Oct 28, 2015
Is it possible to get a website built for $500 - $1000?
I have a domain name and a quote (but it's too much) so I need to find other quotes to build a professional PR & Events site to promote my business. Preferably in Melbourne and fast.
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Oct 29, 2015
Is it possible? of course! Is it a good idea to penny-pinch when talking about creating the digital face of your company that will be seen day and night by your target market? Probably not.
No, I am not saying you have to spend $10,000 or anything close to that, but $1000 is, in most instances, not going to get you a professional website, regardless of what someone is telling you. Sure, for a freelancer with no overhead, $1000 is a nice payday for a quick and simple website, but that is not what you are looking for. You are looking for something that has to be very visually attractive, integrate a smart calendar feature for your events (maybe even allow people to register) and to have the ability to rank in search engines.
I'm going to go against the grain of pretty much every answer so far and say, sure its possible, but you shouldn't do it, and here is why:
Lets run through the short list of hard costs for a simple WordPress Website:
- Premium WordPress Theme: $60
- Premium Contact form Plugin: $30
- Premium Calendar Plugin: $40
- Security Plugin: $20
- Backup Plugin: $20
- Maintenance Page Plugin: Free
- Sitemap Plugin
Plugin (necessities only) Total: $170
Sure you don't have to use Premium plugins, but then the website is not going to perform as well and will take longer to build. THERE BETTER BE ADDED SECURITY AND BACKUP FUNCTIONALITY.
Plugin Total Cost $170 - For those of you keeping count, that's 17% of $1000 and 34% of $500.
Lets talk about images briefly. Most people do not know but you CANNOT just pull images off a Google Search and use them on a website, unless they are marked as "non-copyrighted" using them is illegal. You also cannot just take images from other websites unless you have permission. 5 HD Stock Images: $35 on Adobe Stock.
** Before we start building, cost of the website is $205 **
Now lets move on to the actual process of building a website, what should be done:
1) Client Consultation
2) Install WordPress
3) Install Theme
4) Install Plugins
5) Configure Plugins
Now comes the process of actually building the website out. Let use a 5 page website as an example assuming this is going to be a fairly small website.
6) Build Pages in back-end (SEO tactics needed) x 5
7) Build Menu
8) Build Home Page (SEO & Design skills needed) (dont forget the footer)
9) Page 2 (SEO & Design skills needed)
10) Page 3 (SEO & Design skills needed)
11) Page 4 (SEO & Design skills needed)
12) Contact Page (SEO & Design skills needed)
Even spending the money on a quality, premium WordPress theme that is responsive, does not a great mobile experience make. So now go back and add in custom buttons on each page for "call us" "email us" and "get directions", that only appear when the website is viewed on on mobile devices and remove website features that may work well on the desktop but do not translate well on a mobile device.
13) Home Page Mobilization
14) Page 2 Mobilization
15) Page 3 Mobilization
16) Page 4 Mobilization
17) Contact Page Mobilization
Great Now the site is completed and, because the developer is nice, they launch it for you, for free.
Is it done? No, no its not. At least it shouldn't be. A professional website designer will make sure your website is submitted correctly to Google, Yahoo, & Bing.
18) Create and Configure a Google Analytics Account
19) Create Account on Google Webmaster & Submit Website for Manual Crawling
20) Create Account on Bing Webmaser & Submit Website for Manual Crawling
21) Create Sitemap and submit sitemap to both Google and Bing Webmaster
22) If the website designer wants you to succeed, they will also make sure you have a Google My Business account (formerly Google+ for Business) for your business.
Bear in mind that this is a HIGHLY CONDENSED list of the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for a website like the one listed in the OP. Each of these tasks require time and expertise.
If someone is willing to accept $1000 for a website and they are building it properly with user-experience, SEO, and best design principals in addition to a secure back end, they either:
1) Do not value their skillset
2) Are outsourcing the project
3) Are not building a professional website
4) Don't Care
Does every designer build the same way? Absolutely not. Regardless of the cost of the plugins used in this example however, the basics of building a website properly are listed here and I'm sure I even forgot a few.
End Rant.
May 6, 2017
Great question. I agree with Adam. That said, it depends on your needs. The internet is incredibly vast and offers unlimited resources. All the plugins I use are free. I paid for a theme, as it is robust and visually stunning. I would recommend using a site called Pexels for free stock images. And I know for sure that you can get a site done for $500. Go ask students, particularly in web dev courses, or any blogger (who has probably experienced the hassle of creating a WordPress site). That's my 2 cents, but great question!
Oct 28, 2015
You can get a good website close to $1000, Jenni. As Alex mentioned right, it depends what features and functionality you are looking at. If you can share more about your business and website needs, you can get better help and suggestions from experts here.
I wouldn't favor Wix and Squarespace since optimization can be messy at times with these tools.
Prefer a good professional agency who can take care of usability (for users) and SEO friendliness (for search engines) at the same time. You're eventually looking for more business from your website.
In this budget, a decent wordpress theme can be customized to build a brilliant website.
Oct 28, 2015
$500-$1000 is a fair budget for a website building. It also depends on what functionality you are looking. But it is fair to expect some basic features like CMS, responsive website, social media integration, blog etc. I am not a big fan of Wix but you should look for a scalable platform.
Oct 29, 2015
For a static site without any server functionality, for $500 - $1000, you can get great design with highly optimized content.
Oct 28, 2015
absolutely. depending on the complexity and features. if you just need a presence, but professional looking. u have many options to do it yourself from Godaddy to squarespace or wix. let me know if u need more detailed guidance.
Oct 28, 2015
Jenni: Check out the mosaicHub resource: http://www.mosaichub.com/resources/resource/establish-an-online-presence.
Oct 28, 2015
This budget is perfect but that is depend on your functionality and which custom module do you need.another one is which CMS and which technology do you prefer.
Oct 29, 2015
Yes, it is possible. $500-$1000 is a good amount to spend. You can check following ideas to get started:
Build your Daily Deals website with products selling feature in just $149. Though the basic price of product is $499 but you will get it in discount. check details here: http://www.fatbit.com/website-design-company/buy-groupon-clone.html
Second option is you can build multi vendor store in $999. Here are the details: http://www.fatbit.com/website-design-company/multi-vendor-ecommerce-system.html
Oct 29, 2015
$500-$1000 is a fair initial price for a website. You can find people, that negotiate payment in installments as well. I use to do it.
Have a good day.