Swiroset.com

Having a website can be a wonderful experience. I have experienced the joy of owning and operating a brilliant website created and hosted by a genius. I have also experienced the misery of having a lousy website hosted by notorious scammers. So I’ve seen websites from both ends of the spectrum.

This article is to learn about all the costs associated with building and operating a commercial website. There are millions of Internet users who seem to believe that everything they see on a website should be available for free. This will set the record straight for these people to appreciate the costs involved in providing them with information. (Note: Rates will vary from provider to provider.)

First, a distinction: there are two basic types of websites:

1. Personal – mom and pop type sites – several “family” style information pages
2. Commercial – business sites – from one page “sales letter” sites to massive sites of several hundred pages.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will limit my comments to commercial websites only.

A business website has been described as the great leveler of business. You see, small businesses can compete on equal terms with giant multinational companies in what have been described as “niche” markets. That is, market specialist.

As I mentioned earlier, many Internet users expect all websites to provide them with information completely free of charge. After all, websites are really cheap to build and cost next to nothing to maintain. Or them?

Let’s take a look at what is involved and the typical costs:

First, you will need a phone line. No problem. Most people have them. The cost is variable depending on the country in which you live.

Next, you will need a computer. Again, no problem, most people have them too. They can range from several hundred dollars to several thousand US dollars depending on the make and model, its capacity, its range of features, and the like.

With a phone line and a computer, you’ll need an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An ISP will charge around $20 a month for Internet access. Broadband access will cost around US$750 per year, depending on your ISP.

Please note that so far we are only incurring the cost that the average browsing information seeker incurs.

To have a website, you will need to build it yourself or hire a specialist to build it for you. Obviously, if you don’t have the knowledge and ability to do it yourself, you’ll need a trained person to do it. For 15 or more pages (a reasonably sized website) you could pay around $1,500 US, often more.

So now you have a phone line, a computer, Internet access, and a website. Is there something else? Sure there is.

You will need a domain name for your website. This is so that it can be found by its Unique Resource Locator (URL) name. This is how people will be able to find you, through links to your name http://www.domainname.com. A domain name will cost you around US$10 to $20 per year to keep it registered.

Then there is the lodging. You will need a website hosting company to keep your site up and online for the whole world to see. This is where the site “lives”. It is where you are domiciled and can be changed by adding or removing pages. Hosting can cost you around US$200 to $300 per year. Yes, I know some people get it for much less. However, like everything else, if you want quality and performance, that’s the going rate.

Anything else? It is safe.

Now you can really spend some money. Now your website desperately needs what all other websites need: traffic, aka visitors. You can spend thousands, even tens of thousands on this if you want.

So, let’s add up everything so far:

1. telephone line – standard variable cost
2. computer – standard variable cost
3. PSI – US$240 per year.
4. website construction $1,500 to $2,500 (initial setup)
5. domain name US$20 per year
6. website hosting – US$200 to 300 per year
7. website traffic US$ zero to infinity (as budget allows)

In short, without the initial cost of a telephone line or a computer, the minimum cost of a commercial site is in the order of US$1,960. That doesn’t take into account traffic costs. It also does not take into account an optional email collector or delivery system to send digital products automatically. These can add the better part of another thousand dollars per year to the costs. However, we will only count what are the basic annual ongoing costs listed above. These amount to around US$460 minimum.

I emphasize that these costs are conservative. Actually, a website owner can spend every penny he has on a commercial website. It is easy to do.

So if you’re looking to get your own website, now you know what kind of money you’ll need to fund it and keep funding it year after year. And we haven’t even talked about the cost of anything you want to sell yet or the time it might take to develop digital products that can be downloaded from the website to a consumer.

If you’re a web surfer who wants everything for free, now you know why everything just can’t be free.

Many website owners are very generous with what they offer for free. Just don’t expect to be given everything for nothing. If you do, your favorite site may be closed the next time you visit it. If you see something you want, buy it. Very little in this world is free: someone, somewhere, has to pay. Something is free for you only if you don’t have to pay for it.

Website owners can display this article on their own sites to explain why not everything can be free for the many visitors who expect just that. Perhaps it could be listed under a heading like: “Why can’t everything on this website be free?”

Now Joe and Mary Websurfer will understand the costs that the average website owner has to pay before making a single sale.

This article comes with reprint rights as long as no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.