Pricing a Website Project? Consider These 4 Costs
With web creation and design being more readily available to the average consumer now than ever, it’s possible that you’re considering the move to your very own digital platform. This is encouraged, of course, but it’s best to have an idea of the costs involved before diving in.
Time
Although it doesn’t translate directly to finances, a working person’s time is, ultimately, money. You can outsource your work to a web designer (which, if you don’t have experience in web design, you likely should), but they’ll still need to consult with you regularly in order to establish the direction, development, and design of the platform. If they won’t be taking care of the production’s oversight, you or one of your employees will need to do so. All of this takes time.
Creating content, of course, is also time-demanding. If you have someone on your staff or network who writes well, they can take care of the monthly blog posts and any landing page alterations as needed – if you don’t have that person, it will have to be you.
Whether it’s your time, or an employee’s paid time, building a website will demand a certain amount of it, which costs money.
Marketing
Opening up a website to the public is like starting a second store for your business. Despite all necessary steps being followed, if no one knows about the store, people won’t happen upon it unless by chance. The same applies to your website – no marketing almost always means next to no traffic. That’s why you need the digital equivalent of a “Grand Opening” for your website, and some offline and online advertising – both of those things cost an amount of money.
How you intend on attracting visitors to your site is up to you. You can hire a social media manager or SEO company; you can also use paid traffic like Facebook ads or Google Adwords. There’s some room for play here, and the right choice will lead to the growth you’re looking for, or potentially more.
Maintenance
Starting a website is much like having a child. Financially speaking, it would be great if the child’s only expense was the hospital delivery bill. However, that just isn’t how things work – they’ll eventually be needing clothes, food, schooling, a car, etc. The same applies to a website. Despite the cost of what was needed to erect the platform, there are ongoing maintenance costs to consider.
