This question reminds me of "How long is a piece of string?". Having your own website is very similar to your business having social media pages. It is a complete buzz word. Everyone believes they should have a website and Facebook page, and once they do, the clients will just come flocking in. But you have no idea what this will cost. Some people might jump in head first, you design your website and crickets, not one soul is visiting your site. You keep at it for a few months and then give up and ask your cousin’s cousin to please help you. Hopefully, today I can stop you from doing that. If you are still considering whether or not you should have a website, read my previous blog about if you even need a website. Not all businesses should have one and not all need a website. Wait... WHAT? Go read my previous blog. Let’s get to it, either you have a website and want to check if the price that you paid is on par, OR you want to seriously know what a new website would cost you. But before we get to the financial price bit, I want to write about what you need to consider before creating a website. If you do decide to create one, you will understand a little bit more. Questions to ask yourself? 1. How much do I know about coding, website, and technology in general? "Basics like my phone and social media, but if something goes wrong I need to phone a friend" or maybe you are a complete wiz and can figure it out as you go along. There is no shame, but be honest with yourself, rather than starting and never being able to complete it. 2. What do I need from a website? What is the goal of the site? "Telling people about my brand and creating awareness?" or "A place where they come once they know me and want to see what I offer?" or I sell physical products or sell services." This is important and will greatly impact the cost. 3. How much money am I willing to invest? You need to have a figure in mind, a minimum and ceiling price that you are willing to spend. Websites are like a shoe addiction and can get out of hand pretty quickly. If you want to sell products and this will be your only store then it will probably cost a lot more than a start-out-photographer who wants to show their images. 4. How much time am I willing to invest? If you have a small budget but a lot of time to invest, that means you could probably use Wix or Squarespace and figure it out yourself. If you do not have time but more money Wordpress might be the way to go. 5. What is not negotiable? What do you definitely want on the site for you to do normal business? For example, an online shop means e-commerce platform and payment portal. But coaching services means my offers, about us page and blog. Decide early on what you must have, if there is more cash to play with then you can add the "nice to haves". 6. What am I willing to sacrifice? This is a tuff one. If you are not willing to spend more money on highly professional designers then you need to be willing to sacrifice your time to do it yourself. But also very fancy design might need to be replaced by basic, clean design in order to save time and money. Once you have these answers you will know your next step. "Do I find a designer or do I schedule the time and learn how to do it myself." On the technical side: When you are the customer all you see is the website but on the back end, there are different platforms that these websites are designed on. This is very similar to when you drive in a car, one was manufactured by BMW, Volkswagen or Renault. They all drive and get you to your destination, but prices differ and also what you get. The most popular platforms are: WordPress.org, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, and many more Click on each of them to see more and read more about each platform. Do your research before choosing one. Watching Youtube tutorials can be massively helpful. All of these you can do yourself or pay someone to do it for you. **If you want more information on this, you are welcome to send me an email and ask for my personal recommendation and advice, based on your business. Before choosing one platform these are some of the fees that you need to compare and consider. Prices to consider: · Yearly Hosting · Website designer · Yearly Management · Yearly Website Domain name · Yearly Email domain · Website Marketing · Images to use on your website (I will do a future blog only on this so stay tuned) · Copywriting of content If you really want to know the actual costs, you can check out this website. They have all the details perfectly outlined. You will also see that paying someone can cost anything from $2000 up to $75 000 or more. But there are also free options as listed. The ball is truly in your hands. With this content piece, I really wanted to drill home the fact that there is a great amount to consider before you create, design or redesign your site. A website will cost you, either in money, time or valuable resources. Your website is an investment and if you want to grow your business and expand, your website should be your biggest and best salesperson.
Bye,
Lindi