The costs of setting up a website

This will depend enormously on how big your site will be, what services you need from your hosting service and on what your customers will be doing. Let's assume you want to spend as little as possible, and that your site is a simple brochure, with a form for your customers to express interest in your product or service.

It can cost about £2-6 to buy a domain name for a year, depending on the kind of domain name you choose. Some are much more expensive. You will probably have to buy a name for at least 2 years, and the more time you buy, the bigger the discounts available. You should budget for £2.50/month minimum.

Hosting services vary in cost enormously. For a small site, which doesn't require much from your hosting service, you should budget for £2-6 per month, and allow for an initial set-up charge of £8-10. This site costs £2.50/month.

Then there is the cost of developing the site itself. Again, this can vary enormously, depending on your needs. Our prices start at £350 plus VAT, but will cost more for bigger sites.

And finally, you may need to pay to register with search engines. Some organisations will be able to register for free with at least some search engines; others will need to pay, which can cost £20-£200 a time. Some of you will want to pay for quick registration - registering for free can take a while.