What does a Website Cost?

The cost of a website is made up of four components:

• Domain Name. To purchase (register) a domain name for your site costs about 10 euros (about 10 dollars). After the first year, you need to pay a renewal fee which costs about 10 euros/year. There are also some free options.

• Server Space. Your website content needs to be stored on the World Wide Web, which normally costs about 5 euros per month (5 dollars/month) or 50 euros per year, unless you go for one of the free options.

• Website Design. If you are comfortable with computer technology, you can design your own website free of charge. Alternatively, if you hire someone to do this for you the prices vary from 50 euros (extremely cheap) to a couple of hundred euros (typical price for a moderately expensive website) to thousands of euros (price for a very sophisticated site, complete with database and shopping cart, and a moderate amount of custom work). As always, there are some free options.

• Website Maintenance. If your site does not require any changes, then no further fees are necessary. However, if you want to change the website design or add extra software, then the fees should be proportional to the amount of change required.

In short, expect to pay about 200 euros to have a professional website designer to create your website (more if it is not a very simple website) and have it up and running on the internet. In addition to this one-off charge, expect to pay about 60 euros each year for server space and to renew your domain name. These are typical prices; some website designers charge more and we happen to charge less.