We were contacted this week by someone for whom we had previously quoted on developing their website. They chose a cheaper option, which is fine (we all have budgets) but as it turns out the “cheaper” option was not really that at all.
Sure, the up-front costs were less. But then the unexpected bills started coming in. Not to mention hugely inflated web hosting fees.
When considering your options, it pays to look at the bigger picture. What are the ongoing costs? How much are updates going to be? Can you update it yourself?
To make matters worse, when the firm chosen to do the website found out that the hosting was been transferred over to us they turned everything off there and then. Website. Email. The lot. And they can’t or won’t tell us the details to access the domain name either, so we can’t even actually initiate the transfer!
Some things to check:
- Make sure any domain names are registered in your name, with your contact details (not the web designer’s).
- Find out how much is being charged for web hosting. Depending on how much space you need, anything more than about $300 per year is probably too much.
- Double check before proceeding if there are any other ongoing costs besides these 2.
While we’re on the subject of domain names, we charge $90 every 2 years for a “.com.au” and $30 per year for “.com” names. See what’s available here.