How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Website

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IIH Global

wordpress website cost

You finally found your business idea and laid out your plan for it. Part of your plan is running a successful WordPress site. While WordPress is a free and open-source CMS (Content Management System), building a WordPress website isn't free. There are some implicit costs that you must cover to come up with your desired WordPress website.

WordPress is filled with free templates and plugins available to everyone. You can, therefore, build a website quickly, with no or little coding knowledge. With all that in mind, how much does it cost to build a WordPress website? Well, it entirely depends on your needs and choices. The type of site is also crucial in determining the cost.

Advisably, you should start small and then scape up as your website grows over time. The preliminary stage requires less of the premium features. Now, we shall walk you through the tricks that you may need to create a website on a customized budget. 

Start With a Plan

So, what do you want your website to look like? What purpose does it serve? Who is your target audience? How will you conduct business on your website? Answering these questions will help you come up with the needs of your website and with them, the overall cost. Whatever plan you choose for your site, you should inform the WordPress site of the following activities:

  • Development
  • Content strategy
  • Marketing

Here is a list of services you'll pay to get your website up and running:

  • Domain name
  • Web hosting
  • Themes and plugins
  • Content creation
  • Marketing
  • Maintenance: backup and security

WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

Despite sounding similar to each other, WordPress.com and WordPress.org are quite different. They offer various services, and you have to know how if you are going to make a WordPress website. WordPress.com can help you avoid costs for the Domain Name and Web Hosting. However, you can't get any free plugins or templates from WordPress.com.

On the other hand, WordPress.org has the availability of free pieces of software, from plugins to templates that you can make use of later on.   

On the other hand, although WordPress.org doesn't provide free hosting services, it will give you thousands of amenities later on. You can also access the backend code, database, and files when using WordPress.org. And the best part is, you can customize your themes!

Domain Name

The first thing to consider when building a WordPress website is the domain name. The domain name is the URL (the address) that prospects key in to find your website on the internet for logging in. It is more like a digital address for your shop, portfolio, agency, etc. And though you may choose anything to be your domain name, you should, advisably, choose a catchy one that is relevant and appropriate to your target audience. Don't forget to make it memorable.

To help with memorability, try to make a tagline out of it. If the tagline works, then you are good to go. Use three words at most. There are several variations of pricing plans of Domain Names, but the most popular Domain names ending in '.com' and they are pretty inexpensive. You can also get a website with .net, .org, .club, .biz, or anything you fancy, with different prices, of course.

Research shows that a typical Domain Name costs roughly $10 a year. You can also get a Domain Name for less than a dollar from some websites. That's if you focus on the first year. However, for the subsequent years, you will have to pay the regular price. GoDaddy and NameCheap are some of the popular registrars.

You can go even cheaper by buying a used Domain Name. It comes with the perks of a significant cut in costs; however, it could turn into a disaster if you don't research the purchase. An example is a Domain Name that had some contents that were blacklisted by Google but then deleted later. Stay away from such Domain Names at all costs.

Checking the history of a Domain Name is not as hard as you think. Remember, a unique, memorable, and SEO friendly Domain Name is essential to having a successful website.

Web Hosting Plan

After getting a digital address for your business, you need a store. Web Hosting is like a virtual store wherein all your data and content is stored. And like a regular store, you need to pay rent. Considering the safety and services provided by Web Hosting, the prices vary. It is, therefore, essential that you look carefully at the features the Web Host offers instead of going for a cheap plan.

When considering the options for Web Hosting, here are some essential avenues to keep in mind:

  • Security – running a company's site needs secure storage of information.
  • Support – you'll need tech support if your site needs to run smoothly across all time zones.
  • Scheduled backups – you need all your data somewhere else in case the worst does happen.

With the above considered, the level of performance and the features you'll need also affect your choice. Since newly launched websites handle less traffic than well-established ones, you may want to go for low-priced web hosting services. This is especially true if you're going to start a personal blog that requires limited server resources.

If you are on a tight budget, the low-priced web hosting services range from $28 to $36 per year. They have mostly shared hosting, where a million other websites use your server. Although it isn't the safest, it shouldn't scare you if you are starting a personal blog. 

Thus, we suggest MilesWeb hosting which is considered as a suitable choice for all types and sizes of businesses. They provide all types of hosting at very affordable prices so that you don't settle for less.

However, if your website brings more traffic, you should change your hosting plan to premium ones. More traffic on a site with cheap web hosting will strain the servers, making it slow. More traffic also means less security. Unless, of course, you secure your website with pricey plans. They range from $78 to as high as $10,000.

