Website Ongoing Costs - Per Year (quick overview)
Basic Website (cheap server): $50-$100 (Most the time your site will run "ok" but at times may run really slow or even hang)
Basic Website (decent server): $150 (99% of the time your site will run good)
Basic E-Commerce Site: (Basic Website on a decent server Cost) $150 + (E-Commerce Stuff) $500 = $650
1. Domain Name Registration (recurring cost)
Your "Domain Name" is the "URL" which you type into the browser's address bar and... go to your website. Example: http://www.thedreamchest.com. Domain names are sold by Domain Registrars which are companies that are "allowed" to sell domain names by ICANN (The "official" Domain Name management organization). You don't really "buy" a Domain Name, you "rent" it and every year you have to pay the rent. You can pay for multiple years but once those years are up, you have to pay again. If you don't pay or forget to pay, you will lose your Domain Name and it will be released back into the Domain Name marketplace. Depending on the Registrar, Domain Names can be relatively cheap ($15+ a year). There are many "extras" (up-sales) that Registrars try to get you to buy, some extras may be useful (like extra privacy) but some are a waste of money.
If you "lose" your Domain Name either A.) it will be impossible to get it back or B.) if it is possible to get it back most likely it will be difficult and possibly EXTREMELY expensive to get it back. If your business depends on a Domain Name, make it a #1 priority to always pay the recurring yearly fee. For more details on Domain Names please review our What is a domain name page.
2. Web Hosting (recurring cost)
When a website is made, how do people see it? The website "code" has to be somewhere... on some computer that provides direct access to the World Wide Web. That "computer" that your website goes on is called a "Server". No matter what people tell you about things "being in the cloud", "the cloud" is actually just a bunch of physical computers stored in some warehouse somewhere. All these computers (i.e.. "Servers", i.e.. machines) cost money to build and maintain. In order for your website to be on this "Server" you must pay a yearly "rental fee". Costs can vary significantly depending on the size of your website, how "fast" you want your pages to load, features available, etc. Not only is the "Server" itself complicated, getting your website to run smoothly on the "Server" can be a challenge too. For more details on Web Hosting (the server where your website will be hosted), please review our What is a Server page.
3. Maintenance (optional)
There are two main reasons why "Maintenance" is important;
- Hackers - Yes, they want what you got or just want to destroy it for fun. Yep, for fun.
- Code Updates "Break" things. For example; "All of a sudden" your rotating images are not showing! The World Wide Web and all the code that makes up the internet is constantly changing. Every day, little (or major) changes to code are implemented by "back-bone" coding languages, the server, or to the features on your website. This is actually one of the major "issues" clients have a hard time understanding. A prime example is Google's Map. Many sites use Google Map on their website to display their location. Google is constantly updating and adding new features to it's map. However, the code on your site hasn't changed but Google's has... Oops, the map isn't showing anymore.
4. eCommerce / Payment Gateway Charges (if applicable)
This option will depend if you have eCommerce functionality / online payments offered on your website. This would be featured if you are running an online store or payment form. Set up costs and fees will depend on the payment gateway supplier chosen.
