Whats expensive about making a website?

tx2009 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 04:26 PM

I know making a website is going to cost some money, but i dont know why some people use like thousands...anyone going to tell me?

heres the things i thought of...
paying the website host
buying the software to design website
paying someone to create a website

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 05:03 PM

A lot of times people are uneducated on what web design should cost so designers take advantage of that by jacking up their prices.

Now there are some design firms that do good work and their prices are higher than average. As long as the costs are justified I can understand that but I still think a lot of them get away with robbery.

Also looking at your list, you could really cross out 2 of those (software and paying someone) if you choose a free editor like Komposer and do it yourself. I'm personally a fan of Dreamweaver but many people do fine with the free editors or coding by hand... which is also free.

tx2009 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisa

A lot of times people are uneducated on what web design should cost so designers take advantage of that by jacking up their prices.

Now there are some design firms that do good work and their prices are higher than average. As long as the costs are justified I can understand that but I still think a lot of them get away with robbery.

Also looking at your list, you could really cross out 2 of those (software and paying someone) if you choose a free editor like Komposer and do it yourself. I'm personally a fan of Dreamweaver but many people do fine with the free editors or coding by hand... which is also free.

so paying someone to design is the only thing thats expensive?

James · #4 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 07:31 PM

None of them are expensive; all of them can be. It just depends on what you want to spend.

Hosting and registration are not too expensive but can be relatively so if you end up with a dedicated host and related services like email management, etc.

Software can be quite expensive if you go with the full Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Photoshop...) to the tune of around $2500.00.

Hiring designers and programmers can be any amount you are willing to pay.

On the other hand there is no reason to pay for any of it except domain registration (a few dollars) and hosting (you can get it free but I wouldn't recommend it.

tx2009 · #5 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

None of them are expensive; all of them can be. It just depends on what you want to spend.

Hosting and registration are not too expensive but can be relatively so if you end up with a dedicated host and related services like email management, etc.

Software can be quite expensive if you go with the full Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Photoshop...) to the tune of around $2500.00.

Hiring designers and programmers can be any amount you are willing to pay.

On the other hand there is no reason to pay for any of it except domain registration (a few dollars) and hosting (you can get it free but I wouldn't recommend it.

again so are you guys saying the programmers/designers are the only expensive things? lets say someone is a experience webdesigner then how much would it cost them to make a big website like myspace, ebay etc.?

DotComBot · #6 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 09:56 PM

Hey tx2009,

As James has stated, any of them can be free (mostly) or as expensive as you are willing to pay. The thing about hiring a web designer is not necessarily what it would cost them to create the sites you've stated, but how much you would pay for it and, most importantly from the designer's (programmer's) point of view, how much time it will take to do it.
With designers you are not necessarily paying for the site, you are paying for their knowledge and time. It costs me nothing but time (since I've already purchased all my programs) to create a site for someone. I know how much I believe my time and knowledge to be worth, that is what I charge. How much is your time worth to you?
This is why designers and programmers can be expensive. Whether or not you would rather pay for that or do it yourself is entirely up to you. If you want just a basic website, it is easy enough to learn how to do it. If you want the next myspace you would probably be better off hiring someone.

If your just looking for the quick answer, yes, the programmer would be the most expensive part.

webman · #7 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 11:23 PM

Don't most hosts nowadays come with free domains with their packages?

tx2009 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-27-2008, 04:22 PM

i did some researching and saw people mention about this...

1. Bandwidth charges
2. Electricity costs
3. Server hardware repair/replacement

so how much does these cost you guys? any info would be good

ssmorgan · #9 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tx2009

i did some researching and saw people mention about this...

1. Bandwidth charges
2. Electricity costs
3. Server hardware repair/replacement

so how much does these cost you guys? any info would be good

All of this is typically included in a hosting plan... so all these cost me $15 per month.

2Young2Start · #10 (**permalink**) 06-30-2008, 09:43 AM

A lot of your statements are right. If you can learn to design the site yourself, that would be great because web designers are getting more and more expensive because of the demand. A lot of people simply don't know html and other valuable web design software/code.

Good luck.

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