If I only had a dollar for every time that question has been posed to me, I could afford an iBrain!

First off, there is no standard price in what a website cost. This really depends on budget and comfort level you have. Websites can range from FREE, to thousands of dollars.

Here’s my layman analogy..

Let’s say you’re in the market for a car; you must have some budget in mind before shopping. You want to research performance, safety, reliability, etc.. And if possible, test drive the vehicle before purchasing.

The same goes with your web presence.

Regarding your requirements, you can go from an economical website cost to a very pricey one. Think of terms of transportation..

For example, riding the buss could be comparable to a website hosted on a shared hosting environment. Both are inexpensive and commonly used. However, travel will not be as efficient riding the buss.  Your limited to the destination a buss can travel. And your not the only one riding that buss. It has to drop off patrons; slowing you down with constant interruptions. Also, if a patron is sick, then the potential to catch the virus is prevalent.  Just like your website would become vulnerable to the environment it’s hosted on.  Now, if you had your own vehicle (VPS or dedicated server). Then your travel becomes more efficient, and limitations are greatly reduced!

Limitations may become greatly reduced on VPS or dedicated server with proper configurations & management.  Your VPS and Dedicated Server are comparable to automobile different makes & models. The differences are your configuration options. You can configure your server to respond like a sports car, light weight and fast.  Or configure server like a semi truck, heavy duty and moderate speed. But when a semi catches momentum, it can be very fast. Just don’t expect the same type of maneuverability as you would a small car.

Shopping for a car can become cumbersome, same applies to configuring your server. You want an efficient, secure and affordable vehicle; just like your server. These are operational and necessary in what a website cost.

Most hosting companies offer a control panel, or interface of some kind. Allowing you to configure sever to your requirements. Just like buying a car with options and extended warranties, your server is treated much the same. If your not comfortable handling server configurations, then you will have to find a managed solution. Don’t fret, because as soon as you drive out of that dealership, the open road is all yours!

So, driving your own car (VPS) verses riding the buss (shared hosting) can become costly in either direction. And you can’t have a website without a web server!

Over 95% of the people I encounter are capable of achieving there online objectives economically.  Using open source software, you can have a website up and running easily.  There are a lot of open source programs (wordpress, Joomla, etc.) that can be used to develop your website.  And if your host is using cPanel, then more likely open source programs are available for easy install using Softaculous plug-in.

And finally, the last necessary website cost. The domain name. Have you chosen a domain name? This is relevant to your branding and SEO on the web. More about domain names & SEO practices.

Resources

Softaculous, a library script that automates web application installs: https://www.softaculous.com/
Shared Hosting account with Hostrocket:
Linode VPS: https://www.linode.com/
cPanel Server & Website Management: http://cpanel.net/

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WordPress has evolved from just being Blog-wear to a powerful Contact Management System (CMS) that’s very sophisticated, extremely user friendly.  It’s not perfect, like a double edge sword, it works both ways.  If you don’t take proper precautions and updates, then your software is subjected to vulnerabilities.  As long as you take the necessary security precautions by reducing risks and carry updated backups, you will have a very pleasant experience.

Also, some hosting companies offer cPanel access options to install these open source software easily!

If your requirements surpass the benefits of Shared Hosting, then perhaps it’s best you look into Virtual Private Servers (my personal choice) or Dedicated Servers, depending on your budget.  You can also setup accounts with wordpress.com, blogger.com, etc. for free and utilize what options they provide.

Anyhow, you can do use Google and research the pros and cons.

Resources

Hardening WordPress: http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress
Awesome wordpress security plugin WP Security & Firewall

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