On average, though, it costs around $200 to build a website, with an ongoing cost of around $50 per month to maintain it. This estimate is higher if you hire a designer or developer – expect an upfront charge of around $6,000, with an ongoing cost of $1,000 per year.
| Website Feature | Upfront Website Cost |
|---|---|
| Website Domain | $12 - $60 |
| Website Hosting | $35 - $600 |
| SSL Certificate | $0 - $200 |
| Website Template or Theme | $0 - $200 |
| Ecommerce Functionality | $20 - $24,000 |
| Website Content | $0 - $5,000 |
| Apps and Integrations | $0 - $100 |
| SEO and Marketing | $0 - $90 |
There are three main ways to build a website: use a website builder, build with WordPress, or hire a web designer. Which method you choose will have a huge impact on how much your website costs. For example, creating content is free with a web builder, but can cost over $5,000 if you’re using a web designer.
Website builders are usually the cheapest way to build a website. While WordPress is technically a free, open-source platform, you have to pay for hosting, themes, and plugins, and even professional help from a developer, which can increase your total cost.
Hiring a web designer is the most expensive option. Realistically, you don’t want to pay less than $5,000 for a web designer, otherwise you might end up with a disappointing end result that you’re not happy with, but that you’ve still paid a few thousand for.
You need to choose the right method for you. Hiring a web designer is expensive, but it takes the technical hassle out of your hands. Using a website builder is cheap and easy, but you don’t get the same level of control as you do with WordPress. WordPress gives you flexibility, but it’s the most time consuming and hands-on approach.
