Have a Website Created: The Ultimate Guide

1. Why even have a website created?
2. You should consider these points beforehand
3. So you find the right provider to create your website
4. Creating a website: Prices & ongoing costs
5. Necessary own contribution when you have your website created.
6. Creating a website: And what about SEO?
7. Conclusion: When is it worth having a website created?

Operating a compelling, user-centered website is more important today than ever to stand out from the crowd in the Internet jungle. And with the various providers of Website Builders (like Jimdo) it's now as easy as ever. But what if you perhaps lack the time, inclination, or simply the design skills to create a presentable web presence? Back to the Yellow Pages? Fortunately, we can reassure you there: If you want to have a website created, there are now numerous options. What considerations you should make in advance, how to find the right provider for you and what costs you can expect, learn in this article.

Why even have a website created?

The reasons why you decide to have a website created, instead of setting it up yourself, largely depend on your individual situation. Often, time is simply lacking as it is more important to focus on your company's core business. When your daily business is pressing, there is often no time to deal with setting up the homepage yourself - even if the obstacle is as low as ever due to website construction kits (like Jimdo). Another possible reason: Maybe your strengths lie somewhere other than website design. After all, not only should your web presence look stunningly good in the end, it should also be logically structured and function from a user's perspective.

You should consider these points beforehand

Even if you hand over the creation of your website to foreign hands (Jimdo), you have to make some thoughts in advance. Because even if you can expect comprehensive advice from your service provider, it doesn't hurt to already have a certain vision of the end product. So think about the following points roughly in advance, before you start contacting a provider:

• Target group: As in every marketing discipline, who do you want to appeal to with your website? What contents and functions are relevant for the desired customers?

• Purpose of the website: Websites can serve different purposes. Do you want to sell products with your site? Generate leads? Or do you just want to provide information? The answer to this question leads to the next point:

• Website type: Consider what type of homepage suits your business. Do you need an online shop or does a simple blog suffice?

• Visual design: What should your website look like in the end? What colors does your corporate design include and what fonts and imagery do you want to have in the end?

• Functional design: Form follows function - this architectural principle also applies to your website. After all, not only should your homepage look good, it should also provide users with meaningful functions and be logically structured.

• Technology: How should the web hosting work? Do you need a server that can provide maximum performance or is a cheaper variant with less performance sufficient?

• Security: Data protection and GDPR-compliant web hosting are an absolute necessity nowadays if you want to create and operate a website. Depending on how sensitive your users' data is, which you capture with your business, there may be special requirements.

• Responsiveness: How important is it that your content can be displayed well in a mobile format?

• Search engine optimization: Without SEO, no online success. Therefore, make sure to consider to what extent your domain will be search engine optimized when you have your website created.

• Budget: Of course, the subject of money also plays a big role. Generally, it is more costly to have a website created by others than if you take a website builder into your own hands. However, if you save time, which you spend in your core business, this investment can pay off at the end of the day.

• Time frame/deadline: You should start with the creation of the website in time, because the construction can take weeks or even months.

So you find the right provider to create your website

Based on the answers to the above questions, you can narrow down which providers are in question who create your website. Generally, when choosing a service provider, you have several options:

Option 1: Web hosts like STRATO

Providers like STRATO or IONOS are well known for their easy-to-use website builders. But they also offer to create entire websites for you. For this, you pay a fixed price and receive in return a fixed number of landing and subpages for your domain. Depending on which service package you choose, not only the creation of your website is included, but also its maintenance and care. For this, you then pay a monthly basic price in addition to the initial fixed price. If you place great value on price and performance transparency, this could be the right option for you. Another advantage: Here you can get all additional services for your website from one source, if desired: including domain registration and hosting of your web space.

Costs at IONOS: IONOS offers three different service packages for website creation. In the cheapest Website Design Service S, the setup costs a one-time fee of 199 € and an additional 40 € per month for hosting. This includes 3 custom pages, 5 mailboxes, and 1 domain. In the middle package, you already get 5 pages, but the setup fee is 299 € and the ongoing costs are 55 € per month. In the most comprehensive package L, you pay 70 € per month for a total of 7 individual pages and a one-time setup fee of 399 €. The contract period is at least 12 months, after this time a cancellation is possible on a monthly basis.

Costs at STRATO: STRATO offers two packages in total: A pure design service without ongoing maintenance or service and a design & maintenance service, where monthly website maintenance is included. For the pure creation and domain registration, you pay a one-time fee of €600 and for 3 months €0 for the provision of the domain. After the expiry of this time, the monthly basic fee is 10 € with a contract period of 12 months. With the design and maintenance service package, you pay 300 € for the creation and 30 € per month for 3 months for the website maintenance by STRATO. After this, you pay 40 € per month, also with a term of 12 months. Both packages include personal consultation, search engine optimization, and 9 subpages.

