How much does it cost to make a website and business needs

A website is a source of knowledge about our business. Its task is to inform about services or products, communicate transaction rules and provide contact details to the company. Just a few years ago, all goals would be met by a simple website consisting of several tabs. Today, however, the requirements associated with it are much higher – you should take into account trends in the industry and the network, and if you want to reach as many customers as possible – also the requirements of search engines.

How much it costs to make a website depends largely on its expected size and the technologies used. So let’s start by answering a few questions:

A. Size of the website – if you are planning a website for a small, very local business, all you have to do is build a simple website that will provide basic information for your customers – it will tell you about the business, who is behind it and where and at what times you can use the services. What does “simple site” mean?
These are several tabs – subpages.

These types of sites are intended for a small number of recipients. By placing the object on the map and adjusting the search to the location of its user – those interested will easily find a website and gain access to the necessary information.

The site can be based on pure HTML and CSS, without a content management system. However, if you plan to frequently add entries to the news section and be able to change your course offer, for example, it is worth meeting people who are unfamiliar with the code and invest in one of the popular CMS. The simplest solution here is WordPress – popular, intuitive, with the ability to create users with different levels of access to the administration panel. The installation of CMS is, however, associated with higher costs and in the extended time of completion of the website design.

For this type of page, however, you can use alternative solutions – page builders. Google also provides this type of solution. Sites created using these solutions are usually cheap (costs are the subscription of the selected tool and the price of domain maintenance and hosting) and can be done on your own. Website builders have their limitations and creating large websites that have ambitions to storm the first positions in search results may not be very effective.

Websites that are to contain more tabs – e.g. the offer category is to be developed for various types of services, and the site will allow customers to contact the company directly or book visits – it is worth building based on CMS. More subpages require agile administration, and this will definitely be facilitated by the installation of a content management system.

B. Technology – the bigger side is usually the need for more individual solutions. The simplest and cheapest solution is to put a static page, using HTML, CSS and simple JavaScript. How much does it cost to make a simple website? An efficient developer will code and – colloquially speaking – will “put” this type of website within a few days. The cost should also be increased by the work of the graphic designer responsible for creating the website layout and time related to making corrections to the project.

More complicated pages, extended with functionalities allowing for greater interaction with the page – e.g. using forms, creating accounts and logging in, require more advanced solutions. In these cases, the page is most often based on one of the CMS. Again, the most popular solution for medium-sized sites is WordPress, which thanks to the plug-in system can extend a regular website with almost any functionality.

The advantage of popular CMS are easily available documentation and forums, where you can find solutions for virtually any problem. Their definite downside – susceptibility to burglary. Lack of the current version of the system, unchecked plugins and add-ons may be the reason for slamming or hijacking. Therefore, if you choose this type of solution, their additional cost may be updating the version (which does not always go smoothly), and in the worst case … removing the effects of hacking.

Online stores also have a separate price list. Here, several solutions are involved – installing the engine on a server or using software in the Saas model.

Placing the store on your own server is associated with the need to take care not only of its appearance, but above all about security. It is not only about meeting security requirements, but also about the stability of servers, the security of your data and customers and the elimination of errors related to installed extensions. This solution, however, allows full access to the code of the website and full modification in accordance with your own vision.

The online store can also be opened using the offers of companies operating in the SaaS model – Software as a service. By choosing this solution, we sub-rent a cloud fragment and store software in exchange for a monthly fee. There are many companies operating in this system on the market. Each of the brands offers several subscription versions. Its amount depends on, among others on the number of accounts in the administrative panel, integration with other sales channels and wholesalers, the number of products and so on.

The costs associated with placing the store at the start may be smaller – the smallest subscription is around $ 10 / month. This, of course, brings limitations, e.g. the inability to match the appearance of the store’s vision or pasting the codes necessary to run a Google Ads campaign. Fees must be paid monthly, which can be quite painful for the entrepreneur in the event of a worse period.

How much does it cost to create a small page?

As mentioned above, making a website takes a few hours of work and graphics. The list of points in the cost estimate will look like this:
– domain cost,
– hosting cost,
– the cost of creating the page layout (graphics time),
– cost of coding the website (web developer time).

The total should be close to about $ 200-300.

