John Galt's Templates: Beyond Cookie Cutter

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FrontPage Intro

FrontPage Editing Basics

Make a FrontPage Template

FrontPage FAQ

Dynamic Web Templates (FP)

Swish Basics

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Product-Specific

Building a Web Site: Rough cost estimates

(as of April 2003)
You may want to come back to this page as you read the rest of this series, but here's a broad, very general overview of the costs that may be involved. This does not include search engine submission, marketing, or "bells and whistles" like Flash intros or special features.

  • Web editor (you will choose one)
    • FrontPage - about $170
    • Dreamweaver - about $400
    • TextPad - about $27
    • NotePad - free
  • Image editor (you will choose one)
    • Photoshop Elements - about $100
    • Paint Shop Pro - about $100
    • PhotoImpact - about $80
  • FTP client (needed only if you are using TextPad or NotePad)
    • CuteFTP - about $40
    • FTP Voyager - about $40
    • WS_FTP Pro - about $40
    • Windows Explorer - free
  • Web template (if you don't want to start from scratch) - can be from free to $30-$60 for a web site starter template.
  • Registering domain name (sometimes this is included with hosting company packages) - between $15-$30/year
  • Hosting - Between $10-$25/month (for low-level hosting). May include a $10-$50 setup fee.
  • Stock photographs or illustrations - from free to $30-$60/image (royalty free for web)
  • Ecommerce (if you want to sell things online. There are two major options.)
    • Using PayPal - free to set up, they take a percentage from each sale.
    • Setting up a merchant account - Application fee of $50-$300; monthly fees and transaction fees apply (probably will be between $30-$50/month). This may or may not include a gateway fee. You may also need to obtain a third-party shopping cart, which can be up to $200.

Next: Choose Your Tools