To continue off our last installment of “How to Build an Author Website” (peek in on the last post to see why they’re so necessary), we’re going to dive into an important detail on every thrifty writer’s mind: the budget.
Websites are everywhere, so you might assume they’re cheap to create and manage. Technically speaking, they are! You can create a free blog here on Tumblr, Wordpress, or somewhere else without spending a penny. You can have your own custom URL through these providers for basically pennies. But how about a more advanced site?
First, let’s discuss why it’s important to have your own site, rather than going for these free options.
Advantages of a Free Site:
Well – it’s free!
It’s already connected with the social media platforms that are hosting it – such as the aforementioned Wordpress and Tumblr.
Little to no building hassle.
Disadvantages:
You’re stuck with that platform’s name in your URL – for example, “blahblah.wordpress.com.” This looks unprofessional and generally establishes you as someone who isn’t that serious about promoting themselves. For a casual writer, this is perfectly fine. For a serious author, it’s a little distasteful.
You’re limited to the design templates that everyone else is using. They’re free after all, so many people will be using the same one. Even with a few color changes, you’re easily recognizable as someone who clicked the generic option rather than investing in something unique. If you’re not that invested in your writing, why should readers take you more seriously?
Your site is littered with ads. The platform has the right to advertise on your site – which includes a horde of ads (of their choosing) littering all your posts and pages. While we’re all used to ads by now, it’s unprofessional and an annoyance to visitors, which may cause them to look elsewhere. Even more concerning – since you have no control over what those ads are, you could be offending or otherwise irritating your viewers by accident!
With that said, creating your own website is really the better option – both for looks and functionality. Additionally, it gives you a solid foundation to build off of as your writing and your brand as an author grows.
The good news is, this can be accomplished for as little as $40 a year – or $3-ish dollars a month, which is a fraction of what even Netflix costs! The budget for a website depends on three main things:
Reoccurring Costs
These will come in the form of domain and hosting fees.
Your domain is your website’s URL or name – so, this could be lsanderssonauthor.com or some variant of that. You’re paying for the exclusive right to use that title/URL. The price of a domain name can be paid monthly or yearly, and yearly can cost anywhere from $10 to $60 on average.
Hosting is where you’ll effectively be ‘storing’ your site. The content on it, the pictures, the links, and everything in between need to be stored somewhere, and sadly the great wide internet isn’t willing to do this for free. A hosting company will offer packages depending on how large you intend your site to be, how many emails you’d like, and so on. Some hosting sites also offer design classes or articles on how to customize your site, which further helps in building your own, should you choose this.
The average yearly cost for hosting can vary, depending on if you sign a contract for 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, and so on – but can rest anywhere from $50 to several thousand.
Pro-Tip from Lena S Andersson: “Be sure to get an email address with your website! This will be a huge advantage if fans ever want to get in contact or if you need to sign up for events as an author.
“Also, prices can vary a lot depending on which hosting provider you choose and what is included in your package. Month-to-month rates tend to be more expensive than if you are on an annual plan.”
Building Yourself
Building the site yourself can be almost free. Wordpress offers many site templates that you can buy for anywhere from $20 to $200, and their platform makes it easy for a novice to edit.
However, it’s recommended you stay away from the free or extremely low-cost templates, unless you have some design knowledge, as you may end up looking just like every other website that chose that design. Not only does it look unprofessional, but it could lead to some difficulties in the future if one of these sites decides to call you on that.
Pro-Tip from Lena: “Getting a site up and running can be super budget-friendly if you do most (or all of the) things yourself, or you can ask a professional web designer do the whole thing. So we are talking anything from the cost of a hosting package and a domain name (if you do all work yourself), to hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars if you hire a professional web person. That’s why I chose to tackle the venture personally!”
Hiring a Designer
Designers will be able to create a better, more complex site that has the looks, widgets, and features you’re seeking but may not be able to create yourself. However… they’re expensive.
A template site, which is where the designer takes another site’s design and then tailors certain things to make it unique for you, can cost anywhere between $100 to $700. The less tailoring they do, the cheaper it will be. With this, they often set up your email, may offer hosting and domain packages with the design, and can factor in your wishes for the look and layout of the site – all with no effort required from you.
You may think, “If they’re just customizing a template, why bother? Why don’t I do it myself?” And that’s a fair argument. But it’s worth noting exactly how much they’ll be changing the site to make it unique and how much coding knowledge they’ll leverage to do this. A $100 site will look far different from a $700 site, even if they both originated from templates. All in all, you’re mainly paying for peace of mind (as a professional is on the job) and a lack of effort on your part (you don’t have to teach yourself how to do this, which can be a lengthy process).
A bespoke site, which is where the designer builds an entirely new site for you - from the ground up - can be valued at anywhere from $800 to several thousand dollars. Granted, it’s entirely yours and entirely unique, but it costs a pretty penny.
Do You Need Monthly Updates?
If you go the web designer route, you may find them recommending monthly updates to be included in their package. These serve to tighten your security and modify some of the features of your site as the internet naturally upgrades, progresses, and leaves your site looking a little outdated.
While this is absolutely valuable in its own right, it mainly applies to sites used by businesses or vendors, where they’re selling a large number of products or gartering a great deal of traffic. For an author site that will generally remain static, save a few updates posted by you or the occasional new book added to your ‘shop’ feature, there’s not much that will happen to leave your site in the dust next to other sites.
Pro-Tip from Lena: “It’s wise to check other author sites every few months and see what features or widgets they’ve added, and maybe incorporate some into your own design so that you stay ‘fresh.’ As your collection as an author grows, it may be worthwhile to consult a professional to see what can be ‘tuned up’ in your site.
“However, if you’re staying budget-friendly, a monthly WP update (or other platform, should you choose one) isn’t crucial. You could even consult with a designer once every year or so to see if any modifications are necessary – but you can also achieve this on your own with a little extra work.”
All in All
If you’re looking to be very budget-friendly, you can secure your own site for under $100 every three years (assuming you sign on for a package long-term).
Building your own author website, instead of relying on free options, is not only savvy for your overall appearance online as an author, but can also be cost effective in the long run. You can gain and keep more visitors on your site, better advertise your work, and even place ads of your own choosing on the site! A web designer that creates a ‘bespoke’ site will certainly give you a more customized and crisp look – but with enough research and effort, you can accomplish most of this yourself, for free!
So, if you decide to go the do-it-yourself route – where do you start? What hosting and domain services should you use? How do you find a good one? We’ll discuss this in our next article, “Finding the Right Hosting Provider” – so stay tuned!
Mobile App Canton Mobile Website - What Does Your Business Needs And Why?
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Mobile App Ordinary Mobile Website - What Does Your Palaver Needs And Riddle?
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What Way concerning Website Design Budget Does Your Company Wish
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