Basic Web Sites And Costs
Listed below are the four basic components of a Website's cost, each of these is included with a site built by Bunker8. Before choosing a Web site design and development company, be sure that your package includes the following:
Domain Name
A domain name serves as your Web site's address on the Internet. You do not actually purchase a domain name, only the right to use it. For example, when looking at www.yourbusiness.com, yourbusiness.com is the domain name.
On average, a domain name will add about $15 a year to your Web site cost. Anything below this probably lacks customer service or has hidden charges. Anything significantly above $25 should at least come with free email hosting or other Web site services.
It's important to remember that domain names are usually rented on a yearly basis. In other words, if you forget to pay the annual fee to reserve your domain name, you could lose your Web site's identity on the Internet. This can be an expensive and unnecessary mistake. You can also opt to have several domain names, all of which point visitors to your Web site.
Hosting
Similar to a piece of real estate, a Web site host houses all of your graphics, text files, and other media on its servers. State-of-the-art hosting, like that offered by Bunker8, keeps down your Web site cost, while ensuring fast and reliable performance.
Web site hosting services often provide tools that monitor the traffic on your site. Specifically, these tools can track the number of people who have visited your Web site, the pages or media they browse, and the links they click. This allows you to log the activity on the site and evaluate which parts are performing the best. Also, most Web site hosts provide additional services such as email addresses and mailboxes.
For a professional Web site hosting service, you should expect to pay between $100-$200 per year. This is normally adequate for most sites. However, if your site experiences a high amount of traffic or deploys Web applications, you should expect to pay more.
Design
If you already have an existing, high end web site design, then you can subtract this component from your total Web site cost. However, if you are looking for a website redesign or new design, this can be the single largest component for determining how much your Web site will cost.
There once was a time when a new Web design could have cost your company tens of thousands of dollars. Thanks to advances in Internet technology, today's average price for a professional, business-class Web site is somewhere between $2000 and $7500.
This can vary depending upon several factors including the number of pages on the site, the complexity of the design, logo design services, if multimedia like sound, video, or Flash is required, search engine optimization services, and if any Web 2.0 applications or interactive features are needed.
For Web design and Web site development, Bunker8 offers a variety of options for building an effective Web site design. Our experience has shown that it is possible to cut down on some of your Web design cost. Two ways to do this are by providing concise instructions and writing your own Web site copy. Either way, Bunker8 will work with you to create an attention-grabbing Web site within your budget.
Maintenance
Website maintenance is another component that can vary depending upon your needs. Before hiring a Web design company, you should ask yourself, "How often will my Web site need updated?" If your answer is "frequently," then it is necessary to consider maintenance on your site.
Updates to your Web site can be done by yourself or though a professional, Web development firm such as Bunker8. Among other things, updating your site can involve adding text or copy, incorporating pictures, posting more pages, and tweaking the design.
Remember, a Web site is only as effective as its most recent content. Therefore, if your site is older or out of date, it is probably time to update it. Maintenance agreements usually charge by the hour and average between $50 to $125 per hour of service.
Now that you have a preliminary idea about how much a Web site will cost, you should be able to better control your site's expenses. But be careful not to scrimp on quality, as this could be more costly in the long run. Instead, choose cost-effective Web site components and service providers