How Much Should A Web Site Cost?

How much should a building costs? Seriously, just like constructing a building, there are all kinds of factors involved in setting the price of  web site construction, starting with the purpose of the web site. And you can save money building your web site the same way you can with constructing a building — by careful planning before you start construction and using stock materials. It’s very expensive to rip out cabinets or walls because you changed your mind half-way through building a house or have everything custom designed. It’s also very expensive to re-develop the structure of a web site half-way through the project because you left something out of the plan or have every line of code built from scratch.  To help you with your planning, you can download one of my Project Surveys: Full-Version or Cooking Up A Web Site (short version).

Some Web Price Ranges to Help With Planning

$0 (Free)

A Web Presence: Usually, this is a portion of a shared site ranging from a listing in a Directory Site (e.g., Chamber of Commerce) to a community site (e.g., MySpace, etsy, WordPress.com). You’re entirely on your own here.

$75 – $150

1 yr. domain name license, 1 yr. minimal web hosting, an Open Source CMS (e.g., WordPress, Joomla or Drupal) or other program (e.g., OS Commerce, CubeCart, Gallery, or phpBB) using a free template, multiple email accounts & aliases, basic web statistics (and Google Analytics, if you know someone who can modify your template). Using standard Open Source solutions or flat web pages you create, you can have a viable site strictly off-the-shelf.

$150-$1,000

All of the above with the possibility of more server space or bandwidth and minor customization of the Open Source programs to include features you need or want such as a custom design & graphics, features like calenders, or discussion boards, simple e-commerce integration, training on changing and maintaining the content and rudimentary web marketing.

$1,000+

This is where taking the time to do strategic planning is essential. At this point, the costs are determined by what’s needed to reach your goals. Some of the costs may be design, graphics, custom programming or consulting (especially on issues like web marketing, Pay Per Click advertising, monetizing you site, site maintenance and so on)