Websites are a must have in the 21st century if you want to target the majority of the population of Singapore and the world. Gone are the days of brick and mortar methods such as directory listings and newspaper advertisements. When you are looking at creating a website, there are two trains of thought that can come to your mind: Free website builders and Paid Website Designers. Alternatively. if you already have an existing website, you might want to look at keeping up with the latest website design to make your website relevant. When we are talking about a free website, it does not entirely mean free but rather doing it yourself using platforms such as Wix, Squarespace. While it is easy to use their platform to drag and drop elements that you need for your websites, you usually need to pay a monthly fee from 20 SGD and above for the more premium plans. Those plans allow you to remove the platform ads which in turn makes your website appear more professional for your business. Over a few years, this amount can chalk up to a big sum so always conduct your own checks before diving into these free options.

Paid Website Designer

Probably the most sought after and easiest solution for your website, Paying a website designer to make to handle your website project is a great option especially if you do not have the skills and time required to do a website. Website Designers tend to handle all processes from domain purchases, hosting as well as the overall performance of your website.

Charges

For the sake of fair comparison of free website designing platforms and paying a website designer to handle your project, we will not be factoring the hosting charges and domain name annually. The charges of a website can be often categorised into different types of websites and the number of pages required for the project.

Corporate Websites

The most common form of websites is corporate websites used by business to advertise the products and services they have. Corporate websites usually require clean design and functionality. Corporate sites usually consist of about 10-20 pages and can cost anywhere from $2000 onwards depending on functionality. Advanced functionality such as user registration and member portals will cost additional. often more than $2000 for that functionality alone. Additional costs such as graphic design for banners and corporate images as well as photography are not included.

E-commerce Websites

E-commerce websites are basically basic websites with the functionality of a member portal and e-commerce capabilities. These are a great option especially if you are selling products. Most e-commerce stores can also help you manage inventory stock and shipping which adds a lot of bonus for the end user. However, e-commerce site’s backend is difficult to manage and you will probably need some experience with inventory management as well as managing the backend of the platform in order to upkeep the website. Such stores usually need a team to update the inventory, product listing and promotions. The cost for E-commerce stores are usually above $4000 for basic e-commerce capabilities and can cost above 5-figures for full fledge commerce capabilities. Some examples of such sites are Lazada or Shopee.

Event management Softwares/Content Management Systems

If your business is a service/event oriented. This will be the website type you are looking for. These EMS and CMS helps you to handle ticket management for events or handle membership registration. These website includes member portals and also event management functionality; allowing you to create events and also handle the attendees. Such websites are similar to e-commerce sites and will cost upwards of $4000 and similarly can cost above 5 figures for a more complicated solution. Likewise, such websites require a team to manage the functionality of the website and handle miscellaneous requests.

Blog

Probably the most basic type form of website designs, blogs are still one of the most common types of websites found on the internet. While they have the most basic functionalities such as adding daily posts. They are still one of the most loved sites for information. They can also be used to earn affiliate income by selling other people’s products. The price for such a website is usually above $1000 on its own and will not include other additional services such as photographs and banner design.

Free Website Builder Platform

Free website builders are becoming a more popular option due to the flexibility of building the website yourself and also affordability. However, most people do not account for long-term use which can actually rack up thousands of dollars over a 5 year period. In addition, you also have to spend hours and hours finessing the site to make sure it functions and looks professional. As such, it is important to weigh the time spent building such a website and outsourcing the website to a professional web designer. However, if you are on a low budget and do not mind having simple functionality, Wix and Squarespace might be the solution for you.

Both platforms are fairly similar as to the drag and drop building function. They have also enhanced capabilities to allow to build simple e-commerce sites and Content/Event management systems. However, do note that the customisability of these platforms are usually limited and you usually need to purchase their higher tier plans to enjoy these functions.

To conclude, Wix and Squarespace is a great option if you are still unsure about forking out a few thousand for a website designer but if you intend to be serious about your online presence, you should still turn to a website designer. These “free” website builders have fairly limited capabilities and often do not allow you to scale as your business expands.

Conclusion

If you are interested to find out about how Proximacy can tailor a website solution for your business/corporation, contact us for a non-obligatory meeting. We would like to understand how your business works and offer you a customised solution. We are also having an $1111 website promotion till the end of October 2018 for anyone looking to build a new website.