How to create an inexpensive website

No matter if you’re interested in starting a blog to share information or launching a business or pet project, having a website will carry a profound influence on your success. Building a website can be expensive, as a lot of time and effort are involved in the process. However, with a little creativity and adherence to the right steps, you can create a website for less than what you’d expect.

The key is to find user-friendly platforms, affordable or inexpensive hosting services as well as doing a bit of personal research to find the right tools to build the site on your own. Even the most novice of users can build a site with an affordable amount of cash, as well as little outside help. We’re here to break down how, as well as problems that may arise, in building an inexpensive website.

How to create an affordable website: 5 tips

1) Register your domain

Creating the domain name of your website is one of the most important steps to building an online following, engaging with your community and increasing visibility. You’ll want something memorable and catchy while staying relevant to the market you are working in. Make sure your domain name is unique, but not too obscure that people won’t be able to find you online.

Most companies offer a free domain registration alongside a hosting purchase, and having the two-in-one package is an excellent way to save money when creating your own website. Just remember, you want to make your domain name easy to search as well as offering an idea as to what your business or service specialties are. If you already have a hosting account, you can generally add a new domain to your account for free.

Find out more in our article: How to buy a domain name

2) Find affordable web hosting

As mentioned, registering for a domain name often goes hand in hand with web hosting. You’ll want to get a hosting account for your website if you’re hoping for it to look as professional as possible. 

Some experts will recommend that you have a different hosting website from the one you registered your domain with, though this is not always necessary and will only depend on personal preference. If your domain name doesn’t come with free hosting or vice versa, then look for a different hosting outlet.

One thing to consider when searching for somewhere to host your site is services that offer deals for new customers. Many popular hosting sites offer 50% or more off the cost of the first year of hosting, which can make an enormous difference in terms of the budget you have allocated for your website. This way, you can test out the effectiveness of your site to see if it impacts your business or client reach.

When searching for someone to host you, do some research and read reviews of all available services. Some of the bigger, more well-known hosting services with good reputations might be an excellent choice for first-time website builders but may end up costing you more initially. Weigh the pros and cons for this one, as having an excellent host with 24-hour customer service can take you far in the long run.

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3) Using Wordpress for an inexpensive website

Most businesses and blogs employ Wordpress, as it is a free content management system that powers many websites.  WordPress is incredibly easy to install, and the process only takes a few minutes. The Wordpress platform offers two options for websites, and they are either fully-hosted or self-hosted versions.

Self-hosted sites will appear more professional than fully hosted, as they have a more impressive library of tools, themes as well as plugins that will help your site appear both professional and unique.

Fully hosted sites are limited in what they can offer by way of design as well as functionality.  Generally, self-hosted sites offer an air of sophistication that fully hosted ones may not. 

4) Choosing a website theme that is free or inexpensive

A theme is in place to determine the layout of your website. For some themes, you’ll have to shell out the cash, whereas others will be completely free, especially if you have chosen to self-host your site via Wordpress. 

If possible, opt for a free theme in order to save money. Many themes are highly customizable, and you can change several key aspects of your site including colour, font, header and sizing. The easiest way to learn how to use your theme is to do some research and watch online tutorials.

5) Problems that may arise if you hire cheap labour to build your website

Although building a website could appear straightforward at first, this is not always the case. There are plenty of different processes that must be followed to maintain a website and keep it running smoothly. Even though it might seem like a good option initially, it is recommended that you do not invest in cheap forms of labour from a third-party company.

This is a route that many new businesses choose to take, sometimes deciding to hire from companies that offer cheap services from people living overseas. However, it often ends in problems, especially if the person who built the site or added any features is unavailable or missing in action when you need them to take care of or repair an issue.

If you are especially unfamiliar with writing code, it is important to have a reliable support system in case something goes wrong. Further, hiring work out to an unreliable source could mean that the code itself is not well organized, and thus, may lead to complications when having to modify the website's backend. 

Having to hire someone to fix the code can easily end up costing more than the site itself, and in the worst-case scenario, you may have to start from scratch.

This is why it is important to work with a hosting service or web designer who is professional and reliable. Additionally, some inexpensive websites will have traffic limits, and therefore, can crash if business begins to flood in. 

As we mentioned, there are many ways to build an inexpensive site, but you want to be certain that it doesn’t cost you more in the long run.