Websites splash out on hosting services

Websites around the world invested $22.5bn in web hosting services, design and programming tools, and systems and network hardware this year, according to a recent study.

A large proportion of that money was spent on supporting site design, according to a poll of 1013 companies by US ebusiness researcher ActiveMedia.

Some 26 per cent of the $22.5bn was spent on site design support services -dwarfing the amount spent on site hosting and access, which received 13 per cent of the budget.

The report also found that 12 per cent of the total investment was spent on hardware equipment, while companies set aside 10 per cent of the budget for web strategy and application consultancy.

Less was spent on both software and systems integration (eight per cent), online transactions (seven per cent) and network hardware (six per cent).

Overall, investments in website creation and maintenance were split 50:50. The split between development and hosting costs varied across site types based on functions required from the site, the study found.

"The majority of website costs are borne internally by web businesses," said Harry Wolhander, ActiveMedia's vice-president of market research. Sites investing the most are those which rely on internal skills to develop a leading-edge business online, he added.

Mid-level businesses are more likely to seek help externally for technical support.