These costs can be reduced by using, for example, one of the programs that allows you to create a page yourself. In this case, the main effort will be our time – necessary to choose the program, familiarize yourself with it and build a working website. The cost of domain and hosting will remain the same, you should also add a subscription to them resulting from the use of the wizard – the cheapest start from around $ 5 / month. Note – the use of wizards has its limitations – e.g. a smaller subscription requires you to agree to display ads on our site.

The small site is ideal for businesses that do not have the ambition to dominate search results.

How much does it cost to make a website for a medium-sized business?

A website, which is to be a tool for acquiring new customers, should meet a whole range of requirements – it should be fast, mobile and accessible to recipients.

Building this type of site will be more complicated – the number of bookmarks increases and additional functions need to be added. Points that should be included in the cost estimate of such a project are similar to those of a small site, but their height will increase significantly. Depending on the planned functions and the expected traffic on the site, it may be necessary to choose a more expensive option or a dedicated server.

The cost of creating a medium-sized business website also has a CMS chosen. Installing it usually increases the price by around $ 150-300. Added to this are the costs of some solutions that need to be installed into the basic system.

Additional costs worth paying

CMS support requires familiarity with its limitations and capabilities. Unless it is planned to employ a separate employee to operate the website, it is worth considering the issue and, for example, adding a point related to the system training in the website contract. It is worth keeping this in mind – simple corrections that you can do yourself in a few minutes, the company will cost you a lot. Self-service of the system also saves time – delegating tasks in this case can postpone their execution for several days.

Note – submission of the page by the web developer is not synonymous with its full preparation for active activities on the Internet. If you start positioning or Google Ads, you may need to make corrections. This does not mean, however, that the “site was bad”, but only not fully adapted to Google’s guidelines. Optimization, however, may involve the need for additional changes, especially if the site is managed by a proprietary CMS system that does not have full documentation on the Internet.

Store – virtual store shelves, salesman and cash register

One of the more complex types of websites are certainly online stores. This translates directly into how much it costs to make them. What should be considered?

In addition to basic costs – domain and hosting, there is the cost of the engine. As I mentioned above – its issue can be solved in two ways – by installing open source options or choosing a SaaS solution.

Store prices start at around $ 2-3 thousand and increase depending on the solutions and integration used.

SaaS for those who like “fast”

At first glance, it may seem that how much it costs to make a website and store on open source engines is incomparably greater than using the store options in the SaaS model. Subscription allows us to set up a fully functional store, but depending on the height limits the possibility of customizing its appearance and optimization. These types of solutions will not work for large e-commers trading thousands of products. This solution will be appreciated by small companies that do not have financial expenses to build their own sales platform.

(Not) Perfect solution

The biggest drawback of this type of solutions is the inability to modify the code and make changes, including those that would be required during optimization for running an advertising campaign. Of course, many of them have the option of more advanced customization, but this is an additional cost that the company must take on. Many suppliers of ready stores emphasize the possibility of giving websites a unique look, unfortunately, most projects – especially in lower subscription plans – do not differ much.

SaaS also has its advantages – the responsibility for maintaining the continuity of the correct operation of the site and ensuring data and transaction security, falls on the service provider. In the case of multi-person activities, the delegation of these tasks allows you to focus on creating the product and running the brand.

The cost of placing a store in a SaaS model starts at around $ 15 / month. Prices for more advanced packages start from around $ 70.

First a good word

First of all, it is worth realizing that March was dramatic only for a few industries, such as catering and hotel industry. Services also started to slow down considerably, but the first two weeks of the month allowed a slight amortization of the financial result for the whole month. However, there were a lot of industries in our online garden, which even soared up and pulled the overall picture hard enough to relatively even the results of all campaigns.

An online business, before it decides to limit or suspend expenses as a result of emotions, should first consider whether it makes sense. In many cases, irrational decisions can result in the forfeiture of earning opportunities. In other cases, there may be opportunities for savings. All this requires deep analysis and embedding it in the entire economic context. Before you make a decision, think over the topic twice and consult the topic with your agency or freelancer.

