Most businesses get several quotes from different web design agencies when deciding to get a new website. In general, you probably estimated what the cost of a new website could be. But when creating your website budget, don’t overlook the continuing website costs.
What are Ongoing Website Costs?
Ongoing website costs are the fees you pay to various vendors to keep your website up and running. For example, your domain renewal cost, monthly website hosting, SSL Certificate, and licenses for premium WordPress plugins.
With this in mind, here are some operational items related to website maintenance costs to help you prepare your site budget. Plus, a bonus marketing tip to help drive traffic to your site.
01. Domain Name
Your domain is your top-level url and it is purchased from a domain registrar. While some hosting companies include a domain name as part of your hosting services, some hosting companies do not. You can expect to pay an average of $10-15 annually from a domain registrar for common domain extensions such as .com.
If you set your domain name to auto renew, you will avoid having your website taken offline due to non-payment. Even though some domain registrars will send a renewal email, that email could mistakenly end of in your spam folder.
With all of your day-to-day business operational tasks and vendor invoices, it’s easy to forget where you registered your domain name. Particularly, if there’s no point person who keeps track of your various website related items. In this case, you can use this handy tool to look up your domain name.
02. Hosting
After you have secured your domain name, you need to have it hosted. A web hosting company provides internet services where they set up your domain on their server and make it accessible on the World Wide Web.
All of your website files and databases are stored on the hosting company’s server. You should keep in mind though that not all hosting companies are created equal. That is, just because their services are expensive, it doesn’t mean you’re getting premium service and customer care.
Given these points, shared hosting costs around $10-$30 per month. While this may seem like a good deal, it’s has a huge downsize. That is, some hosting companies put thousands of websites on one server. If there’s a major problem with someone else’s website, it could affect components that are shared with your site.
There’s also the issue of website speed with some shared hosting services. Because there are so many (too many) sites on one server, resources are limited and thus your website may load slow.
So, do your research and understand the difference between shared hosting and a virtual private server. Choose a web host that can handle the needs of your website, especially if you plan on including ecommerce or will have lots of web pages and images.
03. SSL Certificate
SSL Certificates are a must for your website. Without it, your url does not include the “s” after the http like https. Most hosting companies offer a free SSL Certificate that’s included with your hosting services. Or you can purchase your own, which means it will be an additional ongoing website cost.
In general, SSL Certificates start at around $50, and price increases depending on the level of encryption you desire.
04. Licenses
Whether you’re creating your website or using a professional web design agency, fonts, plugins or other type of software may need to be purchased. As such, these licenses need to be renewed yearly. Some vendors will give you the option to renew monthly or annually. Either way, you’ll need to keep your licenses current.
If you don’t, your plugins may not working, causing empty sections in your web pages. Or your custom fonts will be disabled, which leads to a discombobulated website. Even if your plugins continue to work, they cannot be updated without a current license. And having outdated plugins on your site creates vulnerability issues for your website.
For these reasons, it’s important to understand what your license and renewals include, and keep them current.
05. Website Updates and Maintenance
A website is similar to owning a vehicle in that they both must be maintained for optimal operation. Your website will unavoidably need updates. In addition to page content updates, plugins and core files must be updated to ensure a secure website.
Oftentimes, backend issues arise that require expertise. If you feel that you don’t have the experience to resolve such issues, it’s best to have a professional website designer or developer troubleshot and fix the issue for you.
In short, your website will run more efficiently with regular maintenance. Not to mention, having fresh content for your viewers.
06. Bonus: Marketing Your Website
As we’ve stated in several of our blog posts, your website is your most valuable marketing tool. Now that you’ve made the wise investment of having one built, use it to market your products and services.
One of the best ways to do that is to blog about your content and share your posts on Google and social platforms. Not only does this drive traffic to your website, but it also gives Google and other search engines a reason to visit your site regularly.
Most small business owners don’t have the time or expertise to craft SEO optimized blog posts. But you’re in luck! We write content-driven, SEO optimized blog posts that help you get your website and content in front of people who are looking for your products or services online.
To learn more about our blog post service, fill out our project form and we’ll get in touch to book a call.
Wrapping it Up
We hope this article has been helpful regarding ongoing website costs. These days, having a website for your business is essential, as well as a sound business investment. Our web design and development team are expert WordPress developers. Let us create something great for you! Call us today at (858) 874-6528.
About the Author
Dr. Amelia Royster-Davis is a Doctor of Education and an Instructional Designer. As the Director of Web Development at Envisager Studio, her primary focus is to lead the web development team in building modern, responsive websites. In her spare time, she writes about web development, UI and UX.
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