Maybe you’re launching a new business and need a website? Or perhaps you’re looking to take your existing business online.
Whatever situation you find yourself in, getting your first business website can feel confusing.
What features will you need? What about a domain name and web hosting? And of course the most important question of all for any business: how much does it cost to build a website?
In this guide, we’ll provide you with an overview of the most important considerations when it comes to getting your business online, and a rough idea of how much you should be paying for your website, so you don’t get ripped off.
How much does it cost to build a website?
You can expect to pay from around £100 per year for a simple website, with website prices going up to £10,000 and beyond for a very large, complex website.
Looking to get your website online? Why not try a one-month free trial of GoDaddy’s Website Builder?
The basic building blocks of your website
Every website is formed of five basic building blocks. Below we have listed the necessary building block as well as its estimated price:
Domain name – £0-£30
Web hosting – £0-£950+
Content – £0-£5,000+
Website security – £0-250+
SEO and marketing – £0-£100
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1. Domain name
You’ll have typed countless domain names before, even if you don’t know what they are. Maybe you’ve called them “website addresses” or similar.
Choosing the right domain name is vital because it will become an important part of your business’s identity.
In terms of price, the cost of your domain name will depend on the domain extension you pick (.com, .co. the UK and so on are examples of domain extensions), but you can expect to pay around £15 a year for your domain. Though there are special offers that can bring the cost down, some domain extensions can cost much more than that a year.
2. Web hosting
A website consists of several different computer files and all those files need to be stored somewhere, and that place is a web server.
A web server is essentially a computer that is always connected to the internet and always switched on.
Now you could build your web server for your website, but that would be too expensive for many businesses.
That’s why web hosting exists. Essentially, web hosting involves paying a company such as GoDaddy to host your website on your behalf.
The cost of web hosting varies greatly – currently, at GoDaddy, the costs are between £3.99 and £79.99 a month (excluding dedicated servers), although there are special offers that can make set up costs for your site lower.
Web hosting prices vary so much because of the different types of packages on offer, and the package you need will depend on your business requirements. We’ll talk about that later.
3. Content
Exactly what content you need will vary depending on the kind of business you’re running and the functionality you want for your site.
For simple sites, you’ll likely be able to create all the content yourself. But for more complex sites, you may need to hire someone to write copy for your website, and maybe even create images and video.
It’s a good idea to plan what content you need for your website before you decide what kind of site you’ll be creating, as knowing what you need on your site will help you understand the best option for you.
4. Website security
You need to keep your site safe. You’ll almost certainly want to use an SSL certificate on your site and may want to invest in additional website security software.
5. SEO and marketing
There may be some upfront costs relating to search engine optimisation (SEO) and marketing when setting up your website, particularly if you use a web designer.