Offline to Online – who can’t

Undoubtedly, each business should be treated individually. For all companies that cannot move from the Internet for various reasons, we recommend that they create various bricks, vouchers and coupons that can be redeemed at a later time. For now, it is difficult to predict how the situation will unfold, but it is reasonable to assume that in the coming months, there will be less money on the market, and the will to spend them may be less. Therefore, if you are a hairdresser, photographer, selling accommodation or undertaking other activities that need to be postponed, then today start the form of sales “for later”. The later you do this, the less customers will be able to spend money.

In addition, if your business is standing, you can successfully use this time to strengthen your competences in the area of e.g. online advertising. Once the battle dust settles – and it settles down – then the competition will be really fierce. Therefore, it is worth taking care of the tools and additional competences that will pay off later.

Transformation from offline to online – who can

Fortunately, there are plenty of businesses on the market that can at least partially transfer to online. Here are some real-life examples:

A small store in the construction category/house and garden.
This industry is currently doing very well on the internet. If you don’t have an online store, you can try your hand at online auctions with virtually no startup costs. Of course, the competition is powerful there, but you can also use the advertising system. These are internal ads that you only pay for when you switch to your offer. It’s very fair and will allow you to download (with proper design), caloric movement. Of course, online auctions will also charge a commission and you should calculate your sales well, especially taking into account the services that users like. People, taking advantage of the “opportunity” went to small or large renovations in their homes. Thanks to the favorable weather, they also decided to refresh their gardens. Everything – from flower pots to tulip bulbs, is currently selling perfectly.

A small shop from the industry category
There are plenty of stationary and at the same time small industrial chemistry stores as well as individual pieces of given products from heavier categories. Such stores should use their supplier base as soon as possible and lead their activities to the Internet. At Paraphrase-Online.com, we’ve seen a huge increase in product searches and purchases such as glove dispensers, but also power generators and portable freezers. Sale of even several dozen such products will allow you to survive the most difficult time of such small stores.

Gastronomy
Do you currently run a restaurant without customers? Already a lot of such businesses have quickly dealt with this by turning waiters into … drivers. If you do not want to use ready-made applications, you might as well create a simple promotion and post sponsored on Facebook, which informs you about the offer and encourages you to order take-out food. Believe me – if customers like your kitchen, they will successfully use your offer with delivery.

Courses
Like mushrooms after rain, companies that have so far trained only offline have grown up on the Internet. Many freelancers or service providers have joined this trend – even as hairdressers or make-up artists. They can all transfer their knowledge online. The success of this sector is also reflected by the fact that everyone sitting at home is looking for new ideas not only how to survive a difficult time, but also to get out of the intensified situation. It is therefore a great moment to raise your competences, the more that online courses are usually cheaper and often available in the on demand formula, which is when we want to. The same applies to language schools.

From online to … online

It is not, however, that only offline businesses got a slap. There are online stores which, due to their product range, have also seen large declines. In this case, it is worth considering introducing new products that are just selling well and will be somehow related to our business.

Not everyone is eager to see this because of the laboriously built brand. After all, we are building a brand based on given products. Everything depends on how severe the situation is for a given business. Brand is important, but if you are wondering whether your business will survive at all, it may be time for – at least temporarily – the evolution of the product range.

You can find the full article on the topic here.

From detail to general

Above were the specifics. If, after reading the above, you still don’t know what to do next, general tips on how to respond to changes may help you. Remember that they should be treated randomly and only part of them may be justified in your situation.

A. Move from offline to online in various ways – choose the best promotion channel for you and do anything – training in your field, voucher, delivery on the phone or quickly set up an online store.
B. Analyze data – check what sells, capture trends, learn to sew masks if you have no other choice.
C. Copy other solutions that work. Instead of finding innovative and incredibly creative processes, you can use what already works. In the short term, it’s simply worth it.
D. Try to transfer your employees to online.
E. If they are at home anyway and work efficiency decreases, it is worth creating even a mini incentive program in promoting your company or selling products. They can just as well take care of your company’s image. If your employees are at home and cannot do much for the company and its clients, then you can involve them in creating content. They can create content for your blog or website, they can expand existing things, they can respond to opinions about the company in various channels, and they can also temporarily take over your various marketing channels like Facebook, so that your profiles remain active. Here a lot depends on creativity.

We hope that every business will survive this storm and return to the strengthened market. Good luck!