Here you can find a basic guide to the costs of developing your website project. I think it’s important to be upfront about costings so I am trying to give you an idea of what is involved and how much a website is likely to cost you.
This guide firstly provides an overview of the main costing areas as can be seen in my overview table below. If you read on you will find more details on the individual costs and how I manage them for you.
You may also wish to read my non-technical guide to some of the aspects of having a publicly available website as discussed below.
Project Development Cost Overview
Basic WordPress Site Setup
£400.00
FULLY FUNCTIONAL WORDPRESS WEBSITE
Maintenance Package
£20.00
FROM £20 / MONTH
Customised Theme
£ Negotiable
ENHANCE THE LOOK OF YOUR WEBSITE
Enhanced Plugin Functionality
£ Negotiable
DO MORE WITH YOUR WEBSITE
Setting up a Basic WordPress Site
WordPress allows you to start your website with just a few pages and over time add new content and functionality, this allows me to base my pricing scheme on the same method. All WordPress sites require the same basic setup:
Setting up the initial WordPress installation:
Adding Your content (based on a 4 page* website):
The content above can be added to pages as individual items or basic slideshows depending on the functionality of the chosen Theme and installed default Plugins.
* Pages that scroll through lots of content are not classed as standard for this guide.
The cost of setting up a basic WordPress is £400.
Domain Names
Note sure about Domain Names? See the Domain Names section of my guide.
Using an Existing Domain Name?
If you already have your Domain Name and it is registered with an existing Web Host then I can assist you to transfer it to another Web Host, either my own so I can manage it for you, or to an alternative of your choice. You will remain the registered keeper of the Domain Name in any case.
If you decide to manage your Domain Name yourself then you will be responsible for all issues relating to that Domain Name, mainly the yearly cost of renewal.
I can assist you in the process of setting up your Domain Name.
Allow me to Manage your Domain Name for you
If I host your website I will include the yearly cost of domain name registration and renewal within our agreed maintenance package.
Hosting Costs
Note sure about Web Hosting? See the Web Hosting section of my guide.
Using Your Own Host?
If you decide to host your website yourself then you will be responsible for all hosting issues relating to your website. This includes the cost off setting up and renewing of your hosting account.
I can assist you in the process of setting up your web hosting account.
Allow me to Manage your Hosting for you
I can manage the hosting of your website for you. I use Tsohost UK Cloud Hosting to host my websites, with their developer licence I can host multiple shared-hosting websites allowing me to offer savings back to my clients.
If I host your website for you then I can offer you a maintenance package. The cost of website hosting will be covered in the cost of this package.
Maintenance Package
Whether you have a small simple website or a more complex site we can discuss whether a maintenance contract is appropriate for you.
The maintenance requirements will vary from one website to another but all maintenance packages will include:
Don’t worry, if you decide not to go for a maintenance contract, you can contact me anytime during the life of your website to discuss one-off assistance.
My Costs
The cost of the basic part of a maintenance package will be determined by the time allocated per month.
I will allocate an agreed amount of time each month to the regular maintenance of your website and will charge an hourly rate of £20 for this maintenance. Small websites will require 1-2 hours of regular maintenance per month.
Regular maintenance:
Site Modifications
We can either agree a time allocation or number of updates that I will perform on modifications or updates to your website each month. The cost of this work will be agreed with the client.
Enhancing your website with a Custom WordPress Theme
Note sure about WordPress Themes? See the WordPress Themes section of my guide.
There are thousands of free themes available for WordPress but many are limited in styling and layout options. There are also many more commercial themes available but even these may not meet your exact requirements.
I can either tweak an existing theme using hand coding or create what is known as a Child Theme for you. Child Themes are new themes which inherit the styling, layout and functionality of it’s parent theme. Child Themes allow greater modifications to made and still allow, in theory, the parent theme to be updated without causing issues with your Child Theme.
The cost of customising a WordPress theme will depend on the complexity of the customisations.
When developing your WordPress website for you I will endeavour to use free themes wherever possible.
Where the free themes don’t quite meet your requirements we can discuss either tweaking an existing theme or whether I should create a new child theme for your website.
Enhancing your website with free and commercial WordPress Plugins
Note sure about Plugins? See the WordPress Plugins section of my guide.
The cost of installing and configuring plugins will be determined by complexity of the plugin and the amount of time required.
When developing your WordPress website for you I will endeavour to use free plugins wherever possible to give you the functionality that you require.
Where the free plugins don’t quite meet your requirements we can discuss either upgrading the free version of a plugin to give additional functionality or customisation, or replacing it with a commercial alternative.
Some Popular commercial plugins are available under a developer licence, where suitable I purchase this extended licence allowing me to use the plugin in multiple websites. This allows me to pass savings on the normal cost back to my clients.