Domain Registration

A domain name is your website name where Internet users can access your website. It must be registered before you can use it. Domain registration is a necessary cost, but it can vary. Registering a .com domain is cheap: about RM45 a year. However, registering a .my domain will cost you RM120.

Web Hosting

It is the fee that you pay monthly or annually for the space you occupy on the web. It can range from a few dollars to hundreds per month for managed hosting. However, websites with cheap hosting don’t actually perform as well as those with professional hosting. They get slow speed page load, being hacked more often, and more downtime. If you are serious about your business’s website, paying USD100 to USD150 per year will get you all the features you need.

Number Of Pages

The more the number of pages, the higher the cost. However, there will be a base rate which covers the overall design starting with one page. Subsequent pages will be charged based on the estimated amount of content and design requirements.

Style Of Design

The web design style and technical requirements affect costing as well. If the website requires extensive graphics, animations, customisation and functionality, then more manpower & time is required. It is important to discuss your requirements in detail to get an accurate web design pricing.

Content

The website requirements for each business differs from one website to the other. Some websites require more content, such as custom forms, enhanced imagery & graphics, or copywriting. In the web environment, all imagery and graphics must be processed and optimised so that your website can run efficiently. How the content is presented is also taken into account.

Responsive Design

Over half of web users access information via mobile devices. Responsive web design not only allows greater accessibility for corporate websites but also provides better user experience for visitors. To achieve this requires extra resources will be a factor in the web design pricing.

Functionality

The website's technical components, such as Google Translate, Google Map, message boards, photo galleries, and webforms. The more functionality you need, the higher the cost.

Content Management System (CMS)

The most popular CMS is WordPress which is easy to setup and comes with numerous plugins to enhance usability. Setting up a CMS powered WordPress website requires integration of web template and database. Although it requires more effort and resources initially, the benefit is that your website is extensible in the future.

Search Engine Optimization

Getting on page 1 of Google isn't automatic when you create a website. It involves researching what keywords people are searching for on Google and optimizing the website for the targeted keywords. Factors that affect the cost of SEO are the competitiveness of the keywords, and the number of pages in the website.

Social Media

Setting up a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google + or LinkedIn will add to the cost depending on which sites you'll be targeting and if a custom design is needed.

e-Commerce Functionality

Your website can be equipped with e-commerce functionality if the need arises. WooCommerce is a popular WordPress shopping cart plugin that can enable you to easily sell your products and services online. The shopping cart function can be disabled so that it can be used as an online catalogue.

Content Writing

Will your existing content be adjusted for the new website, or will new copy need to be written? The cost to have it written for you will depend on the number of pages and the amount of research needed.

Training & User Guide

Training your staff on how to use the content management system and providing you with a user guide.