Websites? It's a minefield out there ...

Why you should have a website

In today's every changing and dynamic world with social media and mobile taking the world by storm it is vitally important that you have a website - it is your shop front to the world and ensures you are found before your competitors.

If you're not convinced that you need a website, then take a look at this short video which shows the power of social media and mobiles. Courtesy of
Social Media Revolution 2015. https://t.co/kNtab6IRUv

There are many variables to think about when setting up a website and the one that springs first to the minds of most people is "what will it cost me". There are many other variables

1.  Should I build it myself - is it difficult?
2.  Should I get a company to build it for me - sounds expensive!
3.  How will I market it - oops hadn't thought about that!
4.  What about Google Analytics - how does that work - do I need to do anything?
5.  What about managing the site - what's involved there?

... and it goes on.

 
In this blog I'll only be talking about points 1. and 2. above, but will discuss the remainder in a future blog, so do come back again.
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Overview

It is difficult for people who haven't been involved with the design or development of websites and website costs to get a feel for what is involved and the costs incurred.

My question to you would be "How much time can you afford to be away from your business building a website when it's not in your skillset?", then decide what you can afford; what your business needs to achieve and within what timeframe. Then decide on the best way forward.


There are many "build it yourself" websites such as 1&1, Wix, Google, etc., many of these are excellent for first timers.

Also some of them are completely "free" and some charge a one off or monthly fee, so what's the difference?

Well, generally with free websites you will have to purchase a URL - that's the website address that you will be known by e.g. www.mywebsitename.com. Some companies offering free websites charge to have own branded URL and the cost of this will change from company to company, but generally around £10 per month. Others will give you a free URL - such as http://yourwebsitename.my.free.website and then give you the option to upgrade to a monthly plan for your own bespoke website address - depending on your selection this can be between £6-£20+ per month

 
So as you can see, just to build a "free" website will cost you up to £120 per annum before you've put anything on your website.


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So what an average cost of a website build?

I've put together some scenarios below that will give you an indication on what to expect for your money.

 

Basic Website - self build from FREE to upwards of £50 per month

A Basic website is generally fairly static; this means that the data isn't updated very often so there is minimal changes to be made to the site but showcases you and your services/products. This type of site can be self built.

Self build websites are usually template driven - you get a set of different templates to choose from, add pictures and text and then upload them to the internet - simple? Well not always, sometimes you will need to know basic coding or graphic design to customise the templates to suit your requirements.

If you are keen to do-it-yourself then these out of the box solutions are usually highly configurable and worth spending some time on.
 

Intermediate Website - developer build from £2,000 - £5,000, plus annual maintenance and support costs

Alternatively, you could get your website built by a developer. The development company will work with you to assess your requirements - what you want the website to do, whether you have a particular style in mind, interactive requirements such as a blog or market place.

If you want to have the ability to manage your own website once it has been built it may be better to have a CMS (Content Management System) site - this will enable you to work within a template - but one that has been designed especially for you. This type of site will be more expensive, but is more flexible.

Custom Website - developer build from £12,000 to £100,00 plus annual maintenance and support costs

Then you would move into the larger sphere of custom designed websites. where the whole site is designed, developed and delivered to your own specific requirements. Custom websites are time consuming to build taking many months and a huge amount of technical knowledge, experience and expertise.

Custom sites run upwards from £12,000 to over £100,000, but give you control and flexibility in the design and layout, allowing you to move content and add additional bolt-ons such as social media, blogs, ecommerce, full content management and document storage. Examples of complete custom designed websites are Amazon and Facebook.

If you want to check out what other sites are saying about website costs, here are a few to get you started:

• Atilus
• The executionists
• WebpageFX

There are many others and it pays to research what will suit you best. Alternatively give me a call and I can help guide you through the maze!

 

 Come back again when I'll discuss more on marketing and analytics.