If you've never had a website, the words people throw around can make it sound complicated. Domains, hosting, servers, DNS. It's much simpler than it sounds. A website has three parts, and once it's built, only two of them cost anything.
Think of it like a car
The easiest way to picture a website is a car.
- The website is the car. It's the part people see and use: your pages, your words, your photos. You pay for it once, when it's built.
- The domain is the rego. Your domain is your address on the internet, like yourbusiness.com.au. It's what lets the car onto the road with a name people can find. You renew it once a year.
- Hosting is the road. A car can't go anywhere without a road. Your website lives on a computer called a server, which stays switched on all day and night. Someone pays for its power, its internet connection, the firewall that keeps attackers out and the backups in case something breaks. That's what keeps your site up whenever someone types in your address.
That's the whole thing. Unless you add an extra that has its own monthly fee, there's nothing else you have to pay for.
What you pay, and how often
| Part | What it is | How often you pay |
|---|---|---|
| The website | Your pages, words and design | Once, when it's built |
| The domain | Your address, like yourbusiness.com.au | Every year, usually somewhere between $15 and $30 |
| Hosting | The server that keeps your site online | Every month or year, for as long as the site is online |
Do I have to keep updating it?
No. A simple website like the ones we build doesn't wear out. If nothing changes in your business, you can leave it exactly as it is for years, and the only costs are the domain and the hosting.
You'd update it when something changes: new prices, new opening hours, a new service, a photo of your new shopfront.
What it costs with us
- The website: $199 for the first page, plus $100 for each extra page. You pay once. That covers the words, which we write for you, the design on one of our templates, and the basics Google looks for. Most small businesses need one to five pages.
- Care: $39 a month, or $375 a year. We put your site online on your domain, host it, keep it safe and up to date, and make small changes for you each month. What's in Care
- Your domain: it's registered in your name, so it belongs to you, and you renew it each year.
Here's an example. A three-page site with Care is $399 once, then $39 a month, plus your domain each year.
You don't have to take Care. Without it, we hand you the site files and you put them online with a host you choose. Some hosts have free plans for small sites like this, but setting it up is up to you.
Words you might hear
- Domain: your website's address, like yourbusiness.com.au.
- Hosting or server: the computer your website lives on, kept running all the time.
- SSL: the padlock in the browser bar. It keeps the connection between your visitors and your site private. It comes with Care.
- DNS: the setting that points your domain at your hosting, like a signpost. We set it up when we put your site online.
The short version
The website is the car, the domain is the rego and the hosting is the road. You pay for the car once, the rego every year, and the road for as long as you want to keep driving.