"What Is The Cost To Build A Website?"

"What is the cost to build a website" and "How can I learn to build a website" are two of the most legitimate questions around.  After all, who wants to dream about something that is way far out of reach?

First, are you going to build this website yourself, or will you have someone build it for you?

What Does it Cost To Build A Website When Someone Else Does The Work?

SBI has a service that will build a basic 20-page website for you, with a standard template, for about $2,000 - $3,000.  There are other services that do the same, many for a lot more money than what SBI charges.

The SBI web design service is designed for existing brick and mortar businesses that want to use the internet as a way to promote their business.  There is a big difference between this type of website and one that you create for a new business.  The website for an existing brick and mortar business is relatively static, i.e., it doesn't grow a lot or change a lot over time.  The website you build as a true "online business" is quite different.  It will grow and evolve and become a major presence in its genre.  So odds are that you will want to create your own website online.

So let's take a look at the second type: The website you build from scratch.

What Does it Cost To Build A Website If You Do the Work?

There are a lot of components to a successful website, especially if you want to create a real business with that website.  Were you to purchase each of them separately, here are some of the items you would want to have:

Tool	Cost/Year
Brainstorming and Researching Tools	$200 - $350
Decision making software	$   60
Web/graphic designer	$1,000 +
Hosting your site	$  240
Automatic domain name renewal	$   15
Submit pages ("ping") vix XML to Google and all major search engines, and update sitemap daily	$  120
Ranking reports for your keywords at all major search engines	$  240
Unique keyword search reports for search engines	$  120
Ranking reports for directories	$  240
Unique keyword search reports for directories	$  120
Search engine optimization tools (SEO)	$  200
Unique two level search report	$  120
Pay-per-click research and bidding programs	$  220
Click-in and Click-through analysis on all pages	$  200
E-zine automatic subscription and mail out program	$  240
Tool to find and link to other strong sites	$  180
Automated form creation, with CAPTCHA graphic challenge	$  400
Link checker to locate all bad links	$  120
Email program/access with your website name	$  100
Automated assistance in monetizing your site	$  480
TOTAL	$4,735

Now that's a chunk of change.  Even at half the cost, it would still be over $2,000 per year.

"Is that the least it can cost to build a website?"

No, not by a long shot.  There are ways to get it done cheaper.  There are lots of web hosts, may of whom advertise that they will host your site for $10 to $40 a month.  The trouble is... they don't include all these services.  And all of these services are very important to building a strong website.

In fact, SBI is the only web host I know that DOES include every single service listed above as part of its low $29 per month web hosting plan.

Such a deal!

[THE SCOOP FROM LIZZIE)

Ahem.  Excuse me, but that sounds like SBI is just an ordinary web host that has a bunch of services, and that is not the case at all.  SBI has, in fact, taken it upon itself to create even more astounding website creation tools... AT NO EXTRA COST TO BUILD A WEBSITE AT ALL.  None.  Zilch.  Nada.  Zip.

And these are really cool services, things like ...

SITESELL SUPPLY NUMBERS to help you identify just the right niche, and just the right keywords for your site.  Nobody else has this!  (You have GOT to use Brainstormer to really appreciate its power.)

PAGE AND IMAGE MANAGING TOOLS. completely unique to SBI.

AUTOMATED SITE BLOGGING.  This is an incredible tool.  Every time I create a page, it is automatically listed on my site blog, and fed to all the blog engines for immediate indexing.  Cool.  Truly cool.  Nobody else does it.

ON SITE IMAGE PROGRAM.  Re-size images, add borders, text, crop and combine for lots of image options -- all right inside SBI.

SBI! EXPRESS, TIPS HQ and RESOURCES HQ.  Tips and tools for the newbie and the experienced webber.  Dozens and dozens of on target articles and web site building tools that really work.

SOCIALIZE IT!  Automated social tools, like the ones you see on the  bottom of this page.  This is becoming more and more important in web building.

ACTION GUIDE/ VIDEO GUIDE.  Whether you learn best by the written word, or a demo, or both, they are all free here.

CONTENT 2.0.  Invite your visitors to ask questions and share on your site, all while building more pages on your site.

And here's the real cherry on top:  THE SBI FORUMS.  Ask a question, any question.  The response you get will be quick, respectful and on target.  Hundreds of people ask questions here every single day.  It is the "help and be helped" secret weapon of SBI.  There is no other forum on the web like it.  Honest.

So what does it cost to build a website with all these extra goodies?  NOT A SINGLE DIME MORE.  It is all included in the $29 per month fee at SBI.

Such a deal!

And here is where you go to learn more about building a website with SBI...  Just click to go to great tales of SBI webmasters just like you!

Is That All There Is To The Cost Of A Website?

That initial investment is enough to get you a very nice site...  a VERY nice site.  As your skills grow, and your site grows, there may be extras that you will want, like a custom site design ($300 +), or registering with Yahoo directory (presently $299) or other paid directories.  You may want to purchase some images for your site (beginning at $1 each), especially if you don't take good photos yourself.

But these are all extras.  You won't be worrying about them for a while.  By the time you investigate all the goodies that SBI already supplies, you will find your site stuffed with wonderment.

The $300 a year you will pay SBI is an absolute pittance when you think what it would cost to build a brick and mortar business.  Given the thousands of dollars a business in the mall would cost, I'll take what it cost to build a website ... any day!

Here are some other pages for you to explore on monetization and your website: