Website Development Budget
Website Development for Small Businesses
Lets face it, if you are a large business employing a number of staff you probably will not be looking to build a website on the cheap. You will be able to go to a large design company, will spend a fortune on image consultants and will undoubtably end up with a very good looking website.
This site is not aimed towards people with the money to get others to do it themselves, but is for the small business or enterprise, with little or no resource to invest in website development.
However, websites cannot be made for free - although website building cost can be kept to a minimum. These are some of the costs you should consider:
Lets face it, if you are a large business employing a number of staff you probably will not be looking to build a website on the cheap. You will be able to go to a large design company, will spend a fortune on image consultants and will undoubtably end up with a very good looking website.
This site is not aimed towards people with the money to get others to do it themselves, but is for the small business or enterprise, with little or no resource to invest in website development.
However, websites cannot be made for free - although website building cost can be kept to a minimum. These are some of the costs you should consider:
| Item | Cost | Mandatory |
| Domain Name | £0 to £1000s * | Yes |
| Web building software | £0 to unlimited | Yes |
| Hosting | £25 - £200 per year | No ** |
| Search Engine Submission | £30 - £150 per year | No |
| Tools | Unlimited | No |
| Advertising | Unlimited | No |
*Vodahost, for example, provides your first domain name free when you open a hosting account with them
**although you can host your own site on your own server you do need to be IT literate in order to mimic the functionality provided by a hosting company. As this website is geared towards advice for novice website builders, the recommendation here is to go with a reputable hosting company.
**although you can host your own site on your own server you do need to be IT literate in order to mimic the functionality provided by a hosting company. As this website is geared towards advice for novice website builders, the recommendation here is to go with a reputable hosting company.
Web building software is obviously a must - there are free web building tools out there which make the process very easy. The software used by all sites featured on this site is Blue Voda. Blue Voda is very intuitive to use, and is based on drag and drop functionality. Take a look at http://www.scudlink.com or http://www.navaldesign.info/English/index_eng.html to see how professional a site can look when using a free web site building tool!
But, yes, there is a catch with using a free website builder - you are usually limited to hosting your site with the same company - for Blue Voda this is Vodahost. However, Webmaster Productions highly recommend Vodahost as the customer support is second to none - essential for novice website builders!
But, yes, there is a catch with using a free website builder - you are usually limited to hosting your site with the same company - for Blue Voda this is Vodahost. However, Webmaster Productions highly recommend Vodahost as the customer support is second to none - essential for novice website builders!
So how much should your website budget be?
You will probably need to invest at least £100 in your first year. If you want to or need to pay for adverts directing people to your site this figure will increase. However, it is not just retail sites that can earn money via their websites - all website owners can make money from their websites, and in many instances this will at least cover the annual costs of your website.
As you get more experienced you will notice things that other people have on their websites, and want to know how to put them on yours! (Guestbooks, Forums, RSS Tickers, Flash, Web polls). Sometimes you can get these for free, and sometimes you have to pay. Sometimes these come with a hidden price - see How to get Better for more details.
It is very easy to continually purchase new bits of software or code which makes your site look more attractive, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as you keep a record of expenditure, and don't necessarily want your site to show a profit! Be warned, website development is an absorbing hobby, and you may find you enjoy doing it for its own sake. However, if you do wish to use it as a means of making money from home, make a careful record of how much you are going to spend, or better still set yourself a budget in the first place. This will help you properly evaluate the different tools on offer, rather than buying everything which appeals.
Of course, if your sole reason for building your website is to make money, there are some wise investments you can make which will help you on your way. One of these is Wordtracker which is discussed in Websites to Earn Money.
You will probably need to invest at least £100 in your first year. If you want to or need to pay for adverts directing people to your site this figure will increase. However, it is not just retail sites that can earn money via their websites - all website owners can make money from their websites, and in many instances this will at least cover the annual costs of your website.
As you get more experienced you will notice things that other people have on their websites, and want to know how to put them on yours! (Guestbooks, Forums, RSS Tickers, Flash, Web polls). Sometimes you can get these for free, and sometimes you have to pay. Sometimes these come with a hidden price - see How to get Better for more details.
It is very easy to continually purchase new bits of software or code which makes your site look more attractive, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as long as you keep a record of expenditure, and don't necessarily want your site to show a profit! Be warned, website development is an absorbing hobby, and you may find you enjoy doing it for its own sake. However, if you do wish to use it as a means of making money from home, make a careful record of how much you are going to spend, or better still set yourself a budget in the first place. This will help you properly evaluate the different tools on offer, rather than buying everything which appeals.
Of course, if your sole reason for building your website is to make money, there are some wise investments you can make which will help you on your way. One of these is Wordtracker which is discussed in Websites to Earn Money.
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