As the online world has firmly taken its place, it has become essential for businesses to have an online presence if they are to be taken seriously by their customers. The public expect to be able to make a search on the internet and find what they are looking for, they expect to be able to use that website to find out information about a company or to make an online purchase. In order to have a website, a company has to be prepared to fund the process and after the initial funding to create the website and obtain a domain name, there are going to be other costs, there will be maintenance costs, hosting costs and marketing costs, if you wish to be able to encourage traffic to your site.
If your business is going to be profitable, you have to look at reducing your overall website cost and all its outgoings as much as possible. So what steps can you take to reduce the overall cost of running your website?
Domain Name
You can opt to purchase an expensive domain name or you can opt to save money in this area by purchasing a domain name that means something to you but that might not necessarily command as much of a presence. This decision will be one for you to contemplate and you should consider whether or not putting a large sum of money into a domain name is going to provide you with enough benefit so as to be worth it.
Keep it Simple
The less complex your website, the easier it will be to maintain. If you have a website with multiple complex features and options to allow for interaction, you should expect to pay more for maintenance as there is more that can potentially go wrong.
Hosting
Your hosting is a very important part of your website as it allows your website to access the internet and be viewed and seen. This is where the files and the content of your website are stored. Hosting comes with a variety of options and it will be for you to explore the options. Look for a reliable service, after all, you do not want your website to be subject to too much down time, you want your customers to have 24/7 access. Choose the package according to your needs, there is no point in having hosting which provides you with a plethora of features that you do not require. There are a number of very reliable providers who offer affordable and reliable web hosting options.
Education
You may not be the most adept at creating or maintaining websites but if you have time, it may be worth educating yourself on some of the basics to allow you to update and maintain your own website to a degree. The time spent on learning to do that could benefit you financially in the long run and allow you to make changes and additions to your website without having to employ the services of an outside provider.
Marketing
Marketing costs can be as small or as large as you choose depending on the presence that you require your website to have. You can, for example, choose to advertise on social media or choose to have an online presence by using SEO techniques. It may be that you are a small business and only require local marketing which can be accessed much more cheaply. Decide what you require from your marketing strategy and don’t pay for services unless they are going to bring traffic to your site which will in turn bring revenue.
