Websites have become a necessity to almost everyone. Companies, businesses, individuals, even young adults have created personal websites with their respective purposes, be it for profit, or for entertainment.

What one must consider, however, before creating a website, are the factors in which must be put to thought before doing so, such as the cost, maintenance, use, web host and so forth. There’s a lot involved!

The cost of owning, building, and maintaining a website can vary greatly from being totally free to costing tens of thousands of dollars. The key is knowing what you need, putting together a good plan, and finding the right resources, tools, and people to help you. So let’s take a closer look at what’s involved and what choices you have.

Domains and Hosting

Domain names on average can cost nothing, if it is included with your hosting plan, or they may cost around $8-15 per year and is for a .com, .net, or .org domain.

If you want a domain name with popular keywords, then these can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy. There are also a lot of other options like .co, .me, .info, and more which can vary in price. For SEO and helping your visitors find your site, often it is best to stick with one of the standard .com, .net, or .org domain names unless it is a big part of your branding.

You can get cheap domain names from NameCheap

We recommend NameCheap for domain names for 2 reasons:

1. They are a great place to get cheap domain names.
2. They include free privacy so you won’t get a lot of spam when you register the domain name.

When it comes to hosting, you need to be careful. You must consider the cost, server speed and reliability, customer service, and the overall value you get.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of hosting companies offer big discounts to get you to sign up then they raise their rates by 50% or more when it’s time to renew. There are also many hosts that will push you to buy services and add-ons that you don’t need, especially if you have a simple website.

We’ve already taken care of the research for you and put together a list of the best and the cheapest web hosts available.

Should I Hire Someone or Build It Myself?

Most modern websites use some form of content management system (CMS). The majority of web hosts have made CMSs very easy to install or they may even have it pre-installed, depending on what type of hosting plan you purchase.

For simple websites, we recommend using WordPress, Weebly, or one of the many website builders available. These do not require you to learn how to code anything, you simply need to click and drag, and insert content. Most web hosts offer some sort of website builder software, or they offer 1-click installation tools for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and more.

If you can use a program like Microsoft Word, then you should be able to handle it. And if you need help, there are plenty of tutorials, forums, YouTube videos, and more that can answer your questions, and guide you. Some web hosting companies also provide support.

If you have more complex needs or require a lot of customization and special features that a website builder or CMS can’t do on it’s own, then you can hire the help you need.

Beyond simply creating the site, you also need to look at marketing it, writing content for it, creating and editing graphics or video for it, and maintaining it so that it stays updated and secure.

Simply building a website won’t mean that it will get traffic, so all of these elements are important to it’s success and creating a great experience for your visitors that leads them to want to come back.

You can hire affordable freelancers to help you take care of graphics, content, SEO, security, and more starting at only $5. You can learn more about that by clicking here.

Websites have become easy and cheap to create if you know where to get the hosting, domain, tools, and help.

Our flock is dedicated to helping you learn what you need to know in order to build a successful website for whatever purpose you need. More great content, tutorials, and guides are coming soon!