Many advertisements, promotional materials, and articles claim that you can create a website free of charge. Although technically feasible, you will only get what you pay for.
You can save time and avoid all the headaches by building your ecommerce website yourself. This means you need to know upfront how much your ecommerce website will cost and what features and functionality it will offer.
Ecommerce website costs
Hosting
Hosting is essential for websites to function. Web hosting allows you to make your website’s content available.
The cost of web hosting depends on many factors, such as the amount of traffic to your site and any add-on services such as automatic backups.
Standard web hosting prices can start at $1.39 per Month, while packages with more bells and whistles can cost up to $500.
A domain name is also necessary. It’s like an online business card. You can search Shopify for domain names and then register the domain through an ecommerce platform.
Self-hosted e-Commerce website
PrestaShop (a plug-in for WordPress) and WooCommerce (an ecommerce website builder) are both free. To purchase a domain or manage your files, you must subscribe to a hosting company. You will “self-host” your ecommerce website in this instance.
Self-hosting can result in some unexpected costs.
- Domain names are typical $11.99 per annum
- Hosting accounts start at $5.99 per Month
- An SSL certificate costs $69 per annum
Although web hosts may offer SSL and domain names for free, you will get less bandwidth (capacity of receiving web traffic) than what you would get from other providers.
Self-hosting has the disadvantage that you will need to upgrade your hosting package as your website grows. Self-hosting can be expensive for a website with high traffic. It costs between $1,000 and $2,500 per month.
Cloud ecommerce hosting
Ecommerce platforms such as Shopify don’t require you to manage, host, or install a domain. Your monthly software plan includes everything you need to manage a website. Secure Hosting is included in every Shopify Plan. This provides:
- Fast servers, so customers don’t lose business due to slow sites
- Unlimited bandwidth so that you don’t have a problem paying more for traffic volume.
- PCI compliance which protects customer information
- Unlimited email forwarding
- To prevent fraud and build customer confidence, a free SSL certificate
Web design costs
Did you know that 75% of consumers judge a company’s credibility based on its website design? People buy based on trust. A professional design can help you build that trust in your company.
Shopify, an ecommerce website builder, offers templates that you can easily apply to your design. These templates are an easy and inexpensive way to enhance the visual quality of your website. Shopify themes include tools that allow you to modify the layout, colors, and other settings.
Site content
Content is essential for an online store to provide information about products and why customers should choose yours over other stores. Google considers site content to be one indicator of website credibility. It is essential to rank well on search engines.
You can create the content yourself, but it is best to hire someone who has experience writing brand and product copy for ecommerce websites. Costs vary depending on the level of experience and the profile rating of the content specialist. Professionals charge $100 to $500 for a project, while highly-rated writers start at $2,000.
Payment processor
A payment processor is a technology that facilitates payments between merchants and buyers. Every online store should have one to accept credit cards, debit cards, and other smart payment options.
Payment processors are available on many ecommerce platforms. The usage fees vary depending on the plan you have. Shopify Basic plans have a 2.9% processing fee and $0.30 per transaction to process online credit card payments. The fee for Advanced Shopify is 2.4%
Shopify plans come with Shopify payments. This allows you to accept credit cards and other payment methods such as Apple Pay, Facebook Pay and Shop Pay. Shopify says that Shop Pay is very popular with customers for online shopping. Shop Pay users purchased 35% more online than customers who used other payment methods, with an average order value of 6%.
Apps and Plug-ins
You’ll likely want to extend the capabilities and features of your website after you have set it up. You can add apps to your store on the best ecommerce platforms to enhance its functionality and customer experience.
The Shopify App Store offers over 3,000 apps to choose from. Many of these are free to help you keep your ecommerce store cost low. An app can help you display customer reviews, connect with dropshipping suppliers and sell on Instagram.
Custom development
Ecommerce websites can be customized to meet your business’s needs by custom development. This includes creating the layout, fonts and apps you need. Shopify customers can collaborate with developers to build custom storefronts tailored for their business.
Prices will vary depending on the scope of work. However, most Shopify agencies charge between $5,000 to $50,000 for custom development. Is another option to go for a more affordable price? Shopify’s Experts Marketplace offers custom theme development at a fraction of the cost (prices starting from $550).
Maintenance fees
Maintaining your site is an important consideration. To ensure your site runs smoothly after it is launched, you must conduct regular inspections and updates. The cost of maintaining ecommerce sites varies depending on their size.
While smaller websites can be managed without much technical support, custom-built stores may require the help of a developer. A small- to medium-sized store will cost $300 to $1500 annually, while a large site with a lot of traffic will cost $3,600 to $24,000.
Balance cost and results for your ecommerce website
Once you’ve got a rough idea of the costs for ecommerce websites, you can start to do your research.
Although a website builder may be the most affordable option, it is still important to pay attention to additional costs such as Hosting, plug-ins and themes. You can also get help from professionals if you have specific ideas.
Your web-building experience will be more successful if you’re prepared, diligent, and thoughtful. Your website will be more successful in the end.
