How Much Does It Cost for a Website?

Look at hostmonster.com as they provide several easy installs and bullentin boards for several issues such as blogs, photo sites, wikis, search engine support, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disc space, etc. To contract to build a site would be anywhere from $1000 for a minimally interactive site to $5000 for a very interactive site. Even if someone were going to build a site then they will usually host the site for you and the monthly fees are at their mercy. With hostmonster.com, the hosting fee is $6.95 a month. Also with hostmonster.com, you have drupal which is a very easy to use content management system. This will allow you to make the appropriate changes yourself without having to keep returning to your initial developer. Even if you hire someone, you should INSIST that they build it in drupal. I would also insist that they put it onto a website you have already bought the hosting website. This will give you the control of your monthly costs rather than the consultant and would avoid any upcharges that might be associated with you not owning the hosting website.

I work in the nonprofit industry and have managed websites and both my previous and current position. Cost depends on the company you select and the interactivity of the site. Costs could be as low at $5,000 up to $25,000 and beyond just to start it up. Then, you'll have monthly maintenance fees that could be as little as $50-100 per month up to $1,000 a month or more. Some companies you can look at who specialize in nonprofit websites are Digital Cheetah, Kintera, & Convio, but there are many others out there. Try a google search.

On average you are looking at $75-100/hr. Depends on how much functionality you are looking for in your website for the hours involved. If you want this built from scratch, rough guess (without knowing particulars) you are probably looking in the $2000-4000 range. And then you need hosting which depending on the size of information and amount of traffic starts anywhere from about $50/month. There are a lot of build your own websites out there that are a lot less expensive, and several of them have the functionality that you are talking about. To have someone build a search engine and login (cookies) info you need a database expert, and it's harder than it seems. If you want me to do some research on this just send me a private message on what you are EXACTLY looking for. If I can't find the info I'll check with my DH who is a computer geek, coding websites is what he does for a living.

It's hard to give you a ballpark figure without knowing the parameters of the site...if you're looking for a "find services by zip code"...that sounds to me like a database, which is different from a website. (and more expensive). You can spend a ton of money, or not - you can have a company do it, or hire individuals, or do it yourself. All options are possible - even if you don't have a lot of website building experience.

Take a look at my website - www.momcheck.com - and look at the service / database aspect...and let me know if this is similar to what you're wanting to do (obviously not the service/product itself, but rather the functionality). I'd be more than happy to discuss with you all the costs & separate compoenents that went into making that website.