The cost of constructing a website depends on the way the site is set up. For example, a site costs between $50 and $250 per year using a DIY platform like WordPress or Weebly. Professional designers cost around $500 to $1,000 or even more if they are designing the web site from scratch rather than using an existing template or theme. Completely custom website development can cost $2,000 to $10,000 or greater.
DIY Website Prices
| Free Website Builder (not recommended) | WordPress | Weebly | |
| What It’s Good For | A simple personal website like a blog or informational web page. | All company websites. It’s the very feature-rich platform but may be more difficult to use. | Some small company sites. It’s simpler to use, but not as feature-rich as WordPress. |
| Starting Cost (Per Year) | $0 | $36 (via Bluehost) | $96 |
| Domain Costs | Not available (must use subdomain) | Free custom domain for 1 year (then $16/year) | Free custom domain for 1 year (then $20/year) |
| Other Costs | None | Optional topics and plug-ins ($10 to $100+ extra) | Optional e-commerce updates ($48 to $204 additional ) |
There are 3 main options when it comes to building your own website:
- Free site builder: WordPress and Weebly along with other free hosting providers allow you to construct a website at no cost. There’s always a catch, but like limited storage or bandwidth, no habit domain names or nonremovable advertisements on the website footer. A free web builder may be suitable for a personal site but isn’t suggested for professional usage.
- WordPress: WordPress is the most popular and recognized site platform. It can accommodate almost any business or website use-case but can be somewhat difficult for novices.
- Visual website builders (Weebly, Wix, Squarespace): This newer generation of web site builders is the easiest to use but costs a little more than WordPress and has limited integrations with other systems.
Now, let’s dive into the two best options for professional small business sites: WordPress and visual website builders such as Weebly.
DIY Choice #1: WordPress ($36 to $150 per year)
WordPress is the reliable giant in the company world, accounting for nearly 30 percent of websites on the whole Internet. The reason for its success is largely three variables:
- You don’t need to know any programming to put it up.
- There’s a massive community of programmers adding features for pretty much every kind of business.
- The platform is totally free to use. You just have to pay for hosting, that costs between $36 and 100 per year.
WordPress Site Editor: Add text, pictures and make adjustments on the left menu. (featuring Fit Web Themes Restaurant Edition)
The WordPress editor is designed for novices: You do not have to use any programming or have that design expertise. Just enter information from the column, and your site will automatically upgrade to the right.
The design process starts with picking a WordPress theme, which is essentially a site template that you personalize with your own text and photos. As an open source platform, there is a huge selection of community-developed themes to select from in addition to plug-ins and integrations, which include more functionality to the site. As an example, if your company employs an appointment-booking system or an email marketing program, there is often a way to add these tools to your site.
WordPress Prices
On the surface, WordPress is the least expensive do-it-yourself alternative. You merely have to pay for hosting, which costs $2.95 a month through our recommended provider Bluehost. Additionally, you ought to cover a domain name, which costs around $12 each year. The first season is included free, however, through Bluehost.
Other potential WordPress prices include the price of premium themes ($10 to $100) and the price of plug-ins ($5 to $100). Both of these are optional since many topics and plug-ins are free. For instance, we designed three free topics here in FitSmallBusiness especially for our small business readers, such as a restaurant motif, salon motif, and business theme. However, in other scenarios, you may pay to get a particular tool or integration.
Learn more by reading our entire guide to WordPress pricing.
How to Setup WordPress
The very first step to prepare a WordPress website is to pick a domain name. You can use the tool below to browse for accessible .com domains. If you aren’t convinced however, follow this link to sign up for hosting on Bluehost and choose your domain later.
The next step is to decide on a hosting program. In particular, look closely at your allocated bandwidth. This is the amount of data you’re allowed to transmit in a particular month, so the higher the bandwidth, the more traffic it is possible to accommodate. Fortunately, Bluehost supplies unlimited bandwidth on all of its programs.
Example of a WordPress Theme: Fit Web Themes Salon Edition
As soon as you’re in WordPress, the next step is to pick a WordPress theme. If you’d like a fairly straightforward business website design, I suggest checking out our free small business topics: Fit Web Themes Business Edition, Restaurant Edition and Salon Edition. We made these especially for our readers as a means of developing a slick and modern small business site without needing too much time or specialized expertise.
Alternatively, you can browse the official WordPress motif database here.
The rest of the design procedure will depend mostly on the theme you select, so it’s best to follow instructions from your theme supplier. You can also check out our full guide on How Best to set up a WordPress website for additional tips and tricks,
DIY Option #2: Weebly ($96 to $300 per year)
Weebly is part of a new category of website builders which are simpler to use than WordPress. The same as making a PowerPoint slideshow presentation, you drag and drop photos, text boxes, text boxes, photographs and contours to design your website. Then, just click to edit, reposition or resize them.
Weebly Website Editor: Click to edit text and photos. Drag and drop new elements from the menu on the left.
