Affordable web design: How Much Does It REALLY Cost to Build a Website?

If you've been postponing setting up your new website or redesigning your existing website because of the expense, you may be relieved to know that creating a new website does not need to be expensive. Let's look at some options that will look your website truly affordable.

What I'm going to be talk about here is the absolute bare minimum of what you need to create a website.

The good news for those who are just starting up and have a very limited resources, is that these days you can build a professionally looking website in just a few days without any knowledge of programming, HTML, and such. Of course, I'm assuming that you are somewhat familiar with computers, and are willing to get your hands "dirty" by doing most of the work by yourself. Or, if you have an assistant, you can train her/him to do the work for you.

So, without further ado, here is how much it's going to cost you to create and maintain a decent online presence.

How much does it cost to build your own website?

While it's certainly possible to create a website for free, I don't really recommend it. Building a website these days is very affordable, if you are willing to get some of the work done yourself.

The following are the components that are indispensable:

1. Domain Name. This is essential. You must have your own domain name registered. The preferred extensions are .com or .net.
   The cost: about $9 per year.
2. Hosting with Bluehost, Hostgator or another hosting company.
   The cost: About $50-$100 per year
3. Designing and Setting up the Website. If you want to set up a website quickly without any knowledge of programming,I recommend you use WordPress to build your website and purchase a professionally designed theme for less than $90. The installation is very simple - especially since many hosting companies offer one-click installation - and learning to use WordPress software will take just a few hours of your time. Alternatively, you can find someone to do it for you on odesk.com or elance.com. Most of the time, if you are just starting out, having custom graphics on your site is not essential - just use some nice pictures and your logo, if you have one. If you want something different, hire a designer on one of the sites mentioned above for less than $300.
   There are many themes available to choose from - such as Thesis, or Studio Press, as well themes available on Themeforest.net but there are many other awesome themes for WordPress available out there - designed, built and optimized by real professionals.
4. Building a List with Autoresponder. Having an opt-in page set up on your website and an autoresponder account enables you to build one of the greatest assets that any business may have: a list of prospects. The cost is under $20 monthly or $200 yearly (if pre-paid).

So the total cost up till now is under $600 PER YEAR, and you don't have to pay all of this upfront.

Of course, you will also need to build traffic to your website by promoting it online and offline. You will also need to do some website maintenance tasks, such as upgrading WordPress and backing up your WordPress site.

At this point you can be either excited, and ready to go and build your own website, or confused and depressed about all the work that is involved.

If you are in the second group - do not despair.

I definitely do not meant to say that everyone should be building their own websites. That would put all these talented web designers, web programmers, developers and Internet marketing cosultants out of their jobs - and we defintely don't want that!

In fact, I think that for most people...

Hiring a Website Designer or Marketing Consultant is a smart decision and can save you money in the long run...

Seriously, if you don't know what you're doing and are not willing to learn the ropes - you may end up wasting a lot of effort, time and ultimately money.

If you want your website - and your online business - to make you money, there are many pieces that need to fit together, like pieces of a puzzle. If one of them is missing - such as building visitor traffic to the site, or building relationships with your visitors - you will not get the desired results.

So, for most people, hiring someone with skills and experience, even if it will cost you a few thousands dollars initially, will be worthi it in the long run. You'll be able to spend your more efficiently on doing something else - like growing your business.