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More and more businesses nowadays whether new or old are looking to get themselves online, but are unaware of the exact cost. In this guide we’ll show you the options and requirements including:
- Domains
- Web Hosting
- Web Design
- Ecommerce
Domains
A domain is your brand, so its best to try and find the domain which matches so you can be found easier. A unique business name that isn’t also common will also help against the competition.
Domain extensions are also important depending on where you primarily want to rank. If you are a business that sells worldwide its common to have a .com domain whereas if you are mainly based in the UK you’d choose a .co.uk domain.
Domains are bought for a minimum term of one year, up to a max of 10 years with some domain providers. Domains can’t be bought outright, so you are technically renting the domain for as long as you want.
Domains can cost anything from around ten pounds per year, up to potentially hundreds or even thousands depending on the competition.
Web Hosting
Once you’ve bought your domain you’ll need a web hosting provider, this is where your website will be stored, think of it like the domain is the PC and the web hosting is the hard drive.
Web hosting location also matters, the further away you are to the server the longer it takes for information to be sent and received. If you are based in the UK then you should choose a domain and hosting provider that has servers based in a UK datacenter, such as https://web-hosting-uk.com.
Web hosting cost depends on how you pay, this can be monthly or yearly with most providers. We recommend not to go for the cheapest provider, as with anything, you get what you pay for!
To be safe check out the companies reviews and how long they’ve been in business, do they also offer customer support should you need to contact them if anything goes wrong?
Web Design
Web design is another option to consider if you’re wanting to create your own website. content management systems (CMS) can also be used such as WordPress, which is the most common and comes with loads of features and plugins to add into your website.
WordPress also has loads of free themes to pick and choose from, which is why so many businesses and bloggers use it too.
They is also a few others out there too including Joomla and Drupal but these require more technical knowledge.
Alternatively if you’re not that tech savvy get a web design company to create one for you, prices generally depend on how much content and how many pages you require.
Ecommerce
An ecommerce store is great for selling your products and services to generate an income. We recommend the content management system WordPress with the Woocommerce plugin to easily setup your ecommerce store.
Woocommerce also allows you to see your sales which is great and notify you once you have a sale!
Summary
Research you domain as this is your brand! Find a reliable web hosting provider that provides support and everything you need so you won’t have to move provider.
Draft out your website before you create it, this way you know exactly how to want it without getting frustrated. It’s best to use content management system to make it easier than having to write up code!
