Hey 👋 Y’All,
Let’s dive into the #1 question I hear. 👂
How much does a website cost?
Most designers and developers will respond with, “It depends.” 🤷♀️
Not exactly helpful, huh? We're going to break it down.
Here are some things to consider when building a website for your business.
Domain
Have you bought a domain name?
Purchasing your domain doesn't cost much. There are quite a few domain registrars out in the market. I’m sure you’ve heard of GoDaddy, but I recommend BlueHost simply because their customer service is top-notch and very reliable. If you decide to purchase with BlueHost, for the first year they offer a huge discount.
👉 BLUEHOST
Web Hosting
Where will the design and code call home?
There are many new platforms to choose from, the top three are;
Webflow, Wix, and Squarespace.
The no-code movement is real. You can design and publish a website with these three platforms in a matter of days, depending on how ambitious you are. I recommend Webflow for several reasons beyond being a Product Designer. Webflow allows for scaling, customization, and building anything you can imagine, the sky is the limit.
👇 Start an account for FREE.
Design
Here are some questions to have at the top of your mind when designing or hiring a designer. Do you have your designs ready? Do you have a vision for what you want your website to look like? Would you like to see something artistic, or is it simple and functional? How does it need to function?
Is it a Marketing website? Is it an e-commerce site? Function and the result are the top priorities.
Development
When considering this portion of the website project, some people can feel a bit intimidated. DON'T.
Ask the right questions for yourself and who is helping build your site. Is there a database to be connected? Will you need special search filters? Do you want special animation or motion? Will you need a chat window to stay in contact with your potential customers?
SEO
How will you let people know how to find you? SEO is vital in drumming up online traffic and building rapport. The website will need to be designed and written with SEO in mind. This takes time and a solid strategy. SEO is a long play but is necessary for building your reputation online.
(I’ll cover this in more depth in future newsletters)
Blogging ✍️
Blogging and SEO are intertwined, it’s a dance. Blogging once a week can help your network stay up to date on the latest happenings of your business. Provide fun or informational content, something of value that is free. Consider it an activity that builds a bond with your customers and community. Also, helps boost your rankings within the search engines.
Accessibility & Legal
This is a tough subject but it must be addressed. The Webflow team has built an accessibility tool within the platform to help guide standards for the industry, most importantly looking out for the viewers with disabilities. A great tool to implement that is affordable and effective is Accessibe. You or your designer can easily install this to the website and will provide all the adjustments needed to be up to code on Usability and Inclusivity. Bonus, Accessibe teamed up with Termly, a digital legal firm specializing in all things privacy and web related.
E-Commerce
There are many choices and avenues to go down, but the most popular and recommended are; Webflow, which has its commerce built in, then Shopify, and lastly Paddle.
I plan to devote a future article to E-Commerce, taking a deeper dive to understand the pros and cons, and what will be the best match for your business.
Maintenance.
Once the site is launched, who will maintain the site? Will you have time? Do you have someone in-house maintaining the site and keeping things compliant and up-to-date? Or will you hire someone independent or agency?
Once you grasp each of these components to building your website, this will provide some solid insight into what you need and what it will cost.
I provided a link below. You may need to scroll down on the page, but the folks at WebFX created a great interactive tool. The pricing scale will calculate an estimated price based on the number of pages, and the depth of work needed for design, development, and the other components listed above.
Happy Scaling!
👆
If you have more questions about any of the topics covered, please feel free to drop me a line.
Until next time,
Cheers 🥂
Elizabeth
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