I’ve been asked a lot recently, what do I need to start a website? Starting a website can be easy – or you can make it difficult. If you’re looking to start a website for yourself or a small business, I’d love to be able to help you! Feel free to continue reading to get a feel for some of the basic costs and if you’re still unsure, reach out to me. I’m happy to answer questions!
What you will need:
- A domain name
- Website hosting
- Custom email for your domain (optional)
If you have a business, consider what would be easiest/best for your business domain name. The domain name is the URL. Your name could be in the URL or just your business name. The domain will need to be purchased annually. This can cost around $20 per year for a basic dot com address. You can purchase the domain through a site like GoDaddy or a smaller company like New Blog Hosting.
Full disclaimer: I started using GoDaddy in the early 2000s. Around 2001. I purchased at least a dozen URLs through them and hosting packages for a few of my websites over the years. Their customer service declined and before 2020 I moved my hosting away from them, and my domains have slowly followed. They’re still a big player in this website business, but I don’t always recommend using them if you want to be able to talk to real people if you have a challenge. You will see New Blog Hosting recommended throughout because I use their services and they have provided amazing customer service to me and clients over the past several years.
Consider what you want your website to do and that will help with where your website “lives.” It needs to be hosted somewhere and while there are free ways to create websites, they aren’t always the best.
I build WordPress websites and I host them with New Blog Hosting (this is a referral link meaning if you make a purchase after using my link, I may receive a credit, but your cost doesn’t change.) New Blog Hosting (NBH) is my host and I pay them annually per website I own.
There are a few costs you need to consider for launching your website. The domain is the first cost website hosting is another. Your hosting can cost as little as $6 or $7 a month (with some providers) and the sky is the limit for what you could pay. NBH is around $75-$100 per year of basic hosting and they provide email with the hosting (so you can create custom email addresses with your custom domain.)
Email can be another cost. If you want a gmail with your custom email, estimate $80 for a year for one email address.
There are a few free hosts, but they aren’t as customizable.
WordPress.com – This is free for hosting, but you will have to pay to use your custom domain. You will not be able to control as much of the design. They offer designs that are free, but the designs are more limited than the self-hosted WordPress (which is WordPress.org and what I use with NBH.) You will not be able to transfer the full design of your site if you decide to self host one day.
Google sites – Free hosting and you can forward a domain, but a custom domain is a little trickier. Your URL (domain) will be https:// sites. google. com/view/WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE/home (<– that’s spaced out so it doesn’t link anywhere) and it’s long. It just looks unprofessional. If you ever decide to move to a self hosted website, you can’t transfer your design.
Squarespace – this will come up as a free website, but you actually pay for hosting and can get a free domain for the first year.
Wix – You can start for free, but you’re going to end up paying for hosting or the domain, and eventually both. You’ll have wixsite in your URL and their branding will be part of your design.
Canva – please don’t do this. This will be a one-page website and Canva wasn’t built with the intention of being a website builder.
Other costs for building a site can come into play. Some companies charge for SSL certificates, while some companies provide this with their hosting. If you’re using WordPress, you have access to various paid/premium plugins that help run your site. Are you going to offer a shopping cart on your site? There will likely be fees to run the e-commerce side. Stock images are often additional fees. Consider everything you want on your website and research the costs around it so you aren’t surprised.
Next Steps
- Purchase your domain name. (You can do this through your host, if you go that route.)
- Purchase your hosting. (Remember, I love New Blog Hosting!)
- If you’re using your own host (not one of the free site builders mentioned above), install a theme and you can start building out your site. Or, you can contact me!
If you need someone to help you build your website, I offer that assistance and generally charge by the project versus hourly. I also offer quarterly maintenance for my clients. Feel free to reach out today.