It's impossible to average a cost for building websites because each website is as unique as its developer. There are too many variables to factor in: design, stock articles and photos, programming and Internet pricing. If you have the skills to design and program your own site, the costs are lower than if you have to farm out the work. If you have to hire a designer or a programmer, you have to factor in their likely markup due to expertise, time and overhead.
Content Planning
Unless you are a writer and a photographer, you will likely pay for your website's content: feed subscriptions, hiring an online content writer with or without search engine optimization (SEO) knowledge, and stock photos. If you don't want to pay for useless content, find your niche and capitalize on it by honing in on the content that your users will find useful and that will attract search engine spiders.
Search Engines
Paying for premium search engine placement is another factor to figure in to your website development costs. Rates vary dramatically and are dependent on the company placement or search engine offering the service. Unless you understand SEO, meta tags and marketing, this can cost several hundred dollars. You can save money by taking an online tutorial in search engine placement.
Web Design and Coding
Many hosting companies now offer drag-and-drop website design that you can do yourself. You don't need any programming experience. You can build a viable website within an hour or two if you are building few pages. Learning basic HTML would benefit you. Most drag-and-drop programs allow you to add HTML or basic JavaScript. These will give your pages a more professional look by allowing dynamic content. You can save hundreds by creating your own website using drag-and-drop technology. If you must hire someone, expect to pay a minimum of $45 an hour, as of July 2010.
Domain Names
Content planning, search engine placement, web design and coding are widely flexible costs. Before you even start to build your site, you have to purchase your domain name. Some companies will allow you to buy your domain, create and host your site all in one package. Expect to pay at least $15 (as of July 2010) to register your name for a year. Budget companies may charge less. Read the fine print to make sure that there are no monthly maintenance fees.
Hosting Fees
Expect to pay your monthly host fees. These can range from $5 to $30 a month, depending if you get in on a special rate. Just don't fall prey to "bait-and-switch" schemes that get you in on a teaser rate, then don't allow you "add-ons" without paying significantly higher fees. These fees can add up to several hundred dollars annually.
ISP Servers
Do-it-yourself site builders already paying for Internet service with an Internet service provider, or ISP, may pay little or nothing to upload a noncommercial site to their ISP's server. Open your text editor, add some well-written HTML, then use your FTP program to upload to the server. This might cost zero dollars beyond what you already pay per month for your service.
Open Source
Free resources abound on open source networks such as Mozilla. It helps to know the bare bones of setting up a website, including basic HTML. But you can get by simply by reading through the tutorials. You can find free templates, FTP clients and programs, and HTML codes and programs. No matter what resources you choose to create your website, know what you want from your site, ask questions, do your research, and expect to spend anywhere from $0 to $35,000.