How much does a website cost in 2020 ?

If you are thinking about starting a website or blog, for your business or yourself, one of the first questions you’ll probably ask yourself is “how much does a website cost in 2020?” Well, a lot of web designers will give you the "it depends on how large your website actually is." And it's true, but we did a little more research than that. You will find below the hidden costs of starting a website and how much can you expect to pay for each.

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Domain name

Depending on the type of domain name you choose, the costs could run from just $10 a year, to hundreds or even millions. Usually, brand new domains will cost you about $10 -$15 a year depending on registrar and TLD. (.com, .org, .net, etc.) You should choose your domain name carefully. Find a few tips -> here to help you pick the perfect domain name…

Story

A guy bought Google.com for a few seconds. Guess what ? the most trafficked domain in the world cost him only $12. Read the full story -> here 

Hosting

Your options for hosting are very variable also. A bad hosting can cost you in many ways… Having a slow site is frustrating, one that fails to load is obnoxious and both could turn off customers.  For a new website, shared hosting is probably sufficient. But as your traffic starts to grow, so will your hosting needs and budget. Moving to a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated server can easily bump up the yearly price tag to over $1,000.

Choose wisely, poor hosting also affect your search engine rankings…

Web design

When considering the look and feel of your website, you should consider a premium or custom design if you want to stand out from the crowd. That’s why we recommend having it designed professionally. There are numerous tools online where you can build your own site from a template. Be aware, templates don’t always perform.

SSL Certificates

It stands for secure socket layer. An SSL certificate is a must if you run an eCommerce website as it secures and protects your customers' sensitive data and personal information from being intercepted. (credit cards, address, …) They are issued by certification authorities (CA’s) and range from $10 a month to as high as $1000 a month.

Content

Content is king. Bill Gates even wrote a book about it… Indeed, creating unique, useful and entertaining content for consumers will get you the crown. Find out why content is king -> here. You have two options for your content creation:

• I have the time and the ability to write it myself. Great, go for it!
• I would rather hire someone to do it for me.

If you choose the last option, expect to pay a non-native speaker freelancer $1/page or an agency $100+/page.

Note: Be careful if you decide to write the content yourself, there are copyright laws that could cost you a lot…  So be aware and don’t just use any photo, song, video, icon or typeface without permission. 

Functionality or Development

It is obvious that depending on the different functionalities of a website the costs will be affected. Whether you accept online payments, have client log-in ability, password protected pages, comments, calendar, survey, Content Management System (CMS)… The possibilities are endless… You should contact your favorite web designer here and let him know precisely what you are looking for.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. It is mandatory and remains an ongoing battle to stay on top… Be expected to pay between $200 -$500 / month on average depending on the agency. Remember no-one knows exactly all the factors improving your ranking on search engines because companies like Google changes their algorithms almost twice a day… There is, however, a profitable science behind all this.

Conclusion

Depending on which decisions you made along the way, you can plan your website cost to be hundreds or thousands of dollars. The truth is you get what you pay for and in a world where your website has only a few seconds to capture interest, you should invest wisely and think about the returns…