Ever wondered how much a website really costs? Chances are unless you’re a developer, you’ve been faced with trying to figure out how much you should pay for a website. The reality is that prices vary wildly with developers and designers telling you all sorts of stuff about how much things should cost. Today I’m going to break down the hidden costs for you. I’m not going to tell you how much it costs for developers to build websites – but I will tell you how much it costs to purchase the functionality often used for coaching websites.
So let’s talk about cost. WordPress is the preferred tool for creating powerful coaching websites. Why lie, it’s incredibly flexible and robust. Did we mention it’s free too? So of course it’s the ideal platform. Armed with that knowledge, hoards of online entrepreneurs have run to WordPress to get their sites started on a budget.
The first cost is a domain name. That’s no biggie: somewhere between 9 and 37 dollars a year. Then there’s hosting. That’s also not a big deal – let’s say about $15 a month for a non-managed solution. That means you’re responsible for keeping your site updated, plugins up to date, etc. At this point this is still looking pretty darned affordable! The next step is development – but for cost savings sake – we’re going to assume that this is a DIY project – so there will be no “developer” costs. However, your site needs to look good – so let’s add $50 for a premium theme.
QUICK CHECK IN: You’ve now spent about $245
You’ll need a professional looking email – so that’s about $5 a month from Google apps. So this is just fine – except now you need your site to actually support your coaching activities. So you dive head first into “plugin land” and start to look for plugins that do the kinds of things you do. If you’re like most online coaches (and a lot of offline ones too), you’ll want to be able to schedule your time with clients. You’ll also want an easy way to collect payments for those meetings. Let’s assume about $10 a month for an appointment system. Great – now let’s think about that signature program you want to have with the online course you plan on selling. You need a way to set up that course, drop it into your site, and start selling. So that’s about $200 for that type of plugin.
QUICK CHECK IN: You’ve now spent about $625
Your site is going to be the center of your business – so you’re thinking, “let’s have an online chat”. That’s no problem – they are pretty cheap – about $17 (a one time cost). Perhaps you plan on having webinars, live chats, calls, and other events. So you want a calendar solution to put those on your site. That will run you about $89. Let’s assume want to be able to meet people in person, so you’d love to integrate Google maps on your pages – so people can see exactly where to go. That’s about $230 a year. If you want to sell things on your site – you’ll need a shopping cart – also $230 a year.
But wait a minute!! What if you want to build a community! You’d need memberships, drip content, and a way to keep everyone on your site! No problem – a plugin that can do that will run you about $230 a year as well.
QUICK CHECK IN: You’ve now spent about $1421
Well at least your site will do everything you need right? Well we’re almost there. What about those great opt in forms you see pop up on people’s pages? You can get a decent plugin that does that for about $97. Finally – the last “coaching activity” plugin we’ll consider is a forum feature. That will allow you to have conversations directly on any page in your site. That will run you about $230 a year too.
QUICK CHECK IN: You’ve now spent about $1728
I’m going to take a moment to let that number sink in. Are you like me looking at this screen like “WHAT ON EARTH?? Almost $2000 spent without a web developer? No one told me that was how much this stuff really costs”.
And what’s worse – there are other hidden costs. You’ll need online forms – that will run you about $40. You’ll also need auto responders and email list management for your campaigns. The price for that can vary wildly. Let’s not even begin to talk about how much your sales copy, content editing, brand, social media campaigns and logo design will cost as well.
Before you know it – that price tag is starting to look downright scary.
Now let me tell you where the CoachSites.me experience differs.
We include all of the functionality in the $1728 price tag as part of our package. Our hosting packages run at only $588 a year for the DIY approach. We offer beautiful mobile-responsive pre-configured templates for only $199. The difference is that DIY with us comes with real tech support to help you figure it out. It includes how-to videos as well. When we say real support – we mean the real deal. It doesn’t matter what – you can ask our team for help with anything related to your website. That support is included in your hosting fees.
We work with online coaches every day. When we’re not busy – we actually offer FREE support to budding online businesses and coaches in our Tech Connect FaceBook group. We’re always eager to assist anyone looking for help figuring out this crazy online business world. If this sounds like something you’d like to learn more about – or you just want to know more about our free tech support group, I definitely want to talk to you! Just fill out the form, and you’ll be hearing from me soon.
– Kat Okwera
Founder of CoachSites.me