Having a Web Site: How Much Should It Cost?
Posted By 1st Turning Point Guest Columnist on January 28, 2010
Michelle McGinnis, Author
by Michelle McGinnis
1st Turning Point Guest Columnist
Copyright © 2010 Michelle McGinnis
Have you been thinking about developing or upgrading your Web site? Here are three simple guidelines for not spending too much—or too little.
1. Web hosting > free to under $10 per month
a. If you’re just starting out and want to get your feet wet, don’t pay for hosting at all. Instead, try signing up for a free site with WordPress.com. Though WordPress.com calls what they offer “blogs,” they’re really full-fledged free Web sites, with no advertising. You’ll get a domain name like yourname.wordpress.com, which may not be where you want to end up, but is a great way to get comfortable with the technology.
b. When you’re ready for more control over the look and feel, you will need to buy web hosting. Web hosting from reputable providers shouldn’t cost you more than $10 a month, and considerably less for some plans. Both 1and1.com and GoDaddy.com offer good packages for around $5/month, including free domain registration. The best way to find a good host is to ask friends who have active Web sites about their hosting experiences.
2. Domain registration > around $9 per year
Yes, companies like GoDaddy offer domains for ridiculously little money, but as usual you get what you pay for. Cheap domain registration tends to be for public domain registration only, and what you want is private domain registration. “Private registration” means that your name, address, telephone number and email won’t be listed for the world (and spam spiders and search engines) to see. This generally costs about nine dollars per year.
3. Web site design > $500 to $5000+
Finding a good web designer is hard, and it’s even tougher to keep one around for the long term. Find a site you admire and ask who designed it, but don’t stop there. Ask how the site is maintained. Does the site owner have to ask the designer (or webmaster) to make simple updates, paying them each time? Or is the site built on a content management system (”CMS”) such as WordPress, Drupal or Joomla so that the site owner can make updates herself without having to know a web coding language? A CMS will give you more flexibility in the long run, but you have to know to ask for it up front. Note: custom content management systems which were built by your web designer or developer can be fantastic, as they’re tailored to your needs. However they do carry additional risks, as no one but your original web person will know how to fix them if they break. Using an “open-source” (free!) CMS such as those listed above will guarantee you’ll be able to find help if, heaven forbid, your original web guru disappears.
These are rough guidelines, and there are exceptions to every rule. But no matter what, the web doesn’t have to be scary. Wherever you are in your career, you can get started with the web—and have fun with it—for free, by creating a site (or five!) on WordPress.com. Then, when you’re ready to move up to the custom, paying-for-it world, you’ll have a better sense of how you want to organize your site, what content you want to include, and how you want it to look. Because no matter how much you pay, or don’t, the content is the hardest part . . . and that’s on you.
Happy writing, and good luck!
Michelle McGinnis owns and operates Friendly Web Consulting, which specializes in custom WordPress development.
About the author
I’m with FreeWebs, or as they’ve changed their name now to Webs. I pay $20 a YEAR for my own domain name, plus $17 to keep it private. They have hundreds of templates to choose from for the design, if one can’t afford to pay a professional. For the money, I think they are a really good choice.
You make a really good point about maintaining a website. I think most people forget about that when setting one up. This is an interesting article, one I will share with my friends.
What a timely and informative article! Thank you.
Michelle, I attended the workshop at RWA 2008 presented by you and Emma Claire. With palpitations and a subsequent learning curve, I followed some of the options you mentioned. Without this exposure to a “can do” workshop, I doubt I would have tackled it. This article will encourage others to begin. Thank you!
Web presence is a daunting concept for many, and it helps so much to have someone take us by the hand and give us a starting point. This article will encourage some to roll up their sleeves and get started. Something that frustrated me? (And still does.) A lack of understanding of many words or terms that technology folks take for granted. I can almost hear an audible sigh of relief if beginners were offered definitions or a glossary of words and terms. I know it can’t be fit in a short introductory article, but perhaps in the future?
Stay tuned, folks! 1st Turning Point will have more webpage/blog articles.
Michelle, I followed Marion’s footsteps and attended your workshop in 2009. Great info then and now. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise!
Everyone, thanks so much for your kind comments! I’m glad you enjoyed the article and the workshop.
Marion, it’s not a full list, but Emma has a few of the glossary-terms you mentioned up on her web site. http://www.emmaclair.com/web-glossary/ I hope this helps - I totally understand the need! I was really lucky to have had a geeky boyfriend-now-husband I could turn to when I was learning all this stuff. It’s hard to even know what to ask sometimes.
Best of luck with all your web-ventures!
Michelle, thanks for all the information. I’m just beginning to tackle my website. There is so much out there to choose from. Thanks for making things a bit clearer.
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