Do you want to learn more about STRATO's services? You can find all tools and helpful articles about the products onour company overview page of STRATO.

Option 2: Web agency

Numerous agencies specialize in web design. Here you can expect accordingly much consulting service and a very precise implementation of your individual requirements. This flexibility, however, comes at a cost: web design agencies are generally much more expensive than the services of web hosting providers like STRATO or IONOS by 1&1 and can quickly cost (tens of) thousands of euros.

Option 3: Freelancers

Unlike web agencies, freelancers usually work alone or at least in very small teams. On the one hand, this means lower costs when you have your website created than would be the case with a web design agency. This service, however, often only applies to the creation of the homepage. The maintenance and care are usually in your own hands once the construction work is done. The prices are mainly oriented towards expertise and professional experience and can range between the costs for a web agency and the web hosts depending on this.

Creating a website: Prices & ongoing costs

With the costs to have a website created, two different types can be distinguished: On the one hand, there are the pure creation costs that arise for the conception, implementation, and introduction of your wishes. On the other hand, running a website also incurs ongoing costs - for example, through web hosting, through maintenance work, or through domain registration. There are also free domains - but we would advise against this for various reasons.

One-time cost factors

While the costs for the website creation are fixed at providers like IONOS by 1&1, the prices of web design agencies are based on your individual requirements. The following cost factors then play a role:

• Individual design: A simple, static website will cost less than a complex, dynamic website with many features and interactivity.

• Design: A simple design will cost less than an elaborate, custom design.

• Functionality: Additional features such as e-commerce, member login, or a content management system will incur additional costs.

• Size of the website: A small website with few pages will cost less than a large website with many pages and contents.

Running cost factors

Regardless of whether you choose a provider, a web agency, or a freelancer, there are always certain fixed costs for operating your website. The most important ongoing costs include:

1. Web hosting: To keep a website online, it has to be hosted on a server. This service usually costs a monthly or annual basic fee.

2. Domain registration: To have your own domain, it must be registered. The cost of registering a domain is due annually.

3. SSL Certificate: An SSL certificate ensures that data is transmitted encrypted between the visitor and the website. This is especially important if the website processes sensitive data. SSL certificates must be renewed annually.

4. Maintenance: Depending on how the website is built, it may be necessary to perform maintenance work regularly. This may include software updates, security updates, or content care.

5. Marketing and advertising costs: To make your website successful, it may be necessary to invest in marketing and advertising measures. These can include Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and PR.

Necessary own contribution when you have your website created.

Even if it means less effort for you to have the website created by others: Nothing goes without your own contribution. After all, the homepage is something like the business card for your business in the online world. Accordingly, you should actively shape some aspects. These include:

Conception: As already mentioned, you should have a clear idea of what goals your website is pursuing and what content and functions it should therefore have.

Contents: Depending on the provider, the included assets can vary. With providers like STRATO, for example, you have to deliver your own (search engine optimized!) texts. With a web agency, on the other hand, you can order these right away - possibly at an additional cost, of course.

Feedback: You should work closely with the web designers and developers and provide feedback so that they can carry out their tasks on time and to your satisfaction.

Testing: In order to give feedback at all, you must, of course, regularly test your website designs. This can take time, but it pays off if it means that your feedback leads to better results.

Creating a website: And what about SEO?

Search engine optimization is, of course, of central importance for the success of your website. After all, your domain should not only look great, it should above all be found by your target group. The way SEO is implemented when you want to create your website can vary depending on the provider. Therefore, check in advance what services are included and what extra costs mean or are not offered at all:

Technical SEO: Technical aspects of search engine optimization include things like the sitemap, metadata, responsive design, load times, a proper URL structure, and indexing your pages. In general, you can expect that both agencies and freelancers and web hosting service providers will take these factors into account when creating your website. Also, you can expect to fix 404 status codes or avoid duplicate content as part of your website creation.

Content SEO: The topic content is different: Here it is not always given that a provider prepares your content search engine optimized. STRATO, for example, expects that you already deliver the texts so that they just have to be incorporated into the website. The same, of course, applies to alt-Texts, which you use to make the pictures recognizable for the search engines or the use of suitable anchor texts. With agencies, on the other hand, you may even be able to order such SEO texts directly - which in turn drives up the costs for creating the website.

Conclusion: When is it worth having a website created?

Whether you should create your own website or have it set up by experts, largely depends on your individual situation. Weighing up the aspects mentioned above such as costs, time resources, and your own design and SEO skills can help answer this question. It is usually worth having a website created if you lack primarily the time and desire to get involved in web design. On the other hand, if you have a tight budget, or if you want to try out the online world, it is advisable to create a cheap homepage yourself. With the appropriate website builders, this is often possible for a few euros per month. We have already listed some providers of website builders, which are particularly in demand among OMR Reviews readers:

• Wix

• STRATO Homepage Builder

• Squarespace

• Webflow

• Jimdo

• ePages

• Vsble