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How much does it cost to build a website in NZ?

Do you want to know how much it costs to build a website in NZ?  Great question!  

Of course, it depends on who builds it, but I can give you a rough idea of what it would cost to get Gecko Gully to build you a website.  All pricing is in $NZ, and does not include GST (tax) which will be added if you are in New Zealand.  The pricing is for a self-hosted WordPress.org website.   Pricing is current as of May 2024.

The price depends on what you need

A really basic website with just a few simple pages and a blog will cost around $2000.

A more complex website with a WooCommerce shopping cart will cost around $5,000 to $10,000.

What is not included

These prices assume you are OK with using one of the template themes with a few modifications (I really like Themify’s Ultra theme). They do not include any design work, like a new logo or whatever. You would need to provide your logo and colour scheme (or use a standard font and colours from the theme), or I can introduce you to a good designer at an extra cost.

Also not included is hosting.  Hosting is where you pay a company for space on their server (a big computer that is always connected to the internet), to store your website so people can get to it.  I use and recommend Vetta in NZ for hosting.

Nor is a domain name included.  You would need to purchase your own domain name.

Also not included is content.  I will provide you with the basic structure for your website, but you will need to provide the words and images to go onto it.  

I won’t be creating any other marketing assets off the website.  So no social media pages, Google Business Profile, YouTube channel, backlinks from other sites to yours, press releases, etc.

What can be added

However, I can create content for you for an extra cost. The cost will depend on how much content you need. Some people just want home page content, while others want a full blog with many posts.

I can also add images for you, as long as you are OK with me using stock photos or AI-generated images. I am not in a position to come to your business in person and click a camera—you could do that.

Also, for extra cost, I can create the social media accounts you need.

Things you need to watch out for

Once you have your self-hosted WordPress site, you (or someone else) will need to update it often to ensure you are always using the latest version of WordPress and other software that has been added to it. If I build your website for you, I will show you how to do this. Or you can get an account with someone like WP Tech Support, and they can update everything for you and fix problems as they arise.

You will also need to renew (and pay for) your domain name and web hosting monthly or annually. If these expire, you might lose your website unless you have a backup.

Watch out for website building companies who offer to get your domain for you.  If they own the domain, they have control over where it is hosted.  It is very common these days for the website builder to also host the website, which means you will pay them monthly or annually.  If they also own the domain name, you won’t be able to move away from their hosting unless they let you.

Make sure you have something in your website that does regular backups.  A good plugin for this is Updraft Plus (free or paid), but there are several.  Set it up so that it does frequent backups and that these backups are not stored on your hosting (for example, I send mine to Dropbox).  This way, if your website is hacked, or the hosting crashes, or something else happens that is catastrophic, you will have a backup that you (or a friendly geek) can restore to.

Get your cPanel login credentials

Whether you get your hosting or do it through the website builder, ensure you get the login details for the technical back end.  This isn’t the WordPress login page; this is the login for the hosting.  One of the most common is called cPanel.  Before agreeing to a website package that includes hosting, ask if you will get login details for your cPanel.

Here’s why.  The cPanel also controls your email account.  Sometimes, a website builder will save money and put several clients’ hosting into one cPanel, including their email accounts.  If anyone you share a cPanel with is hacked, you will probably also be hacked.  And, if anyone you are sharing a cPanel with is blacklisted because they have done lots of spamming, your emails will probably also be blacklisted.

If your website builder is also your web host, make sure you are given cPanel login details (URL, username, and password). This will help ensure that you aren’t sharing with anyone else.

Let’s talk

Hopefully, this has helped you better understand how much it costs to build a website in New Zealand and what to watch out for. If you want to know more, please get in touch.

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