How much does a website cost? This is a tricky question that many people and businesses ask before they embark on a venture that is known as a web presence. You see, a website can be an expensive proposition or a costless proposition, but a business will definitely want to meet somewhere in the middle, because it is very true that you have to spend money to make money in this world, while at the same time opting for a enough of a reasonable cost to profit ratio.
The one thing that will cost you right off the bat is going to be web hosting, and while there are many free web hosting companies, I would not recommend using one of these companies if you are trying to operating a business website because the web hosting is not always secure or stable. If the free web hosting company just folded one morning you would lost your website, and they would owe you nothing so I definitely recommend going with the paid route.
The second most important thing to consider when starting a website is the domain as well, you are going to want to purchase at least a .com domain for your business, and while these tend to cost at least ten dollars for a year, it is definitely worth the cost when you have a professional .com domain. Using a free sub domain for your hosting is tacky, and unless you simply cannot afford a domain I would not recommend using a free sub domain for your web presence. You will also want to pay for some sort of advertising whether it be search engine advertisements, or a yellow page premium listing online, the money that you spend will be worth it when your business starts picking up.
You can even pay for advertising on Facebook, which can prove to be very profitable due to the high amount of traffic that Facebook receives everyday. Advertising is the single most important aspect to running a business online, because if people do not know that you are there, how are they going to pay you? It is simple common sense for any aspiring Webmaster, and with the right tools it can be accomplished affordably. Running a website can seem like a daunting and costly task, but with all of the right tools and the right people assisting, you can become a stellar webmaster and make a cash cow out of your first website with ease.