No one can deny the fact that an online presence is essential for any business. In fact, numerous companies are planning to completely move their business online. Additionally, the consumers also find online shopping painless and more appealing. They can easily surf through the web store without any time restraints. It has resulted in an increased demand for websites.
Building a website can benefit your business in countless ways. From finding numerous opportunities to communicate with like-minded businesses and stakeholders to finding employees and offering customer care through chatbots and online support, websites have a notable role in any digital marketing strategy. And, with the right plan in place, companies can even start monetizing their website. But many small businesses often overlook the importance of a website—especially with the rising popularity of social media as an alternative—due to misconceptions about pricing, maintenance and practicality. So today, we’ll look into the intricacies of website design and development costs.
How Do You Create a Website?
To create your own website, you need two basic things.
- A platform
- A domain
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What’s A Platform?
A platform is a tool that you need to host your website. These platforms include WordPress, Squarespace, Ghost. Choosing from countless web platforms for hosting a website can make it intimidating to pick one. However, with help from DigitalSupermarket in comparing the best digital products, including web hosting platforms, you can narrow down your options. Most of these platforms have a yearly fee. However, some free choices like Substack are available as well.
Substack is more like a newsletter and does not provide you with a domain. There will always be some sort of lag in the free version. Therefore, we advise you to spend on platforms that require a fee to ensure smooth operations. And, as a beginner, you can choose from affordable platforms like Squarespace or Ghost. Squarespace has a monthly fee of $13 per month and is fairly easy to use. Even if you are a computer newbie, the platform’s simplicity can make it easier for you to build a website. If you pay for the entire year upfront, it will provide you with the domain free of charge for that year. Ghost is another web hosting solution, especially if you are a little familiar with computers. It costs $9 per month.
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What Is A Domain?
If, for instance, your house is your website, then the domain is equivalent to the address of the house. The domain name will be the URL link that people will type to visit your website. For example, to go to the Google webpage, you will type google.com into the search bar. Generally, the cost of a domain is $10-$20 a year. It means that getting a domain name is cheaper than getting a coffee. But, when you look at the impact it will have on your brand, it is priceless. You can use Google Domains as your domain registrar.
After you have chosen a platform and a domain, it gets fairly easy from there onwards. As most of these platforms are easy to use and navigate, you will have a website after just completing a few steps. There is no need to code or know a coding language like JavaScript or Python.
The process is quite similar to signing up for a Facebook or Twitter account. However, for more advanced options like customizing web page designs, you will need some professional help.
How to Make a Good Website?
Now that you have to build a website, the next step is to create the pages. Many websites complicate this step by adding up too many pages. Mostly, websites need 3 to 5 main pages.
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Pages
The homepage will be the first thing your visitors will see. Adding an About and a Contact page is mandatory as they’re imperative in engaging the incoming traffic. You can add other pages like shop, reviews, blog, and services depending on your business. Adding a blog page can help you with SEO as well.
The more pages you opt for, the more the cost will be. For instance, designing each of the pages with a different template can increase the price. Similarly, adding products will increase the maintenance fee even if there is just one main shop page. Mostly, small businesses have around 50 product pages. Page cost can start from $1,000 and go up to $5,000.
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Customization
The customization of your web page mostly depends on the platform you are using. For instance, if you use Squarespace, you can choose from different templates and then change color schemes to match your taste. On the other hand, WordPress can help you customize the outlook of the website to your exact customization. You may hire a professional who can help you get a high-quality layout. The cost may vary depending on the skill level of the person. However, generally customizing the web layout can cost from $2,000 to $5,000.
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Adding Online Payment Option
If you are a small business, you may provide your clients with online payment options. Mostly, clients prefer an online mode of payment, even for an on-site service such as moving or plumbing service. Customers like it because of comfort, convenience, and security. Therefore, providing the customers with the option will be one of your unique selling points. Even though it is a costly addition to your webpage, ranging from $2,000 to $25,000, it can increase the customer inflow.
Conclusion
Creating your website is a huge step, especially if you are a small business. It will help you build an online presence and compete in the market space. Finding the right platform to host your website and choosing a domain name are very significant aspects of the web designing process. Depending on your style and the time you are willing to put in, you can customize your webpage. If you want, you can even hire professional help to augment the visual appeal of your webpage.
Adding more pages and call-to-action buttons will encourage the visitors to make purchases. And, it will result in increased sales.
Neha Nidhi
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