I get asked this question from time to time, so I thought that I’d post my usual response. There are several costs when it comes to creating a website. Some of them are ongoing costs, and others are one time. My first recommendation is to evaluate all of the requirements individually. I.e. don’t buy all of these services from the same provider.
Domain Name Registration – Think of this as your annual license plate registration. You get to pick your own name: E.g. YourName.com. The cost is relatively low. I usually dissuade using Networking Solutions or GoDaddy. Networking Solutions is more expensive. GoDaddy uses sex to sell, and they have been accused of locking you into their service. I’m not a prude, but we’re evaluating technology here.
Key Decision Factors: Cost, Lock In
Recommendations: Namecheap.com is as their name suggests, inexpensive. They are also a great provider. Name.com is based out of Denver and I am friends with their Community Manager. I’ll likely give them a try for my next registration.
Design – Your website is a collection of interrelated files that is comprised of the actual code (pages), images, and text. Unless you’re a designer, you’re likely going to have some upfront cost. I’m assuming that you’ll want a professional looking site, but you can save money by purchasing a previously made template and tweaking it to suite your needs. Don’t get cheap when buying a template, if you’re to skip on the designer. Your site may end up looking flat.
Keep in mind, that logo design is typically separate from website design. You may have to hire two different people to get the website that you’re looking for. Once finished, you need to share your website with the world.
Key Decision Factors: Cost (RFQ), Prior Work, Availability
Recommendations: Available upon request. I know several designers who bid for your job (High to low end).
Hosting – You’re renting space on a computer in a data center. It’s sole purpose is to serve up your website 24/7/365. Naturally you want to have zero downtime. Don’t worry too much about capacity stats, e.g. bandwidth, storage capacity, etc. A standard website for brick and mortar business will never come anywhere near these limits. Email is another story. Check out this post if you’re a blogger or developer type.
Key Decision Factors: Cost, Uptime, Support, Community
Recommendations: Joyent is my favorite hosting provider. I’ve been with them for years, and could not be happier.
You need all three to take your site live. Feel free to contact me to discuss in more detail.
Tags: Web Hosting