How much does a website cost
The cost of creating a website is variable and depends on many aspects. It's also important who will be responsible for creating your site - whether you'll do it with a small firm or decide to entrust the task to an agency if you have a larger budget.
My guide includes an overview of the potential costs you may encounter during this process.
Purpose of your website
Let's start by defining the purpose of your website. Is it to showcase your services or products, or is its main task to represent your company and provide contact information?
Depending on its purpose, the structure of the site should be adapted: it will differ for a site focusing on offering services or products, or one whose main goal is the presentation of the company and its contact information.
Each of these scenarios requires a different design approach. What are the fixed, annual costs of maintaining a website?
The basic costs you'll have to cover each year include the domain and server fees.
A domain is simply the name of your site - for example, in the case of this blog, it's dioma.pl. The cost of a domain ranges from 20 dollars to several hundred dollars, depending on the provider and ending (.com, .eu etc.). Before buying a domain, it's worth seeking my advice on where you can get it cheapest. Often, promotions offering a domain for 0 dollars can turn out to be a more expensive option in the long run.
The server, on the other hand, is a dedicated area or even a separate computer that has been properly configured and connected to the internet, where the files of your site are stored. The cost of a server, sufficient for a small site plus email accounts, also ranges from 30 to several hundred dollars annually.
Cost of the website project
Now that we know the fixed annual costs, let's focus on the cost of the project itself and the implementation of the website.
At Dioma, we always start by determining the needs and what exactly the site could do for us.
The times when a site was merely a presentation of an address, email, and phone number have long passed. Today, we can expect websites to fully automate the sales process, customer acquisition, or service delivery, such as sending newsletters, paid access to webinars, or sharing a pre-recorded video course.
After defining the purpose of the site, we prepare an offer with several packages to choose from. Each package differs in features,
execution time, and of course, price. This way, you can start with a simplified version of the site and commission the creation of additional modules as your business develops.
What factors most affect the cost of creating a site?
What elements have the greatest impact on the cost of creating a website? Below we list key functionalities that can increase the cost of creating a site.
It's important to consider whether these specific features are currently essential for the development of your business. An example might be implementing a multilingual site, and then lacking the ability to effectively translate or update content in different languages.
Multilingual Websites
Multilingual sites require a special approach. It's not limited to just translating content. You also need to consider handling different currencies, cultures, and legal regulations in other countries.
Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, consider whether you will indeed have the time and resources to regularly translate and update content in multiple languages.
Calculators and Generators
Construction, insurance, or real estate companies often use calculators or client calculation generators. Creating a calculator may require integration with external databases (e.g., loans) or implementing computational methods and instructions provided by the client. The site can also generate PDF documents based on data collected from potential clients.
Integrations with External Services
A simple example is integrating a site with a newsletter service. A user subscribing to the newsletter through the site has their email added to the contact database in an external tool (e.g., MailerLite). However, there are more complex integrations, such as generating consignment notes for shipments, payment systems with automatic invoices, task assignments, or other business process automations. Additionally, external services may require a monthly subscription, which impacts the ongoing cost of maintaining the site.
Online Payments on the Website
Integrating online payments with a website is not overly complicated, but managing currencies, generating invoices, monitoring order statuses, handling deliveries, and other elements create a complex e-commerce ecosystem. This requires the company designing the site to take greater responsibility for the designed system. Electronic payment service providers usually charge a fee of 1 to 3 percent for each transaction.
Blog as a Knowledge Zone
A blog is, in a sense, a 'site within a site'. For some types of business, a blog alone may be sufficient, while other companies use it as an addition to increase traffic on their main site and convert readers into clients. My company has already acquired many clients through informative articles.
It's possible that after reading this article, you will join the ranks of satisfied Dioma.pl clients :)
Search and Filtering
Depending on what needs to be searched and how extensive the filtering options are, a search engine may require complex algorithms, a lot of work, and testing. Consider the benefits of having a search engine on your website.
Legal Support
For applications and online stores, it will be necessary to develop terms of service. If the site processes user data (e.g., from forms) or uses cookies, a privacy policy is also required to ensure the website's compliance with GDPR regulations.
Copywriting for Offer Texts and Blog
A well-designed website also needs compelling content. Initially, you can use texts written by yourself, with AI support, or by employees, but eventually, you may want to consider hiring professional copywriters to enhance the effectiveness of sales or achieve other business goals.
Photos, Graphics, and Videos for the Website
Just like good texts, attractive photos and videos are important. Stock photos from popular photo banks are becoming less effective. Your clients will appreciate more authentic images, avoiding artificial appearances. Focus on team photos in a uniform style, taken during a single session. Increasingly, videos are also being used to present the company's mission or explain how a product or service works.
How I settle Website Projects
For years, I've used a proven billing model. After signing the contract, specifying the specifications, and creating the graphic design, we carry out the first payment tranche for the site. The second tranche of payment is made after the project is completed. For larger projects, we divide the payment into more stages.