List costs to build Consumer Internet site?


0

Hey all,
I'm sitting here trying to list all the costs that will go into building my first website, assuming I have all of the coding done in house. Here's what I have so far:

  1. Cost of hosting and storage
  2. Cost for email campaign software
  3. (...)

I know my list is hopelessly incomplete. Help me fill this in please, i'd be very very appreciative.

Thanks!

Edit**: sorry guys i should have specified better. I will not be doing ecommerce. The design will be similar to Bob Walsh's StartUpToDo.com. No E-Commerce/cart... The graphic design will be a big part, thanks for the advice so far! looking forward to more ;) if there is any more.

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asked Jan 26 '10 at 03:01
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Eric Amzalag
818 points
Top digital marketing agency for SEO, content marketing, and PR: Demand Roll

4 Answers


1

In a sense, you will be doing ecommerce, since you will charge a subscription for access.

Here is an expanded checklist of website development tasks - many have costs attributed to them, depending on who actually does the work (internal vs. outsource). from link Development

  • Gathering of information related to site content
  • Website Name (Domain Name) Research
  • Competition Researched
  • Website Title Chosen
  • Website Host Research
  • Website Host Chosen and Registered $
  • Website Name Chosen
  • Website Name Purchase $
  • Website Structure and Organization Established
  • Link Exchange Researched
  • Link Exchange Page Set Up
  • Articles/Resources Provided/Researched
  • Articles/Resources Chosen
  • Advertising Inclusion Implemented
  • Search Engine Submission Prepared
  • Search Engine Submission Implemented $
  • Review Search Engine Submission Results (1-4 months after public release)
Design
  • Artwork Compiled
  • Logo Designed or Prepared as Digital Art
  • Color Scheme Research and Presented
  • Layout Design Research and Presented
  • Color Scheme Chosen
  • Layout/Design Chosen
  • HTML and CSS Coding Design
  • Content and Articles Added
  • Review Web Standards
  • Validate Code
  • Check Website with Other Browsers
  • Check Website with Other Computers
  • Check Website with Various Screen Resolutions
  • Edit and Review Website Presentation
  • Test Website (typically 2-4 weeks)
  • Test Links
Website Maintenance
  • Frequently Update
  • Check for Errors
  • Add Link Exchanges
  • Check for Bad Links
  • Keyword Review and Update
  • Check Link Popularity
  • Review New Technology
  • Review Web Standards and apply
  • Check Site Statistics
  • Add New Content
  • Check Links
  • Validate Code
  • Re-Submit Site to Search Engines
  • Check Web Page Descriptions
  • Check Web Page Titles
  • Review Meta Tag Standards and Update
  • Review Top Searches from Search Engines (potential new content ideas)
answered Jan 30 '10 at 00:46
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Jim Galley
9,952 points

1

  • Graphic Design
  • HTML coding
  • Database development
answered Jan 26 '10 at 03:09
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Elie
4,692 points

1

If you are selling things that can be described with a name and a couple of parameters (size and colour) then you can speed things up allot by using an out of the box shop solution. Make a search for hosted web shop, if you are in the UK then EKM Power shop would be an option. You do loose some flexibility of course, but you gain speed to market and reliability.

If you need more flexibility then consider an out of the box shop such as Magento. There are plenty of companies around that will set it up and customise it for you - but it sounds as though you could handle the coding yourself. I just had a shop that for selling prescription glasses built over Magento - you need allot of variables to specify a pair of glasses - but it can be done for less than £1000.

Graphic design will cost as much as you can spend! One of customer designs probably start at £1000. Or go and see if templatemonster.com has something suitable for 10% of that.

You should put some effort into the SEO of your site, and make it a habit to review user paths and fall of. Google Analytics will do the job, but you'll need to set time aside to do the analyses and respond to it. Perhaps you can outsource the number crunching?

What else! Well a domain, stock, mechanism for fulfilment (could be boxes and stamps or could be outsourced if the volumes justify it.

A mechanism for receiving payment - PayPal pro is easy to get going with, but their customer service, at least for vendors, sucks. Don't forget your SSL certificates to allow you to take card details securely.

And there is the marketing - building a better mouse doesn't bring folk to your door. Because they don't know where it is. In my opinion marketing can make or break a startup - so decide how you'll do it and budget accordingly.

Given £50k budget you could build a site that is capable of being personalised for every customer with integrated online marketing tools. But I'm guessing that since you are asking the question you're not in that space! No offence implied.

So here is my list:

  1. Domain registration
  2. Site build / cart licence costs (yes you could bulid and debug your own but why bother?)
  3. Graphic design
  4. Hosting fees
  5. Email marketing engine
  6. Site analytics
  7. SEO work
  8. Card handling
  9. SSL certs
  10. Trusted retailer certs (here in Denmar 10000 DKK)
  11. Marketing budget
answered Jan 26 '10 at 05:03
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Puk
81 points
  • Thanks for the comprehensive list :). I should have been more specific and given an example. Im looking to have a website that is similar to 37signals.com or some such. I want to charge a subscription so it will not require ecommerce, cart, etc. SEO will obviously be required regardless... – Eric Amzalag 14 years ago

0

  • Add the cost of registering the domain/domains.
  • Who will develop your content? Consider layout, logos/graphics and text. What will you do and what will you need to hire out to a qualified web developer?
  • What hardware/software tools will you need to buy to build and/or maintain your site once it's built?
  • Are you doing e-commerce? If so you'll need to have an established business presence, a merchant account, and a business telephone. Do you need to purchase e-commerce software or will you use open source? Who will setup your e-commerce? (A competent web designer can help you with these questions and costs too).
answered Jan 26 '10 at 03:46
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Keith De Long
5,091 points

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