s one of the most budget-friendly options. Some of the most popular domain registrars are Namecheap, Name.com, and BlueHost.
The overall cost of your custom domain may be affected by domain extensions. For example, the most popular extension is.com, which is also the most expensive. On average, it costs between $12 and $15. Less popular domain extensions, such as.org,.site, and.biz, are frequently less expensive, with prices ranging from $7 to $11.
You have the option of adding domain privacy and protection when purchasing a domain name. This will prevent the public WHOIS database from searching and seeing your personal information (such as your name, address, phone number, and email). This may assist in the protection of your website from threats and attacks. Domain privacy and protection normally costs around $10 per year.
Term of registration: When you acquire a domain, you have the option of deciding how long it will be registered for. Setting it for one year can save you money in the short term, but some registrars may provide you a discount if you join up for many years. This option may be appealing because it allows you to postpone the renewal process for a few years.
The cost of a domain name varies from $0 to $25 per year.
Related: What is web design and development?
A Software SSL Certificate’s Price
An SSL certificate is a common security solution for securing data between a visitor’s browser and your website development. Visitors expect your site to be secured with SSL since it protects sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Many hosted systems, such as CMS Hub, provide an SSL certificate in their bundle. If you pick a self-hosted platform, several hosting firms include an SSL in their plans. The lowest-tiered HostGator plans, for example, provide an SSL certificate.
If your hosting provider does not give an SSL certificate, you will need to obtain one from an SSL certificate supplier. While a few companies provide free SSL certificates, the rest charge anything from $7 to $250 each year, depending on the provider.
An SSL certificate might cost anything from $0 to $250 per year.
The Price Of A Website
Free templates are available in many website development builders and content management systems, which you can customize with a drag-and-drop editor. You won’t have to start from scratch if you want to change the design of your site.
Some systems, however, have a smaller diversity than others. In this case, you may need to invest in a premium template to achieve the exact look you desire.
Only 8 of the 72 themes in Shopify’s store are accessible for free. The remaining 64 items range in price from $140 to $180.
On Shopify’s marketplace, there are 72 themes ranging in price from $0 to $180.
The cost of designing a website ranges from $0 to $200.
Related: What Is Lead Nurturing And What Are The Right Tactics?
Extensions’ Costs
You’re not limited to the features that most platforms have out of the box. You may enhance your site’s functionality by installing or purchasing plugins.
The amount of extensions accessible varies substantially from platform to platform, as previously indicated. In its official directory, WordPress, for example, lists over 58,000 free plugins. That means you can find a WordPress plugin for nearly everything, including adding forms and live chat to your website, increasing your blog’s SEO, and adding event listings directly to your site.
Assume you’re website development on a platform that lacks SEO and social networking capabilities. In that case, you might want to consider joining up for a premium keyword research service like Semrush, which starts at $99.95 per month. Hootsuite may also be used to schedule Facebook, Twitter, and other social media updates. A monthly fee of $29 applies to a single-user account.
You’re already looking at $130 per month, and that’s before we even get into the various services you’ll need to help with lead creation, analytics, and reporting, among other things. To save money, look for a platform with a lot of built-in functionality.
Extensions can cost anywhere from $0 to $200 per extension.
The Price Of Keeping A Website Current
The cost of operating a website is typically between $400 and $60,000. The most common maintenance fees are domain SSL certificate renewal and software or web hosting renewal. Purchasing more extensions or investing in a major website redesign are two instances of increasing expenses.
Organizing your expenditures into monthly, annual, and one-time payments will help you figure out how much it costs to manage a website.
For example, the cost of renewing a domain is an annual fee. In the same way, SSL certification works.
When acquiring software or hosting, you typically have the option of paying for it all at once or in monthly installments. Most providers offer a discount if you pay for a year in advance.
The most important is a redesign of the website development. You may just need to change your theme if you only want to rename your website. Some website-building tools are flexible enough to let you tweak templates using custom CSS and HTML while also allowing you to construct pages from scratch. If it isn’t, you’ll have to either purchase a new theme or hire a freelancer or an agency, both of which can be expensive. Hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars is a significant sum of money.
You’ll almost certainly need to obtain or purchase more extensions if you wish to change the functionality or appearance of your site.
The cost of maintaining a website can range from $400 to $60,000 each year.
Creating A Budget Estimate For Your Website
Because there are so many various ways to accomplish it, estimating the costs of creating and maintaining a website development may be difficult. When we add up all of our projected costs, we find that building and maintaining a website might cost anywhere from $439 to 365,475 each year.
You may get a better idea of how much your site will cost by selecting the correct platform for your needs and goals. If you go with a self-hosted platform, add up the costs of a hosting provider and plan, a domain name, SSL certificate, theme, and extensions that could work for your site.Related: Lead Generation: Can It Be Useful For Your Products?
