Having a website is an absolute necessity nowadays if you want to be a successful business owner. This is true regardless whether you’re running a billion-dollar company or a local coffee shop.
However, building a website can be an expensive task. If you’re not careful, you can easily spend thousands of dollars just on the design alone. With that kind of cash needed, it’s no wonder some small businesses opt not to have one at all, which is a pity.
Fortunately for them, things are changing nowadays especially in the website design industry. A hefty investment is no longer required to have a website. There are a number of online tools that have become available that can help you build your site cheaply and effectively.
Let’s take a look at how you can build and maintain a website on a budget.
1. Don’t Hire a Designer
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when web designers are necessary. They are needed when it comes to designing complex sites that require a lot of code. Sites like those might have a greater number of functionalities that will be appropriate for larger corporations.
Chances are, however, that it’s not what you need at the moment. As a small business owner, you would need only the basic functions (which could also include e-commerce) aside from having the website look professional and attractive.
By foregoing hiring a designer and doing the work yourself, you can potentially save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. It doesn’t mean, though, that you have to learn how to code. There are a number of website building products that can help you get the job done. We recommend looking up website builder reviews and finding one that works best for you.
With a little bit of research, you can find a product that suits your needs. You even have the option of using an AI website builder that can design your site in 30 seconds! That’s about as easy as it gets.
2. Find a One Stop Shop
As you can tell from reading the reviews above, some sites are better than others. There are some sites that specialize in one area and leave you to fend for yourself when it comes to everything else.
One of the best ways to save money while building a site is to find a product that gives you everything you need in one place. This could include your domain, your email, images, and video, among others. This will save you from having to spend money for these things in other places. It will also save you time from contacting a number of providers should your website experience any glitch.
3. Look for Low Monthly Fees
Different site builders offer a wide variety of monthly fees. Depending on which one you choose, it could be anything from free to $10 per month to $100 per month. The trick to saving money, in this case, is to only pay for what you need.
Be aware that some website builders will try to entice you into buying their most expensive package. Don’t get distracted by all the fancy bells and whistles; chances are, you don’t need all the functionalities they are charging you for.
So, take the time to think about what your website really needs. If you don’t need it yet, don’t pay for it. Choose a package that you can realistically sustain instead. You can always upgrade later if you need to.
4. Hunt for Helpful Tools
Another way to get the most bang for your buck is to use free resources. Why pay a ton of money for something if you can get the same thing for free? There are a number of free tools available that can help you get your website going.
Unsplash and Pexels are two great places to find stock photos. Then there’s Pixeden, which is a wonderful resource for free icons.
Of course, these are only a few examples. You can find many more excellent resources if you take the time to look.
It’s also worth mentioning that there are a number of similar tools you can use to market your website as well. That is another way to save a lot of money.
5. Take the Wheel (So To Speak)
One of the most important things you need from a website is the ability to change and update it when necessary. In other words, you need to be in total control of your site, and you need to be able to maintain it on your own without having to call in an expert every time something needs to be done.
This is yet another reason to build your website yourself. If you have someone else build your site, they’ll also be responsible for maintaining it. That can eat up a lot of cash, in the long run, something that you don’t really need at this point. It could potentially be more time-consuming as well.
At the end of the day, building a website doesn’t have to be as expensive as it sounds. It may seem intimidating at first, but if you follow these tips, you can have a website that you can be proud of without spending a lot of money.
Just remember, doing your research is key to getting things done for cheap. You can build your website and maintain it on a budget if you go about doing it in a smart and creative way.