01332 477575

What Is the Real Cost of a Website?

Nov 12, 2014

Editor note: This article has been updated to provide more in-depth information and accuracy as of 2018

What Is the Real Cost of a Website?

Many business and web owners will take the cost of a new website at face value. After all, you are paying for the services up front. We always suggest that you consider the cost over its lifecycle, rather than just the initial build.

If you buy a chocolate bar from your local shop, you are paying for a product. A product that you consume immediately and it's gone. Consider your website an asset, not a product.

You do not pay for your website and then it goes once it is brought.

Similarly, it's about evaluating the value of the website in relation to your business.

For some businesses, their website is their lifeline. Without the ability to market themselves online, they would have no business at all.

If you are a small local business then a website may not be the most necessary asset for you. That being said, if you didn't have a website at all, how much would this affect your ability to make sales and generate revenue?

Maybe you do have a website already. Although it may be outdated and is currently outliving its use. In this event, the marketing message may not be as strong as it can and needs to be.

We find that outdated websites with little direction offer very little to the business in question. Sometimes, it may even be taking more money than it makes. Failing to update your website to convey the right message, attract the right audience and essentially pay for itself can see your business dwindle and come to a halt.

Whilst it may cost a large sum up-front, the potential for profit in the future outweighs the initial price. Something we will cover later in this article.

The real cost of a website differs from general website costs. The difference is that we are looking at the costs of the website in its entirety, rather than looking at the upfront cost from the developer.

If you are looking for pricing factors and affordability, we compiled our understanding and experience into our article: Affordable Web Design - What Does That Mean? This will help you compare and select the right option for your budget and requirements.

Post Build

Regardless of the price quoted, you need to analyse the requirements of the website. Are you going to be selling a large number of products on an e-commerce platform? If so, you are going to need to be on a hosting package that provides exactly what you need.

With the same example, you would need a dedicated SSL and perhaps support to make further changes in the future. Your £9000 quote is just the foundation of what is truly needed.

Depending on the scale of your website, you could be looking at an additional £30 - £100+ on top each month. Whilst the pricing of packages is solely dependant on the provider you choose, this is typically the range you would be expecting to pay. E-commerce websites typically require higher tier packages.

Lifecycle

Before paying a web designer for a new website understand that your website will not last forever. Websites typically have a lifespan of 3-5 years, depending on the business.

If you are updating your ranges often, it would then require a complete overhaul sooner rather than later.

We akin this to purchasing a company vehicle. After 3 years it may still have plenty of life in it but the chances are it will have a few miles on the clock and be a little worn out. You would likely be looking to get a newer model.

The same can be said about your website.

Our view is that you look at the lifecycle of the website over 3 years and consider it "written off" by then. It may well be that the site is still looking great and fresh but this is more of an exercise in cost evaluation rather than a procedure that must be followed.

There are other elements that should be taken into account as well.

For instance, if after 2 years your main competitor re-designs their website and it outmatches yours in every area, it could be an indicator that your website needs to follow suit.

Similarly, if your website is using certain features that are no longer supported (and these are integral features) you may need to re-design the website out of sheer necessity, rather than desire.

Sometimes, in order to compete, you have to improve.

The Math

Using the 3-year lifecycle as a base point, we can break down the monthly outgoing costs associated with the website.

Redesign Cost: £2500
Hosting and support costs: £50 per month

Bear in mind that SSL and additional bandwidth allocation are not included within hosting and support.

Aggregated over the 3-year life of the website, it equates to £119 per month.

Clearly, this is not a cash flow calculation. However, it does help to provide an understanding of the true cost of the site over its minimum shelf life.

Whilst the figures above are used for example purposes only, they do serve a visual purpose. Especially assuming that your website may cost more and depending on the developer, so may their hosting packages.

Potential Earnings

It might look daunting, knowing that you will have to pay an additional £119 a month to keep the website live and functioning. Sometimes the focus is on the costs and not the earning potential.

For example, you are likely to find that your new and improved website is bringing in more leads. More of these leads then convert into paying customers. Whilst you have invested a large sum of money, you may now be earning two-three times as much as before.

Let's assume that each month you are now earning £3000. Your new website cost you £9000.

Over the course of 3 years, you will have made £108000, earning you £99000 as profit (assuming we are just comparing this to the website cost) over the course of your websites lifespan.

Not only has your website paid for itself, but it has also paid for its next re-design.

This is the mentality that we want web owners to take. We have said before that your website is one of the best investments you can make in your business.

If you are looking for a re-design, contact us on 01332 477575 to talk through your requirements.

29 Apr, 2019
Like many companies and individuals, we are very aware of our impact on the World. We have always striven to be paperless as much as possible and to be conscious of things like of keeping usage of electricity to a minimum. In light of the evidence highlighted by Sir David Attenborough and many others in the last few months, we have decided to take some more moves to lessen any impact of operating and running our business on climate change.
23 Oct, 2018
Selecting a Content management system can be intimidating, not only for new developers but also for clients and users. If you are making an investment in a brand new website you want to make sure that the platform it will be running on is suitable and easy to use.
23 Oct, 2018
As we all know, images have a power over our attention span. We are more likely to spend more time on a page if there are relevant, high-quality images.
08 Oct, 2018
Embedded maps are often used on the contact us page to show the customer exactly where you are. Not only is this helpful for them to see your location visually, but it also builds credibility and security knowing that you are located in a physical building. This can be the tipping point for the customer to trust you and go ahead with contacting your business.
08 Oct, 2018
If you have contact forms on your website, it is likely that they are secured via the 'I am not a robot' reCAPTCHA. This method enables additional protection against robot spam and misuse of your contact forms.
27 Jul, 2018
When setting up your emails on your local device(s), you may come across a setting regarding IMAP or POP. Understanding what each is and their effects will help you decide which you should use. Neither has the edge over the other; it entirely depends on your circumstance and how you use your emails. Below we cover both in more detail but if you’re looking for a quick synopsis -
16 Jul, 2018
Setting up an email account can sometimes be confusing, especially when you need the correct port information. If you are less experienced with managing emails, this can be daunting.
09 Jul, 2018
Our update system plays a crucial role for both us and our clients. The system allows you to put work directly into our workflow which follows a first come first served process. This is powerful as it elevates the need for direct communication in order for the work to be started.
09 May, 2018
If you've been surfing the digital world for some time you will have no doubt heard the phrase "content is king". Web best practises change regularly. Each new year a different method or element takes the spotlight and shifts how businesses function in the digital space. However, content still remains as one of the most important elements and will do so unless something drastic changes.
19 Mar, 2018
A Content delivery network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of data centres. CDN's are the backbone of content delivery on the internet and it's likely a CDN is behind every piece of content you consume, be it a video, this article and so on. These are designed to solve the global issue of latency; the delay that occurs when you request to load a web-page to the point it becomes visible.
More Posts
Share by: