subject: The cost of setting up a website [print this page] The cost of setting up a website The cost of setting up a website
So that's the income side of the equation. Now, how much does it cost to operate online? You'll need to have access to the internet, which typically involves paying an internet service provider (ISP) about 12 a month or 25 if you want a high speed connection (broadband). You'll need to pay a hosting company to make your website available to people who want to see it over the internet. A good small-business-quality service will cost about 10 a month. You can find ISPs and hosting companies listed in the back of internet magazines, including .Net magazine. On top of that, it is essential that you buy your own domain name, which will cost about 1 a month.
A domain name is like your address on the internet and it typically looks like yourname.co.uk or yourname.com . There are lots of companies that will let you set up a website using their resources, often for free.Google's new Page Creator, for example, will help you build a website that lives at www.yourname.googlepages.com. The problem with that is that Google controls your traffic - it owns googlepages.com, so if it decides it doesn't want to host your website any more there's nothing you can do about it. That's why it's important you buy your own domain name and promote it instead of Google's. You can still point it at Google's free service or anywhere else, but if things go wrong, you keep control of the incoming visitor flow you've built up. You just make your domain name take visitors somewhere else when they type it in.
Here's a summary of the costs:
What to buyWhy buy it?Cost
Internet Service Provider (includes email)
To let you access the internet
12 per month (dialup)or
25 per month (broadband)
Domain name
So people can find where your website is stored
1 per month
Web hosting
(might include domain name)
So the public can access your text and pictures over the internet
10 per month
Tea
Helps concentration
1 per month
Biscuits
Helps concentration
1 per month
Total:
24 per month (dialup)or
38 per month (broadband)
These costs are just the operating costs, of course: the cost of having a site designed varies wildly, so it's worth shopping around. The hidden costs come when the site needs updating: make sure you can afford to not just set up the site, but update it whenever you have news to tell. The simplest solution is to get your designer to incorporate a blog in your website. A blog is an online diary, but it's easy to update from anywhere there's an internet connection without needing any website design skills.
