Why does one WordPress website cost $50, another $500, another $5,000, and yet another $50,000? (I could go on…) Regardless of which of these fits your budget, you can get a website to fit. You will however, have to adjust your expectations accordingly.
A $50 Website
For $50 you can pick up a domain name, shared hosting, and maybe a premium theme or plugin. The domain name might cost roughly $10 a year, hosting may run roughly $5-10 a month, and you can choose how to split the rest between the theme and plugins. You could also opt to go with the free option of WordPress.com and spend your money on upgrading it with premium services. But if you have little money to spend, you’re going to have to sacrifice either flexibility and control (your choices will be limited) or time (as in the time you’ll spend building it or learning how to build it).
A $500 Website
A $500 website should get you a bit more control over your website, but it will be a fairly simple setup. You should be able to self-host, and therefore own, your website at this price. You can even hire someone to help you put it together. Many sites in this price range fall into the “brochure site” category, meaning basic pages with basic information.
A $5,000 Website
With this kind of budget, you should be able enlist the services of a designer or developer to help create a website that is uniquely yours. You’ll be able to get professional help setting up your site and getting it to serve your business goals. You should be able to begin to integrate your site with other business systems such as calendars or email newsletters. If you have an existing site, this budget would also apply if you need it refreshed.
A $50,000 Website
This is where you really begin to start integrating your website with other systems. Whether it’s databases, enterprise software, ecommerce, or other large systems, it’s the backend work and not necessarily the design and setup that’s racking up the big bill. A website of this size will get the attention of a team of experts that will put together a custom solution to pull everything together.
And beyond…
As you can imagine, the larger the system, the larger the price tag. Paying qualified people to integrate and implement complex systems – well, it just plain costs money. But if your business depends on those systems, it’s money well spent. Investments in integrated systems can pay off in the long run. But be aware that even when it’s a major project to get everything working together on your website, the project may end, but there will be ongoing maintenance and updating that will need continuous attention.
Regardless of what your budget is, there’s a WordPress website within your reach. That’s one of the beautiful things about WordPress. One of the best ways to get the help you need with your site is to have a budget in mind with expectations that match.
These prices are just arbitrary guidelines used to show magnitude (a.k.a. ballpark figures) and actual prices will vary by service and provider.
1 Comment on “What’s a WordPress Website Cost?”
I wouldn’t suggest going with Wordpress.com for most people unless they are really only looking for a basic presence to never upgrade or customize much.
Getting WP on your own account is much more flexible but I’ve only found one good hosting company in the low range around $3.50/mo including the domain name. Not much left for plugins or premium themes. Cheap isn’t everything, better to pick a reputable company with good support which you might need to turn to when just getting started for not-so-techy DIY web builder types.
I figure $75/year is about the absolute minimum for a reputable company and your own install.