Near 300 million people viewing 2.5 billion pages built with WordPress each month are the numbers you should know to consider choosing it as a platform, while cost to build a website with WordPress is a question still to be discussed.
Today's article is all about Costs and Expenses of WordPress Website Development. Since its rapid growth of massive users from 2007 to 2017, WordPress has already proved itself showing best flexibility offered by vast customization options as well as stableness (if approached appropriately, of course). That’s where the question “How do I make my website good?” arises. Here are the options, each having its odds:
- Do It Yourself (DIY)
- Hire A Professional Website Developer
- Domain
- Hosting
- Themes & Design
- Security
- Plugins
WordPress Domain
It can usually be bought at registrars like GoDaddy or NameCheap – .com domain prices start from around $11 initially, with yearly renewal. Before picking yourself one, consider checking its availability – it may be already taken by someone. Using a tool like KnowEm will help you not only to see if the domain is available but also check if there are any accounts on the social media under the chosen name.
Domain pricing usually varies from $10 to thousands, depending on its popularity – it might turn out that desired name is already taken. In this case, if a website under desired address hasn’t been updated for a few years, don’t hesitate to contact the owner right away to buy it – that will usually make you both a good deal.
But also consider some research before buying a used domain – just as a used car can have its hidden flaws, same happens with domains. So, checking it with Ahrefs backlink explorer and Archive.org to know about its past is important. You wouldn’t want to have a website with bad backlink profile and had some questionable content inside – that might ruin everything you’ll be doing next.
Usually, a .com domain is a standard one and fits most of the situations – if you will find yourself in need of something more specific past the dot sign, additional expenses arise. Top level domains cost more initially and even more for renewal – a .global domain may cost $50 to register and $100 per year for renewal, so decide for yourself.
WordPress Hosting
If you don’t expect a lot of visitors on your website, sticking to a shared hosting is nice for its affordability – prices usually go around $10 per month. Expected high traffic in its turn will influence the cost – WordPress-focused or dedicated server hosting price range starts from $20-$40 and goes up to $400. However, some plans include additional services for speed enhancement, security and more, so the sky is the limit.
Long story short – the higher traffic you expect to your website, the bigger hosting price will go.
Expect to pay $100-$150 each year for shared hosting and anywhere from $300 to $10,000 for more serious hosting plans.
Inexpensive web hosting companies to consider:
- GoDaddy
- SiteGround
- Bluehost
- DreamHost
- Pagely,
- WP Engine
- Synthesis
Choosing how your WordPress website will look like is one of the hardest things to consider.
Having thousands of pre-made free and premium themes at its disposal, WordPress gives you freedom in means of self-expression. The good and free theme usually won’t include much functionality inside of it, so try keeping out from an offer that might sound too good – you’d be doing well with a simple one that deals nicely with most of the popular plugins. These can be found at WordPress theme directory. Some can also be customized later for your needs.
Other options include framework themes and premium memberships – services like WooThemes, Array or DevPress have various subscription plans ($69-$399 per year) with different numbers of themes to choose. Framework themes usually go around $57-$89 for the basis and additional packages with different visual templates. When choosing this route, be sure to have some skilled designer or web dev at hand to finalize the look.
WordPress Security
One of the biggest WordPress disadvantages is the security. The platform is free makes it an easy target for hackers stealing information and spreading malware. Thanks to the various solutions available, your website and stored data will be safe and sound. A selection of security plugins includes Sucuri, BruteProtect, iThemesSecurity and many others – prices usually stay around $10 monthly, which isn’t that much in the means of being safe. Set aside around $200 per year for your website to be protected.
WordPress Plugins
Free or paid, there are plenty of options to choose from. There are classic ones like WordPress SEO by Yoast that will help you score higher in search engines, a multi-purpose Jetpack, offering a set of useful tools and a ton of others. It is fully up to you to pick yourself a set of those that suit the needs. Most of the paid ones go around $20-$40 (plans differ from initial to monthly), so consider spending around $150-$200 per year to keep plugins running.
Summary:
So, finally, how much a WordPress website will cost?
Everything that can be customized varies in cost greatly, so it depends only on your needs. Having a website with a .com domain hosted on shared service with the set of basic plugins and a simple theme may cost you around $400-$600 USD if you go DIY and don’t mind playing around with some code. Otherwise, serious intentions require much more effort to be put through – don’t get surprised with five-digit numbers on the list.
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