How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website for a Small Business

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Planning for the costs and management of your website is essential, but it doesn’t have to be expensive, overwhelming, difficult, or time-consuming. You can start a website that includes everything you need, managed in one place, for a very small investment.

Here are 4 important facts to keep in mind before you build a website:

1. Time is money, friend.
2. Free platforms are limiting.
3. WordPress gives you the most control and longevity.
4. Great support saves precious time and money. 

You’ve got big dreams, and worrying about what a website costs, shouldn’t be the reason you are holding back from starting a website and sharing your brilliance with the world.

4 Small Business Website Cost Considerations

Instead of dissecting and comparing costs across the web, let’s instead look at the 4 key considerations that factor into the real cost of starting (and maintaining) a small business website.

1. Time is Money, Friend

World of Warcraft references aside, this is a popular saying for a reason. It’s true. And in the real world, it’s even more important to keep in mind.

If you’re like most of our small business customers, you’re strapped for time and juggling a lot of responsibilities and obligations, and you know that time is the real killer when it comes to website costs.

Think about all the time it takes to:

• Research all the platforms, tools, and website design templates available and which are the best fit for you
• Actually build your website, write the copy, and design it to match your brand
• Manage your website and all it’s associated components

We totally get it! Your time is valuable, and getting started can be scary when you don’t have a lot to invest. In our years working with small businesses (and from our own experiences) we saw first hand the problems facing start ups, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and website owners, so we set out to find a better way to help people get online quickly, easily, and affordably.

You need a website that supports your goals, doesn’t break the bank, and saves you precious time (before, during, and after it’s built).

2. Free Platforms Are Limiting

Starting on a free platform, like WordPress.com, Blogger, or Medium, may seem like a good idea, but please don’t. They options are great for personal, journal style blogs and musings, but if you are serious about your small business, they are not for you.

Free platforms are limiting, look unprofessional, and in the long-run create more work for you when you end up needing more control and are forced to switch platforms to get it.

You can build a beautiful, professional website to showcase your personal brand or business with a small budget, and I’ll explain how in a moment.

3. WordPress Gives You the Most Control & Longevity

WordPress.org provides you the most flexibility and room to grow.

Often referred to as “the real WordPress”, WordPress.org is an open-source, self-hosted content management system. It is also free, though it’s not normally thought of that way because you are responsible for obtaining your own website hosting and domain.

It also powers 40% of all sites across the web and is highly flexible and easy to use. We love it because it puts bloggers and website owners in control of their content. You can choose your own domain name, have tons of theme options, and you can monetize it more easily because you are not subject to the restrictions or limitations typical of website builders.

We consider ourselves WordPress experts, with the know how to build and maintain high-traffic websites. All of our website templates are powered by the real WordPress and our Mai Engine Plugin. (Yup, you can update your theme with the click of a button.)

4. Great Support Saves Precious Time & Money

Don’t underestimate the power of great support! Other providers or developers may charge for more than basic support.

Or, if you piece together your software and tools from multiple providers, you then have to worry about juggling multiple support channels or a lack of real understanding of how everything works together.

The Mai ecosystem makes these problems a thing of the past. Everything we build works together seamlessly because it was built to do just that. We understand the full-stack of web development: web servers, network security, information technology, web design, mysql, html5, and user experience. Web technologies are constantly changing, and our team stays current to ensure your WordPress website performs for you.

Plus, with Mai Theme, not only do you get expert, fast support from our team of developers and designers when you need it, you also get access to our blogging community where you can interact with us, as well as your peers and fellow business owners. It’s a great place to ask questions, get feedback, share successes, and learn from what’s working for others.