When setting up a website for your business, there are a few expenses that you need to account for. This post explores 7 of these costs and how you can potentially reduce them if you’re running a business on a tight budget.
Reader's Roadmap
Design
The first step is building your website. DIY website builders like Wordpress and Wix are your cheapest option. These websites have templates and AI features that can allow you to quickly build a site. Alternatively, you can hire a website developer to build a website. This may be preferable if you want to build something more elaborate and unique. The average hourly rate of a freelance web developer is $25 – most people spend over $2000 on web design.
Hosting
Next, you need to consider the cost of hosting. Most business owners pay for a domain name and hosting as a bundle. Certain domain names can be more desirable and can be more expensive – it’s worth using a domain registrar to compare different domain names related to your business to find the cheapest options. Hosting can cost as little as $2 to $10 if you’re willing to opt for shared hosting. Dedicated hosting costs a lot more, but can guarantee better website speed and security.
Payment processing
Do you want clients to be able to pay for products or services via your website? If so, you’ll need to set up a payment processor on your site. Take your time to shop around for the best payment gateway SDK and compare payment processing fees. Some payment processors charge a percentage commission fee on all payments, while others charge a flat fee.
SSL certificate
An SSL certificate encrypts connections between a browser and a website. This can ward off hackers and make your website appear more trustworthy to customers. An SSL certificate can cost anything from $8 to $1000 per year depending on how many domains you want to secure and the level of validation you want. With small business sites, a basic cheap SSL certificate is all you need.
Photography
Adding some professional photographs to your website could also be important for building customer trust. Most customers won’t buy products from a website if there are no images of the products or if the images are low quality. Consider paying a product photographer to take pictures of all your products. You can also pay a professional photographer to take pictures of you and your team. Photography rates can vary a lot depending on how reputable the photographer is.
SEO
SEO stands for ‘search engine optimization’. This is an essential form of marketing that can help boost the search rankings of your website. SEO is sometimes included in some website design packages. Alternatively, you can outsource a marketing company to provide this service. Short campaigns every few months are often cheaper than ongoing SEO, but the latter will ensure that you stay at the top of the rankings.
PPC advertising
Another way to market your website could be to pay for PPC (pay per click) ads. Google and Bing both have PPC advertising services that can help to display your website’s listing as an advert at the top of the rankings. How much you pay depends on how many clicks you want your adverts to receive and how long you want to display them for.