You don’t need to deal with installing themes or plug-ins, which makes it quite a bit simpler than WordPress. On the flip side, there aren’t too many resources or integrations accessible. If you wanted to include, for instance, an appointment-booking system or set up an internet shop that has many different products, you will have a more difficult time doing so with Weebly.
Weebly Costs
Weebly can also be more expensive than WordPress, starting at $8 a month (roughly $96 per year) for a basic website or $25 per month ($300 per year) to get a professional e-commerce shop. However, there is a benefit to Weebly in you won’t pay extra for a website theme or template as WordPress users sometimes do.
Weebly is also less expensive than other visual net builders like Squarespace or Wix. These opponents are very similar to Weebly but with slight differences to its template styles and editing tools. Generally, we’ve found Weebly are the simplest to use, along with it being the best value.
How to Setup Weebly
To begin on Weebly, follow the link to sign up for a free account. The setup process is quite simple because Weebly provides everything all-in-one. After choosing a web site program, you will be prompted to pick a template, and then start editing your website. For hints and a visual aid as you work through the procedure, have a look at our full guide to establishing a Weebly website.
Website Costs When Hiring Specialists
The following option is to hire a professional to design the website for you. This can be a major timesaver compared to building a site yourself and allows you to go considerably farther in branding and customizing your site design.
| Designer Sets Up Site | Custom Design from 99Designs | Web Design Company | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Its Great For | Use DIY platform but possess a professional set up it for you | Build a custom site with strong branding & unique tools | Build a custom website; have a closer relationship with the designer |
| Total Cost (approximate) | $500 – $1,000 | $1,000 – $4,000 | $2,000 – $10,000 |
| Design Prices | $300 – $1,000 | $600 – $2,500 | $1,000 – $5,000 |
| Programming Costs | Not one | $500 – $1,200 | $1,000 – $5,000 |
| Hosting Costs | $50 – $250/year | $50 – $250/year | $50 – $250/year |
Now, let’s explore these 3 options in greater detail:
Professional Choice #1: Designer Sets Up Website on DIY Platform ($500 to $1,000)
If you’re looking for a pretty straightforward business website but do not have time to put it up yourself, then you can employ a professional to construct it on WordPress, Weebly or Squarespace. This is not as costly than building it from scratch, and it’s easier to log in and make adjustments yourself down the line.
On Upwork, it is possible to find web design pros starting at $40 per hour. Simply follow the link and then enter”WordPress” or”Weebly” to the search bar. This should amount to about $500 to $1,000 for the entire job, based on how much back and forth it requires and also if you need advanced features like an online shop.
Remember, however, the programmer will use the very same tools and templates you’d use if you designed the site yourself. While you can absolutely get a slick professional site this way, it will not be quite as exceptional as a custom-developed site.
Professional Option #2: Use 99designs to Get a Custom WordPress Theme ($1,000 to $4,000)
If you’re concerned about representing your brand in a unique way, you can employ a designer to construct a WordPress theme from scratch. A custom theme gives you complete control over colours, fonts, formatting and shapes. So, rather than change an existing template, you can get exactly what you want from the beginning.
If this sounds like your situation, we recommend checking out 99designs. It’s a layout platform where many different professionals pitch ideas for your website. As long as you have a good idea what you’re looking for and can describe it nicely in the design brief, you are going to get a number of unique and on-brand submissions to decide between.
Examples of 99Designs websites.
The cost of the web design is $600 to $2,500 depending on how many pages you want to be designed and the number of graphic designers you want to be able to think about.
After you’ve chosen the winning design, you will have to locate someone to code the layout for your website. 99designs has coding spouses that’ll have the ability to do this for you and who have experience working with templates from 99designs. Typically the expense to code a responsive page (a page that also works on cellular ) is $300 and each inner page (all pages other than the homepage) costs around $150.
Option #3: Hire a Web Design Company ($2,000 to $10,000-plus)
For those who want something unique but aren’t sure just how to describe it, a conventional web design company can be the ideal choice. There’s somewhat more hand holding as the agency will set up meetings and get to know your company before throwing examples. You can take a closer one-on-one relationship, potentially even meeting in person to go over design edits.
Of course, there are many unaccredited people out there calling themselves web design”experts,” so locating a company to work with does take some care. Request colleagues or other companies with great websites who they worked with. Also check Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and other local search engines for reviews prior to proceeding.
Furthermore, if you opt to go for this choice, we highly advise that the design company builds your website on WordPress. Because there are thousands of web developers that know the ends and outs of WordPress and you choose to leave the firm that built your website for any reason, you’ll have the ability to find somebody else to take over its layout and be able to update it. You’ll also have more control on making edits to your site if it is built on WordPress.
The Most Important Thing
Sites are essential to your business’ presence online, but you don’t have to pay an outrageous amount for a nice looking site. If you’re a small business owner who needs a simple website with info regarding your company and wishes to know how much does a web site cost and how to manage those costs, consider using a DIY website builder like WordPress or Weebly.
We made three free WordPress themes here at FitSmallBusiness specifically for small companies that want a slick website with no significant investment — both in time and money. Check out examples , or head to our full guide on how best to establish a WordPress website up in less than an hour.
