How Much Can You Expect to Spend when Starting a Website in 2017?
So you want to start your own website. Whether it’s for your business, or you just want to claim your own corner of the web to speak your thoughts, one of the first things you’ll probably ask yourself is: how much is it going to cost? Between domain names, hosting packages, and other features, the costs can quickly add up. So when all is said and done, how much can you expect to spend when starting a website in 2016?
Domain name
$0 - $100+ per year
Your domain name will be the name of your website, or the address they type into their browser to get to your website. How much you pay for your domain name will depend on the type of domain you want, and who you purchase it from.
If you find a web host that offers free domain names, you won’t have to pay a penny for your domain name. If you want to purchase your domain name on your own, from a site such as NameCheap, you’ll end up paying about $15 for a simple .com domain name. There are top-level domains you can also buy such as .guru or .global, but the yearly cost for those can be as high as $100 or more.
When buying a domain name, it’s important to check not only how much it costs to buy, but what the yearly renewal fee is. You will have to pay a fee to keep your domain name, and therefore your website, every year and you want to make sure it’s not going to run you more than you’d like before your final purchase.
The average domain name costs about $10 per year.
Web hosting
$0 - $1000+ per year
If you’re going to have a website, you’re going to need a web host. Unless you’re prepared to purchase, install, and maintain and operate your own server, this is unavoidable. But just like domain names, you can spend as little or as much as you’d like. It just depends on the type of web hosting you choose.
Free web hosting is available from a number of different web hosts. Their hope is typically that you’ll move from free web hosting full of pages of ads to paid hosting, which will give you full control over your website. Free web hosting is also shared web hosting in the way that your website will be placed on a server with many other websites. The difference with paid shared web hosting is that you won’t have any of those ads and for a fee of about $7 a month, you’ll be able to choose the ads you’d like to run on your site, and run different features.
VPS and dedicated web hosting are other types of hosting available, but they are a bit more expensive. VPS typically runs about $50 a month, while dedicated can be as little as $60 a month, or as much as $200 a month.
Features, templates, and plug-ins
$0 - $100+ one -time fee
Features, templates, and plug-ins are all the little extras you’ll want for your site. Features and plug-ins will let you and your visitors use and interact with the website, and templates will get your website looking exactly how you want it to. Just like domain names and web hosting, you can find all of these for free but you might find your choices to be a bit limited. You can find these same items through your web host or online, and if you’re willing to pay a small one-time fee, it can drastically change the look and feel of your website.
Unfortunately, there is no one definitive answer as to how much you can expect to pay when starting a website in 2016. The entire process can be completely free, or you can spend a thousand dollars or more on it. The good news is that all the different things you’ll need to start a website are available in varying price ranges, so people of any and all budgets can get online with their own website!
Domain name
$0 - $100+ per year
Your domain name will be the name of your website, or the address they type into their browser to get to your website. How much you pay for your domain name will depend on the type of domain you want, and who you purchase it from.
If you find a web host that offers free domain names, you won’t have to pay a penny for your domain name. If you want to purchase your domain name on your own, from a site such as NameCheap, you’ll end up paying about $15 for a simple .com domain name. There are top-level domains you can also buy such as .guru or .global, but the yearly cost for those can be as high as $100 or more.
When buying a domain name, it’s important to check not only how much it costs to buy, but what the yearly renewal fee is. You will have to pay a fee to keep your domain name, and therefore your website, every year and you want to make sure it’s not going to run you more than you’d like before your final purchase.
The average domain name costs about $10 per year.
Web hosting
$0 - $1000+ per year
If you’re going to have a website, you’re going to need a web host. Unless you’re prepared to purchase, install, and maintain and operate your own server, this is unavoidable. But just like domain names, you can spend as little or as much as you’d like. It just depends on the type of web hosting you choose.
Free web hosting is available from a number of different web hosts. Their hope is typically that you’ll move from free web hosting full of pages of ads to paid hosting, which will give you full control over your website. Free web hosting is also shared web hosting in the way that your website will be placed on a server with many other websites. The difference with paid shared web hosting is that you won’t have any of those ads and for a fee of about $7 a month, you’ll be able to choose the ads you’d like to run on your site, and run different features.
VPS and dedicated web hosting are other types of hosting available, but they are a bit more expensive. VPS typically runs about $50 a month, while dedicated can be as little as $60 a month, or as much as $200 a month.
Features, templates, and plug-ins
$0 - $100+ one -time fee
Features, templates, and plug-ins are all the little extras you’ll want for your site. Features and plug-ins will let you and your visitors use and interact with the website, and templates will get your website looking exactly how you want it to. Just like domain names and web hosting, you can find all of these for free but you might find your choices to be a bit limited. You can find these same items through your web host or online, and if you’re willing to pay a small one-time fee, it can drastically change the look and feel of your website.
Unfortunately, there is no one definitive answer as to how much you can expect to pay when starting a website in 2016. The entire process can be completely free, or you can spend a thousand dollars or more on it. The good news is that all the different things you’ll need to start a website are available in varying price ranges, so people of any and all budgets can get online with their own website!