Web hosting, such as shared hosting, doesn't support HTTPS – which ensures security. So, you should check your hosting plan and company first to avoid disappointment. 

Pricing Plan for Themes

You definitely want to set yourself apart from the rest. To be unique from your competition and make more money, you need to look and feel different. There are two things you can do to ensure uniqueness:

  • Hire a developer (or DIY) to build your website entirely from scratch. This way you can include in-built functionality and lessen your reliance on plugins
  • Purchase premium WordPress themes. Then you make modifications to suit your desired taste.

Regardless of what you choose, you will have to spend time and/or money to get what you need.

There are quite a considerable number of themes that are free out there. However, many issues come with free themes, with plugins are device responsiveness. But you don't have to break your budget to have a reliable and impressive website. Premium themes range from $20 to $100.

When choosing a theme, ensure it is suitable for your website. It is a good idea to read through a theme's features and functionalities before taking your pick to ensure you can change the color palettes and other design essentials. Remember, you probably won't get exactly what you want. You, therefore, may want to pick a base offering then tweak it to your needs. 

Pricing Plan for Plugins

When through with the preceding steps, you will now need to add some plugins to your WordPress website. Plugins add functionality to your website, with features ranging from SEO tools, image gallery, security tools, slider, etc. 

You might be on a tight budget. For that, we recommend that you look at the WordPress plugin repository. There, you will find free options that can help keep your costs low. Although the free themes have limited functionality, with savvy 'digging' skills, you can find nifty feature-rich plugins. To be honest, you may not need most of the paid plugins at the initial stage.

Plugins are quite affordable and easy to configure. The more complex the plugin, the more expensive it is. For advanced users, premium WordPress plugins, you may need to pay an average of $100 per year for the premium plugins. You should start spending such huge amounts when your site begins paying off.

SSL Certificate pricing plan

Website security is nothing to mess around with. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is vital after you have managed to bring traffic to your website. It assures visitors of a secure connection in case they share any data with your site, such as payment information. You can purchase the certificates through third-party services, as well as through your web host.

Insecure sites tend to make fastidious visitors scamper away in case they feel unsafe. You are advised to build your website that is well established and reliable with the help of an SSL certificate. Security plugins don't cost a fortune. A fully-fledged website without a premium security plugin is an appealing target for hackers.

There are tons of pricing plans for purchasing an SSL certificate, but the best plans are multiple year plans. They help minimize overall costs, and they worth your money. The cost varies from $9 to $29.88, depending on the pricing plan.

Content delivery

When building a website, you need engaging and captivating to keep visitors on your website and increase your traffic. For the best writing services, use WritingJudge to get the most interesting and comprehensive SEO oriented content to place your website on the first page of most searches. Content with grammatical and semantic errors puts off many readers. The last thing you want is readers leaving your website because they do not like what they read. Therefore, to ensure the readability of your content and services, you should proofread any content before posting. There are tons of websites that provide free resources to brush up on your grammar skills. Grammarly, Ginger, and Hemingway app can also be used to assist you.

“Writing is an art; to get it right, your content needs to be devoid of errors. Proofreading is more important than writing itself!” – notes Neightan White, a renowned blogger, and writer at Supreme Dissertations, with in-depth knowledge on web building and WordPress

Maintenance Services

Building a WordPress website is only the beginning of your quest. After launching your website, maintenance is necessary, if the site is to be kept running smoothly. And like everything good, maintenance also does come at a cost. Updates, upgrades, tune-ups, backup solutions, and broken links are among the maintenance tasks that you need to carry out.

Lucky for you, the maintenance services are offered by fixmysite and wp curve, maintain among others. The price is dependent on the service provider and the maintenance services. You can try and do it yourself, but keeping a WordPress site in good shape requires a lot of time. It is a good thing you can outsource the services.

The domain name and Web Hosting are the two most important things to consider when building a WordPress website. Despite this, an SSL certificate is a 'mandatory' component here for avoiding some security issues. 

Final Verdict

Building a WordPress powered website depends entirely upon your needs and wants; so does the cost. If you are a beginner, make use of the free and low-priced services to save you money until you get some traction. As said earlier, you might not even need the premium features at all.

Other factors you need to consider are the type of website, prospect audience, the reach of your content, search engine ranking, etc. Such factors are vital when calculating the final cost of your website, especially for a company.

Finally, we are offering you a piece of good news! Who doesn't love good news? On special occasions, most of the parts you need for your website are sold at discounted prices. Savvy shopping and keeping a keen eye will help you get the best deals to suit your budget.

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