How Much Does It Cost to Build and Maintain a Website for Business?

A website is one of the most important digital assets for any business. The high traffic on your site can easily bring in several inbound leads per month. Your website is indirectly a source of revenue generation for your business.

But you already know that. If you have decided to build a website, you are aware of the benefits it provides and why it matters in today’s business.

After deciding upon several factors, you face the most important question – “How much does it cost for a website?”

The answer to finding the cost for a website comes down to the amount of effort involved in building a website. Yes- not all website development is the same.

Determining the average cost to build a website

Before determining the website building cost, first, you need to identify what type of website your business needs. After that, you can figure out how much a website costs to make.

There are two types of websites that you can get for your business.

1. Custom website

The first option is to get a custom website which involves designing the frontend and backend of the website. The cost of a website which is custom-made is based on the cost of the professional you hire for development.

There are many things involved in making a custom website. The website cost largely depends on a lot of factors.

No website development company would clearly state how much does a website costs. It depends on your requirements, after which they will provide you with a quotation for the cost of building a website.

But do not confuse custom website design and web development. The cost of creating a website involves both. Website design is the UI/UX of the site, while website development relates to coding the website from scratch to match the UI/UX and make it functional.

If you want more customization options and better serviceability, custom website development is the answer to your question of how much does a professional website cost.

Why opt for a custom website?

Custom website building cost might look a little expensive for your business. But it is one of the best ways to get your business online and reap the benefits of inbound lead generation.
When you opt for a custom website:-

• The web development company takes care of the domain, hosting, and website development.
• The cost of setting up a website includes everything from the ideation of the website design to the final launch.
• You don’t have to purchase images and graphics separately for content on your website.
• You can provide the content for the website, or the company can offer it to you for a nominal charge included in the website building cost.
• A professional website developer will provide custom coding in plugins that you wish to install on the site
• You can get a lot of revisions in the website design and development phase without anything extra.

Still worried about how much does it cost to have a website?. The average price for a website made by a custom web development company ranges somewhere between $ 5000 – $ 20000, depending on the dynamic requirements of your website.

2. Template design

The second option is to build a website from a WordPress template or any other website builder template. This method is different from custom web development in the sense that you don’t need to hire a professional. The website building prices are nominal as compared to custom websites.

How much does a website cost to make using templates?

First of all, since this is almost a do-it-yourself approach, the average cost to build a website is comparatively lower than custom websites.

Template websites include pre-designed templates which you can customize using plugin and drag-and-drop interface. Designing a website on WordPress is a prime example of template website design.

The cost of a website includes a lot of things when you develop it using templates.

Domain Name

• The first cost of setting up a website is purchasing a domain name for your website. The domain name is the name of the business that will appear in the search results. It is the address where people will find your business.
• The primary step to answer how much should a website cost begins with buying a domain name. You can get cheap domain names at Godaddy or Namecheap, starting with $ 8-$ 10 per year.

Web Hosting

• Web hosting is basically the place where you will host your website. It includes the storage space for your website files, the bandwidth, and the database of your users.
• Web hosting involves the web server where all the backend activities are taken care of by the hosting provider. When you do-it-yourself, the average cost to build a website involves the maximum amount spent on a web hosting provider.
• Several hosting providers, like BlueHost, Hostinger, etc., offer web hosting, starting with as low as $ 100 per year.

Website builder

• The third cost of setting up a website is the website builder cost. A website builder is required to design and develop the site.Through a website builder, you’ll add features and functionalities to your website. It involves a drag-and-drop interface, which makes development easier for beginners.
• There are several popular website builders like WordPress, Wix, and many more that enable you to build a website. Generally, most sites use WordPress, which is included with almost all the major hosting providers.
• If you have to purchase a separate website builder, you will also get different premium themes with it. The website builder starts from $ 50 and goes to $ 500.

Premium themes & plugins

• You can calculate how much does a professional website cost without considering premium themes & plugins. They provide powerful functionalities to your website that is not available with the free versions.
• Premium themes provide you with more control over what you can do with your website. They offer a lot of pre-designed templates in which you just have to change the content and build your website.
• Premium themes are not included in the basic website cost. Similarly, premium plugins are extra plugins that provide features which can make your website look dynamic and more powerful.
• The price of every premium plugin and theme is different. You can get a good-quality premium theme for $ 50 – $ 100. Invest another $ 100 in premium plugins, and all will be set for your website.

Security certification

• The last thing that you need to determine the average price for a website is setting up HTTPS security protocol. It ensures that your website is safe from cyber threats and hackers.
• SSL certifications are generally used to secure websites from cyber vulnerabilities. While Most people think that they are used only to secure ecommerce transactions, SSL certifications also ensure the safety of your digital assets.
• SSL starts from $ 20 and ranges to $ 200 based on the level of security you want for your website. It is a good practice to purchase an SSL certificate when you buy the domain name, and you might get a good offer with it.

How much does a professional website cost: Template Version

Once you build a website, there are other things that you need to take care of. It includes SEO and marketing of the website, upgrades & maintenance, apps & integrations and several other things.

There is a lot of hassle in website maintenance and upgrades if your business is mostly conducted online and you are doing-it-yourself. While it reduces the website building cost, there might be technical glitches that you can’t solve and have to then hire professional support.

On the other hand, you may also want to update your website from time to time. The cost of creating a website yourself is less as compared to custom web development.

However, the cost of maintaining your website and updating it regularly requires a lot of investment in terms of money, time, and efforts. You may not be even equipped with the knowledge to make all the changes.

The average price for a website using templates and do-it-yourself approach is $ 500 – $ 1200. It includes domain name, website hosting, website builder, SSL certification, website content, premium theme and plugins, ecommerce integration and basic digital marketing features.

How much does a website cost to build: Custom Version

Custom website development saves you from wasting a ton of money, time, and efforts. But don’t worry – custom website costs are not as expensive as you might think. You can hire professional website developers on an hourly basis for $ 25 per hour to $ 50 per hour.

Custom web development includes everything from website development to maintenance. You won’t have to spend money on separate upgrades as they will be covered under your contract.

The average cost of a website when you hire a custom web development company ranges somewhere between $ 5000 – $ 20000. It is not much as compared to the time and efforts you would save.

Many web development companies also provide basic SEO and Marketing so that you don’t have to pay a high cost for hiring a digital marketing agency.

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