Starting a new website: back to basics

Written by seojunkie on April 26th, 2009

So you have made the decision to have a website developed for your business, but are not sure of what is involved, and where the costs lie? It can be a bit daunting, especially if you are not particularly Internet or PC savvy: web development, web hosting, domain names, email addresses. All of these are factors that need to be considered and costed into your project. As well as that, you’ve seen many great websites on the net which are packed with loads of cool features, moving graphics, options to sign up for newsletters, database searches and links to other sites. Do you need all these features, and how much will all that cost? What should you have in your website, what’s the process, and how much will it all set you back?

Start with a suitable domain name. Start with the name of your company, I believe that a dot local domain name is OK for most businesses, and that a dot com name still really implies an American site, although this is not a fast rule. Why not identify your business as a local one straight off and use dot local, which will promote your country to overseas Internet surfers? Something else to think about is whether the name lends itself to your business products and services. You need a lot of advertising, PR and brand marketing clout to get a name like Amazon to be synonymous with books right? But it is possible as we know. When you’ve thought of your name, register it.

The most basic type of website is called a brochureware website. That’s one that is like what it’s name suggests: an online brochure introducing your business, products and services, and encouraging your target market to contact you. A brochureware website is a great start if you want to start off small, with a good Internet presence at a reasonable price.

What if you want your website to be more than just an advertisement, and want more substantial features for your visitors, for instance to make the sale for you right there and then in real time? This requires dynamic functionality and a database behind website and so will cost you more. Your requirements determine the budget. There are no set prices for including this sort of functionality, so specify your requirements to your developer and get a quote.

Even if you start with a brochureware website you can of course expand and grow it over time, and it is best to plan this from the start if that is what you want to do. Remember to consider the size of your site and the impact that this can have on your web hosting costs. Credit card facilities also need to be budgetd.

So, in summary it is fair to say that the costs of owning and operating a website do not just lie in the production of the website itself, although this is the major component. You also need to consider domain name purchase, website hosting costs, domain name-based email accounts, website statistics, service/support, search engine optimisation and of course ongoing management, maintenance and development.

Ashley Bryan is the owner of Webstrategies Ltd. Visit his websites: http://www.webstrategies.co.nz and http://www.websitestrategies.com.au. Webstrategies provides website optimisation and Internet marketing services from Auckland, New Zealand with a focus on Return On Investment forceasting and achievement.

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